Do we have any other zombie-bakers in the house? If so, this post is dedicated to you.

Every time I visit a baking website or store I come up with new ideas for Halloween recipes and creepy food presentation. If you’ve been to the site before you may have realized this already. So far I’ve covered this year’s new Halloween-themed cupcake and cake options, and I’ve finally found some cookie cutters that befit our creepy kitchens. Cuz we know the traditional pumpkin and cat shapes are old hat.
In the shapes of hands and feet, these small cookie cutters will make a delicious spread fit for zombies and cannibals alike. This could actually be one of the most simple, yet impressively presented, homemade treats in your spooky arsenal. I picture just small amounts of red icing on the fingertips & toenails (or almond slivers, as many “witch’s fingers” recipes suggest) and some of the digits being snipped off or malformed before baking. Unlike other roll-out/cookie cutter recipes, you won’t have to spend copious amounts of time frosting each one to make it look fantastic, and you won’t have to resort to those nasty pre-made dough packages from the store. One more upswing is less frosting = less sugar during a time when everything is loaded with sugar. Here’s an idea of what a stack of hand cookies looks like, and how deforming the hands and feet can give it an even creepier appearance.

Traditional cookie cutter recipes tend to be of the white flour & white sugar variety, but I’ve got a great recipe that comes out a rich brown (“rotting hand brown”, shall we say?) and can be considered a low sugar treat. It’s actually sweetened only by molasses (which is actually a very concentrated sweetener!) but you can add a bit of maple syrup or sugar/fructose/stevia/xylitol before baking or sprinkle the unbaked hands and feet with a light dusting of sugar before popping them into the oven. I make this recipe frequently, and everyone except the ginger-hating crowd has given them great reviews.

Molasses Sweetened Ginger Cookies

• 3 cups whole wheat flour (I like 1/2 spelt, 1/2 w.w.)
• 2 teaspoon non-aluminum baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon cloves
• 1/2 cup margarine (Earth Balance brand is great)
• 1 cup unsulfered molasses (corn for lighter taste or blackstrap for a full-bodied taste)
• 2 tablespoon maple syrup or unbleached sugar (optional)

Mix dry and wet ingredients separately then add together to form a thick, soft dough. Refrigerate for 20 minutes. Grease cookie sheet. For rollout cookies, shape dough into 2 large balls and roll out on floured surface for cutting out. For drop cookies, roll into small balls and flatten with the bottom of a greased glass. 1/4″ thickness will produce crispy texture, and thicker cookies will be softer. If desired, sprinkle lightly with sugar before baking. Bake at 350F for 10 minutes.

Let us know what you think of this recipe, and if you make some hand or feet cookies we’d love to see pictures!

“She is cold, she is beautiful, she is evil… she is Miss Horrorfest. Do you have what it takes to be the Queen of Horror?” taunts the lush lips in the YouTube video. Horrorfest is a weekend of 8 films taking place November 17-19, 2006. It’s put on by After Dark Films, and they’re looking for a new Queen of Scream. The Grand Prize winner will receive $50,000 and reign as Miss Horror Fest for 1 year. If you ever wished you could be Elvira or Vampira, this is the perfect contest for you. It’s judged on physical presentation, best costume, scariest appearance, and personality, with each criteria being worth 1/4 of the score. You can either upload a video to their YouTube page (where voting also occurs), or participate in one of the 5 live auditions.

We agree with the majority of the comments regarding the current entry videos: no thanks. But this is great news for the women who are genuinely interested in being involved in the horror film industry, and have the skillz and personality to pull it off. Ladies, you still have an excellent chance at winning! I think everyone would like to see some more quality entries, so polish up that macabre character you’ve been working on and get those camera rolling.

I know these pictures are quickly making the rounds through the Interweb, but they’re too awesome not to mention. In preparation for the Zompocalypse, a few crafty individuals have created their own (cool-looking but non-functional) Zombie Preparedness kits. The original seems to have come via Gizmodo, and might have been a promo item for the slaughtering-zombies-in-a-mall 360 game, Dead Rising (although one person claims it originated in the SomethingAwful forums). They consist of a shadowbox containing a gun, bullets, and some clever stencilling and/or Photoshop magic. They’re probably not a particularly time-consuming or difficult project, but would definitely set the mood and start some interesting conversation where ever they are placed! If you create your own Zombie Preparedness kit (for Halloween decor or as a precautionary measure), we’d love to see your take on the idea. Your options are pretty much limitless.

As expected, there has been some discussion of the weapon choice on the various websites that these have been mentioned. The tourists balk about the absence of a flame-thrower or chainsaw, and Zombie Survival Handbook purists have lots of suggestions of their own. (The latter is one of my favorite groups of people, as they are the only ones who will engage you in a passionate explanation of how to properly re-dead the undead.) Personally, I’m torn. Looks-wise, a big old solitary shotgun is going to create a visual impact that no other weapon will. However, as someone who actually works on a plan of attack for the Zompocalypse, I want to see an assortment of mid-sized blades and rifles and way more than a couple boxes of bullets. Maybe I’m taking this project too seriously? Eh, I doubt that’s possible. Perhaps someone should just make a compromise. Maybe start with a big wall safe where all the real anti-zombie supplies are kept and cover it with your artistic In Case of Zombies shadowbox. Okay, that’s your new assignment kids; get to building!

There are many traditions that we begin on October 1st, and decorating our computers is one of the easier ones. A quick online search and you can convert your desktop and chat program into a spooky experience that evokes Halloween spirit all month long. After Sean created us some amazing banners, I was feeling inspired and decided to make a few buddy icons for 365 Halloween readers. The larger sized ones are compatible with Yahoo Instant Messenger and MSN Instant Messenger, while the smaller ones are geared towards AIM and Trillian users. Of course, you’re free to use them as a message board avatar, on your MySpace, on your website, etc. Just be sure to right-click and “Save As” rather than trying to hotlink, and do not redistribute.

But what if evil clowns, wild-eyed pumpkins, and candycandycandy aren’t your thing? I spent a good chunk of time today scouring websites for the best free Halloween icons (both buddy icons and desktop icons) and came up with a few great sites. A lot of what’s available online is fairly hideous, so you can save a lot of time by just heading straight here:

Pixelgirl Presents (desktop icons)- The absolute best. These are beautiful, high quality designs, and there are lots of icon sets. You have to browse through all holiday themed sets, but the section isn’t too huge so it’s worth it. You get even more choices if you’re on a Mac.

Icon Factory (desktop icons)- A close second, with several equally well designed icon sets. Very creative, and again, more selection if you’re on a Mac.

Icon Archive (desktop icons)- Several cute sets, with Hide’s Halloween being the best.

Acme Icon (buddy icons)- There are 7 funny icons that you can customize, and there is a nifty “IM your icon to a buddy” feature.

Iconator (buddy icons)- You’ll have to wade through a lot of the aforementioned hideous icons here, but this is the largest selection and there are some good styles.

Do you have an icon site to recommend? What are your favorite Halloween-related desktop icon sets?

A few days ago I blogged about some Halloween Baking Pans for making full-size cakes and mini cakes. How did I forget to talk about my favorite of all cake sizes, the cupcake?! Along with shaped pans, another baking item that I find indispensable are reusable silicone cupcake liners. They are traditionally available in bright colors, but for Halloween they roll out the black, orange and purple ones. Instead of using disposable papers or greasing a muffin pan, silicone baking molds are totally non-stick so you barely lose a crumb and there’s no greasy mess or paper to dispose of. They are dishwasher safe and can withstand temperatures up to 500°F. The only downside is that people can sometimes tend to think of these as freebies or trash and some may “disappear”. For that reason they seem best suited for older kids and events where you know most of the people in attendance. Alternately, you can remove the wrapper before serving.

Cupcakes are easier to serve at parties and events rather than full size cakes because no plates or serving utensils are required. Less mess, and the added bonus of having a higher frosting to cake ratio! But if you don’t have a large table or counter, fitting more than a dozen cupcakes into the space can be hard. That’s where cupcake stands come in. There aren’t any Halloween-specific stands, but you can order a custom stand or make your own and deck it out spooky-style.

Halloween is a time for reinvention and trying new things. We take ideas that seem mundane on any other day, and with an added creepy kick, they become unique Halloween entities. Pretty prom queens become zombie prom queens, pumpkins become jack-o-lanterns, and cupcakes become skull cakes. Mmm, skull cakes…

I love experimenting in the kitchen so I own a lot of interesting “novelty” baking items, and they never disappoint. Put a regular old cupcake into a pan shaped like a skull (or anything else unconventional) and the recipients are twice as appreciative. Presentation is an important part of creating or serving food that is frequently overlooked. If you bring in some cake to the office, your kid’s class, or a Halloween party, try using a shaped pan and see how everyone fawns over it. The large (full cake pan size) and small (large cupcake size) skull cake pans shown above are perfect for this. The simple eye and teeth details make icing a breeze since you just need to put a thin layer of frosting to cover everything and then follow the indentations with a smaller frosting tube. Even total baking novices can create a spooky Halloween cake with these pans!

UPDATE: Halloween Cupcakes for parties and events, when a whole cake just isn’t convenient.