I love any excuse to make a fun charcuterie board, so Halloween is the perfect reason! First of all, orange foods are easy to come by, so you have lots of options. Secondly, it's such a fun holiday because you can do spooky, scary, or just plain cute. When I start to plan a board, I have a million ideas, then as I start to prepare, somehow it all just comes together.... and not ever exactly like I planned at first. But no matter how your creativity pans out, the excited faces that get to eat it more than compensate for your efforts!
Halloween Charcuterie Board
Serves 4-5
Gluten free pretzel twists
White chocolate melts
Candy eyeballs
Gluten free Double Stuffed Oreo Cookies
Gluten free pretzel sticks
Apples, sliced
Halloween sprinkles
Caramel corn
Cheese puffs
Orange cheese (I used cheddar), sliced
Gluten free crackers
Black olives, drained and dried
Reese's Pieces
Candy corns
To make the ghost pretzel faces, melt the white chocolate, dip one side of the pretzel twists, then place on parchment paper. Place two candy eyeballs on the smaller holes to make a face. To make the cookie spiders, break off the ends of 8 stick pretzels, then push into the cream of an Oreo cookie, placing 4 evenly spaced on each side like legs. Dip two eyeballs into the melted white chocolate and place on top of the cookie. Repeat to make as many spiders as you like. Cut fall shapes with the cheese slices. Dip apple slices half way into the melted white chocolate, then press into Halloween sprinkles. Arrange all of the foods onto your board. Serve and enjoy!
Step-by-step tutorial:
The beauty about these fun boards is that there is not a right or wrong way. Creativity and fun are key! I post about my charcuterie boards just to give you ideas and get your creativity juices flowing. I love to see what other people come up with!
If you'd like to make ghost pretzel faces, which I think are a great addition to a Halloween board, simply melt white chocolate melts (I use the Meltables from Michaels because they are so smooth and solidify quickly), dip one side of the pretzel twists, then add two candy eyeballs (also can be found at Michaels or online at Amazon). Allow to set up. You can get more details at my Ghost Pretzels post here. I used the white chocolate melt I had left to make dipped apples. You could also use caramel, peanut butter, or chocolate. I simply dipped the apple slices halfway into the white chocolate, then pressed into some Halloween sprinkles, then allowed to set on some parchment paper. To keep the apple slices from browning, you can soak them in 7-up first, but be sure to drain and dry them before dipping or the chocolate will seize.
To make cute cookie spiders, simply break off the ends of pretzel sticks to get the length you want, then push eight of them into the cream of an Oreo cookie. The double stuffed work best to give you more cream to push into. Next, dip a few candy eyeballs in some of the white chocolate melt and press onto the top of the cookie for the eyes. So easy and fun! I also had fun cutting cheese slices into the shapes of pumpkins and fall leaves.
Start building your board. I usually start in one back corner and work my way forward, trying to cover the entire board. These pretzel faces make me laugh! Each one is so individual and goofy.
Cheese puffs or cheese balls are a great orange snack that kids love! Very Halloween-y. Crackers and cheese are usually part of a charcuterie board if you are making it official, but do what you like. I usually mix sweet and savory, but you could do all sweet or all savory too!
Candy corns are an easy addition. Just put them in a little cup to keep them together. I found some delicious caramel popcorn in the chip aisle. You could make your own, but I was going for EASY!
Apple slices are fun to experiment with. Dip in various things, then press them in sprinkles or nuts. So many options! If they are pre-dipped, they are easy to grab and eat! This board was one that the kids could make a little plate from instead of eating straight from the board.
I had to search, but was finally able to locate some Reese's Pieces. They are the perfect Halloween colored candy.
Black olives are a good savory snack. Kids love to put them on their fingers and eat them off, one by one.
I randomly placed the spider cookies on top of the food on the board. I love how that turned out!
You can't go wrong with snacks kids love all assembled together in one place so they can grab and eat! These boys were super excited they they got to eat this! Spencer's friends don't have to eat gluten free, but love everything they eat at our house. That's always been my goal! Make everything at our house as good, if not better than what gluten eaters get!
I am excited to make another board soon. This one went in a hurry, so I didn't get to eat much (although you reserve the right to taste as you assemble..... part of the perks of the work)! Have fun and share any ideas you come up with!
Recipe Source: Shanna's brain (haha!)
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