The Halloween treats you need: Mummy cookies, spider treats and Butterfinger caramel apples

Halloween treats are so much better than tricks. Why limit yourself to mini candy bars?

Varying degrees of baking, melting and assembling will delight with three spooky or seasonal sweets: Gingerbread Mummies, Spider Cookies, and Caramel Apples coated with Butterfinger crumbs.

All three recipes come from a treasure of a new cookbook. "Kneaders Bakery & Café: A Celebration of Our Best Recipes and Memories," by Colleen Worthington (Shadow Mountain, $34).

Kneaders Bakery was founded by Worthington more than 25 years ago in her own kitchen. She and her husband Gary then trained to make scratch-made artisan breads at the American Institute of Baking and San Francisco Baking Institute. Their first bakery opened in Orem, Utah, in 1997. They now have more than 50 locations, not just in Utah, but also in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada and Texas.

Now, they have gathered their best recipes for breads, pies, soups, breakfast dishes and sandwiches, as well as their memories, in this commemorative book.

All recipes excerpted from "Kneaders Bakery & Café: A Celebration of Our Best Recipes and Memories," by Colleen Worthington (Shadow Mountain, 2023). 

Gingerbread Mummy Cookies

1 cup butter

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon dark molasses

2 eggs, well beaten

1 teaspoon white vinegar

5 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

Classic American Buttercream Frosting  (see recipe)

Red and yellow food coloring or gel

White chocolate melting discs

In a large saucepan over high heat, bring butter, spices, sugar and molasses to a boil, stirring constantly. Let cool until lukewarm.

Whisk in eggs and white vinegar.

Sift flour and baking soda together, then add to mixture, mixing the flour in with your hands. Keep mixing until the dough is very smooth. Chill covered for 2 hours or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Divide dough into 6 portions. Roll out each portion on a piece of aluminum foil large enough to cover a half-sheet baking pan. Cut out gingerbread shapes. Remove excess dough. Place foil and cutouts onto baking sheets. Repeat for each portion of dough.

Bake for 9–10 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes on half-sheet pan, then move to cooling rack.

Tint Classic American Buttercream Frosting orange with food coloring or gel. Fill a piping bag with orange buttercream and a No. 6 round tip and make one eye on the right side. On the opposite side with a No. 4 round tip, pipe stitches over the heart area.

Using a medium microwave-safe bowl, melt white chocolate in the microwave in 30-second increments, stirring until completely melted. Allow to cool until slightly stiff. Fill a piping bag with the chocolate, and using a No. 47 basket weave tip, zigzag down the mummy, missing the eye and the stitches. Let the cookie dry for 15 minutes in a cool place.

Makes 20 large cookies

Classic American Buttercream

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

4 cups powdered sugar, sifted and divided

¼ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

4 tablespoons milk or heavy cream, divided

In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat butter on medium speed for a few minutes.

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Sift sugar into the mixing bowl. Mix at the lowest speed until powdered sugar is incorporated into the butter. Increase mixer speed to medium, add vanilla, salt, and 2 tablespoons of milk or cream. Beat for 3 minutes.

If the frosting needs to be thicker, add more powdered sugar in ¼-cup increments. If the frosting needs to be thinner, add more milk or cream 1 teaspoon at a time.

Spider Cookies

1 (12-ounce) package chocolate chips

1 (12-ounce) package butterscotch chips

1 ½ cups peanuts

6-ounces chow mein noodles, such as La Choy

Melt chocolate chips and butterscotch chips in a double boiler, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and stir in nuts and noodles.

Spoon onto wax paper one spoonful at a time.

Cool in the refrigerator until the chocolate is set.

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Makes 2 dozen cookies

Butterfinger Caramel Apples

10 Granny Smith apples, room temperature

10 wooden craft sticks

2 pounds top-grade caramels

2 pounds semisweet chocolate chips, divided use

8 large Butterfinger candy bars, crushed

Prepare a half-sheet baking pan with a silicone mat, parchment paper or nonstick spray. Set aside.

Wash the apples and dry them. Make sure they are at room temperature so that the caramel and chocolate will adhere properly to the apple. Insert the wooden craft sticks halfway into the apple core. Set aside.

In a glass bowl, microwave the caramels at 30-second intervals, stirring in between, until melted and caramel reaches 185 degrees.

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Dip apples completely into caramel, making sure the caramel touches the stick. Shake off excess caramel. Stand apples on prepared half-sheet baking pan to cool.

Once the apples have cooled and set, pinch off any caramel that has pooled around the base of the dipped apples.

In a glass bowl, microwave 1½ pounds chocolate at 1-minute intervals, stirring in between, until chocolate reaches 120–125 degrees. Adding remaining chocolate, stirring until it cools to 100 degrees.

Dip apples in chocolate, leaving 1-inch caramel showing at the top. Shake off excess chocolate. Immediately roll apples in crushed Butterfingers. Stand apples on prepared half-sheet baking pan. Put immediately in the refrigerator and let cool until the chocolate sets, about 10 minutes. The quicker you can get them cooled, the more shine your apples will have.

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Makes 10 caramel apples

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Homemade Halloween treats: Mummy cookies, Butterfinger caramel apples