Dat Candy

Sunday, October 19, 2025

Hosting a Halloween Party? We’ve got ideas.

Welcome to Sunday Reset, where we share how we're unwinding and what we have planned for the week ahead. This time, our editor, Julia, is sharing some festive ideas.

Every year, I say I don't care about Halloween—but every year, the weekend rolls around and I'm jealous of the creative costumes, themed appetizers, and scary movie nights. So this year, I've decided to embrace it. I'm in the process of moving, so I won't be hosting a party myself, but I did task our Test Kitchen creators with coming up with a few fun ideas. In the meantime, I've done plenty of research into spooky, festive things. Here are some of my favorites that I'm eyeing:

Puff Pastry Mummies: Our baking resident made these last week, and they're so cute. He filled them with an apple-and-pear compote and added candy eyes for an extra touch. You could also wrap puff pastry strips around hot dogs for "mummy dogs."

Spiderweb Brownies: These might be the cutest and easiest Halloween dessert. Bake a batch of brownies, melt some marshmallows, and stretch them across the top for a web effect. One of the creators we work with shared a great visual here—or check out our guide to piping a simple spiderweb design.

Eyeball Ice: Freeze blueberries in circular ice molds for a spooky drink garnish. You can see an example here.

Our former cocktail editor also had a great idea to soak peeled grapes in bitters for a similar effect. You can check out his full eyeball punch recipe here.

Here are a few more party snacks and drinks I'm loving (because it's all in the name):

The Snake Bite

Wicked Brittle

Devils on Hatchback

Fall Sangria With a Spiced Simple Syrup

Ever heard of boo bags? I hadn't either until one of our contributors introduced them to me last week. It started as a trend to do for your kids, but I'm personally thinking of making them for friends and family. Essentially, they're small Halloween gift bags filled with treats, baked goods, or whatever you want. Get the full list of ideas here.

—Julia, Editor

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