Menacing Munchies!

        Is anyone planning on hosting a Halloween party? If so, you are going to need some fun recipe ideas to add to the festivities. We have found two awesome Halloween recipes, one dinner and one dessert recipe, that are pretty simple but look impressive. Check them out!
Tentacle Pot Pies:

Pot Pie 1.jpg

Yields: 4 individual pot pies
Ingredients:
-Your favorite chicken pot pie recipe
-A bowl and a plate for each dinner
-Two boxes of puff pastry or two tubes of Pillsbury Crescent Seamless Dough Sheets
-A pizza cutter
-Clean kitchen shears

Pot Pie 2.jpg

        Using the pizza cutter cut eight strips into your dough that are about 1.5 inches wide. Then, cut each of those strips diagonally. If you’re using puff pastry sheets cut two sheets into eight equal strips then use the a third sheet to cut out four circles. If you’re using crescent dough you’ll have enough left over in each sheet to also cut two rounds to top the pot pie, as shown above. Do the same for the second sheet of crescent dough. 
        Since the tentacles will cook and brown fairly quickly make sure your pot pie filling is hot before spooning into the bowls. Fill the bowls about 3/4ths full. Place the bowls onto plates; these will go into the oven together.

Pot Pie 3.jpg

        First, position the tentacles. Pick them up by the wide end and drape them by lowering the narrow end down to the plate first, then up the edge of the bowl and over the lip of the bowl. If the wide end of the tentacle extends further than an inch in towards the center of the bowl simply trim it with kitchen scissors before letting it go (if you have too many overlapping layers of dough in the center they won’t cook through). 
        Now, just put the circle of dough on top of the pot pie, covering the wide ends of the tentacles. Place two, or more if you’d like, sliced black olives on top as eyes. 
        Bake in a 325 degree oven until the dough is golden brown. Be sure to warn your diners that the plates will be hot!

Pot Pie 4.jpg 

Halloween Oreo Pumpkin Cheesecakes

Oreo 1.jpg

 Yields: 12 individual cheesecakes
Ingredients:
-1-8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
-1/2 cup granulated sugar
-1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
-1/2 cup pureed pumpkin
-1 egg
-1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
-1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
-2 tablespoons all purpose flour
-pinch of salt
-12 Halloween Oreos
-1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line 12 muffin tins with paper liners. Place 1 oreo in the bottom of each muffin tin. Set aside. In large bowl, whip cream cheese and sugar together until smooth. Stir in vanilla, pumpkin, egg, cinnamon, nutmeg, flour and salt until combined. Scrape sides of bowl and whip mixture until completely smooth. Spoon mixture evenly over oreos. Bake 20-25 minutes or until cheesecakes have set. Remove from oven to cool. Once cheesecakes are cool enough to handle, remove from muffin tin. Remove paper wrappers. Microwave chocolate chips until smooth and completely melted. Spoon chocolate into a piping bag with a small round tip. Pipe melted chocolate in concentric circles on top of cheesecakes. Drag the end of a toothpick through the chocolate to create a spiders web look. Repeat with remaining cheesecakes. 

                                    We hope those recipes hit the spot and spice up your Halloween party! 
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