Chef John’s 13 Best Halloween Recipes Ever

Meringue Bones and Ghosts

As Chef John explains, “While I know no one is ever actually scared by spooky Halloween treats, I do know for a fact that many people are terrified to work with meringue. Hopefully these bones and ghosts will help chase those demons away.” Fear not, with Chef John leading the way, you’ll end up with a shiny, glossy, light-and-delicious meringue that holds shape perfectly when piped.

Chef John’s Face Pie

Meet the savory side of horror! This recipe takes Chef John’s classic, mild-mannered French-Canadian meat pie (featuring ground beef and pork, potatoes, and spices) and twists it into the true face of terror! “A few months ago I saw a pie image on Twitter so creepy and disturbing that I actually questioned whether it was too terrifying to post as a video,” says Chef John. See how he does it…if you dare!

Mini Meatloaf Ghosts

“Turn your favorite meatloaf recipe into these absolutely adorable, yet still incredibly terrifying, edible apparitions” says Chef John. “They’re easy and fun to make and the leftovers make great ‘ghost on toast’ sandwiches.” Watch the video to see how to form the ghosts.

“Black Magic” Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies taste just like our top-rated chocolate chip cookies — but they have a devilishly dark hue (thanks to activated charcoal).

Chocolate “I Scream” Cookie Sandwiches

These ghost-face, ice-cream sandwiches start with chocolate chip cookies. “I used chocolate to make a screaming ghost design on these Halloween-themed ice cream cookie sandwiches, just so I could do a play on words,” says Chef John.

Severed-Finger Cheese Sticks

These creepy Halloween party appetizers look like severed fingers. They’re actually yummy string-cheese sticks. String cheese for the fingers, almonds for the nails, and a little hot sauce for ghastly effect.

Chef John’s Zombie Meatloaf

Zombie meatloaf, it’s the loaf that alarms. “Admittedly, ‘appetizing’ is the last thing you want this to look like,” says Chef John. “But if we’re going to do some kind of gimmicky, holiday recipe, it might as well taste great, and this most certainly did. I was very happy with how this one came out. Don’t leave the mushrooms out. They add a lot of flavor, as well as help keep the meat moist, and tender.”

Pumpkin Seed Spread

Okay, so after zombie meatloaf, let’s maybe ratchet down the dread a tad. Introducing Chef John’s version of pumpkin seed spread “straddles the fence between sweet and savory, and is very adaptable,” says Chef John.

Jack-o’-Lantern Stuffed Peppers

Chef John transforms orange bell peppers into a tasty Halloween-themed dinner with this simple kid-friendly stuffed pepper recipe.

Chef John’s Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

As Chef John explains, the pumpkin cinnamon rolls are “the least scary Halloween treat ever! But what they lack in fear factor, they make up in straight-up deliciousness. “The best cinnamon rolls I’ve ever tasted,” raves the chef. “One key is a nice soft, sticky dough. Be sure to only add enough flour so that the dough just barely pulls away from the side of the bowl as it kneads.”

Ghost Cheesecake Brownies

There is no way to make Chef John’s fudgy chocolate brownies any better—unless you swirled some cheesecake batter into the top before you baked them. The scariest thing about these brownies might just be how quickly they disappear.

“Horrible Hand” Ham and Cheese Board

How scary this turns out to be depends on your sculpting skills. Luckily, “he cheese spread is simple to make and can be customized in countless ways. Plus, the prosciutto ‘flesh’ can be done with just a few ounces of meat, which makes this not very scary when it comes to the shopping budget.” Chef John says, “This would be great with any type of bread or crackers, but the black sesame crisps were perfect.”

Deviled Blondies

Not a chocolate fan? Chef John has a blondie recipe just for you: they’re studded with chopped macadamia nuts and topped with a sugared chile paste.

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