For our first Spooky recipe for this year, I thought it would be fun to start with another simple and easy-to-make treat that you can make with your kids during this halloween season. Because of knives being sharp, I would probably have the adults or older kids do the first step of cutting the apples, but I think the decorating of the apple slices would be a fun family activity that everyone should be able to do without much risk of injury.
I had originally planned on making this recipe last year, but I already had too many recipes to make. And I almost forgot about making it this year, but thanks to my friends giving me some free apples, I was reminded of this fun and spooky recipe. So with apples being in season right now, if you wanted to have a fun fall family outing, I think going apple picking and then coming home to make these sweet treats would be a great way to spend one of your spooktober weekends.
One of the things that I like about this recipe is that even though it’s quite simple, you are able to customize a lot of different aspects of the treat, such as the type of apple, the spread, the type of teeth, and the eyes. You can even choose to not include certain aspects of the decoration if you wish such as the eyes, but I think the eyes are what gives it the monster appearance, because otherwise, they just look like big lips.
In terms of storage, these should last about 3-5 days in the fridge before they start to soften, so you can make these ahead of time if you want to have these for a halloween party for example. Though I would recommend waiting to put the eyes on until you’re ready to serve it because they can become unstuck and the pupils will start to bleed if they get wet. And of course, these are best enjoyed while freshly made since they’ll eventually start to brown once the lemon juice wears off.
But regardless of if you plan on making these for a halloween party or just to have a fun treat during the month of spooktober, this monstrously delicious snack will be a great, easy way to celebrate the spooky season.
Ingredients:
- 2 or 3 apples (any apple type should work so choose your favorite)
- 1/2 cup or so of peanut butter, almond butter, caramel, or any other spreadable substance that goes well with apples
- Some sunflower seed kernels, Other small seeds, slivered almonds, or mini marshmallows for the teeth
- 2 to 3 strawberries for the tongue
- Some lemon juice (to keep the apples from oxidizing)
- Some edible candy googly eyes or some more mini marshmallows and mini chocolate chips (to make your own eyes) (optional)
Step 1: Prepare Apples & Strawberries
First, we’ll prepare the fruits, so quarter your apples into 4 pieces, and remove the part with the seeds if desired and then cut a notch into the middle outer part of each quarter to create the mouth.
Next, rub the exposed apple flesh on the top and bottom of each apple slice with the lemon juice to keep it from browning. Then, for your strawberries, slice these into thin cross sectional pieces to make them look tongue like, like so.
Step 2: Coat Apple Mouths w/ Spread
Next, coat the inside of the apple mouths with your peanut butter, almond butter, caramel, or other preferred spread of choice.
If you’re having trouble getting the spread to stick, try drying the apple with a paper towel before putting the spread on and it should be a bit easier.
Step 3: Add Teeth to Apple Mouths
Then, with your sunflower seeds, slivered almonds, or mini marshmallows, stick them to the top of each apple slice mouth and space them out so they look like teeth.
If you’re having a bit of trouble, it helps to have a wet towel set aside so you can quickly wipe off any of the sticky spread on your fingers so you don’t have a bunch of seeds sticking to you.
Step 4: Add Strawberry Tongue to Apple Mouths
Next, add your strawberry tongue to each apple slice and push it into the spread a little to keep it secure.
Step 5: Add Candy Eyes to Apple Monsters & Enjoy!
Then, using a little bit of your spread as a glue, add your candy eyes to the part of the apple above where the mouth is. And if you wanted to make your own eyes, just cut a mini marshmallow in half and stick a mini chocolate chip in the middle to act as the pupil and then glue it on the same way as the premade candy eyes.
I recommend mixing and matching different sizes of eyes and maybe adding or subtracting an eye to give each apple slice its own personality, but of course, decorate how you wish.
And once they’re to your liking, your Monster Apple Slices are ready to eat.