Three Homemade Candy Recipes for Halloween
Happy October! Here in Salem, Mass., October 1 means the kick-off of our city’s month of Haunted Happenings.
Now, normally, Salem, Massachusetts is a relatively sleepy little seaside city. But come October, Halloween season officially starts, with flocks of tourists arriving to get their spooky on. Click here to check out our pictures from last year and read a little bit more about Salem.
If you’re in the area, be sure to visit our friends over at The Salem Insider, who’ll be keeping us all up-to-date on the latest events.
Three Delicious Homemade Candy Treats
What better way to get in the Halloween spirit than with a little candy making? Here are three of our favorite recipes for homemade treats.
1. Homemade Marshmallows
Here’s a step-by-step tutorial for making these heavenly white pillows at home. It’s easier than you might think. I usually cut mine in traditional squares, but you can pour the molten fluff into silicone molds—or use cookie cutters to carve out custom shapes.
Take them over the top by dipping them in chocolate. To make them even more Halloween-y, add orange and black sprinkles to the chocolate before it sets. 
2. Maple Cream Fudge
Now sugaring season isn’t ’til spring, but maple is one of our favorite fall flavors. This fudge is a rich and creamy cousin to maple sugar candy.
3. Homemade Peanut Butter & S’mores Cups
These are so much fun to make at home. Take a peek at my basic recipe, then customize it to make your very own creation.
Use milk chocolate or white. Add a blop of jam on top of the peanut butter mixture for Peanut Butter & Jelly Cups. You get the idea.
You can even make a s’mores version with marshmallow fluff and graham crackers. (If you make my homemade marshmallows, save some of the fluff for these little guys.)
Stay tuned for more news on Halloween in Salem�as well as plenty of stick-to-your-ribs fall recipes. Cheers!
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28 Comments
All the candy looks great! I’ll take one of each please!
*hands out the treats*
Thanks, Megan!
+Jessie
Jessie these are fantastic,I make taffy and usually molasses taffy this time of year.
Ooooooh, taffy! Now you’ve got my wheels turning!
+Jessie
Ohh sooo good!
Thanks, Banu, honey!
+Jessie
They’re all amazing! I would love to have a bite!
Thanks so much! (And thanks for stopping by!)
+Jessie
I love chocolate mallow cups–from my childhood–yours look sublime–wish I could have one.
Thanks so much, Melanie.
+Jessie
Thanks so much, Melanie!
+Jessie
ooh, the chocolate covered marshmallows look scrumptious!
Hehehe, yeah…those are kind of dangerous to keep in the house.
+Jessie
In the theme of candy making, have you seen the book “the field guide to candy”? Just published in Sept 09? If so, what do you think of it? Do you recommend it?
Hey Tia,
Sorry for the delayed reply. I haven’t seen it yet, but I looked it up on Amazon, and it looks pretty good. Seems to cover quite a lot.
I’ll see if I can get my paws on a copy in a bookstore around here and I’ll let you know.
Cheers!
+Jessie
Such wonderful looking treats (especially the maple cream fudge)!
Thanks so much, Doug! (I think you and I love the same kinds of maple treats…)
+Jessie
these look/sound delicious! Thanks for sharing
Thank you! (And thanks for stopping by!)
+Jessie
I would love to make these as teacher gifts. How long can I store them and what’s the best way.
And if I want to make the fluff stay fluff can I just put it in a jar and use it that way?
Hey cookie monster,
Thanks for stopping by! Sorry for the delayed reply. I try to respond asap to specific questions like this, but it’s been a crazy week!
OK. Storage. As long as you keep them cool and dry, all three of these recipes should keep really well for at least two weeks.
For the fudge: If your house is warm, I’d keep the fudge in the fridge, tightly wrapped in plastic wrap and then in a zip-top bag with all the air squeezed out of it.
For the marshmallows: Cut them and store them in a big zip-top bag (or a few of them, depending on how many marshmallows you make). Put an extra cup or so of powdered sugar in the bag and shake the bag up when you seal it. Then, when you go to pack them up, just tap off the extra sugar.
For the peanut butter cups: I’d make these right before you want to give them, because I don’t temper the chocolate (which can lead to little–perfectly safe–spots on the chocolate sometimes, which is kind of icky if you’re giving them for a gift). If you want to temper the chocolate, there are good detailed instructions here: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Tempering-Chocolate-233317 Other than that, store them in a cool, dry place in a zip-top bag.
Phew. All that said, obviously, they’re freshest right when made. If you’re giving them as gifts, I wouldn’t make them more than two weeks in advance. I’d love to see pics and hear about how it went!
OK.
About making marshmallow fluff. Someone else actually just asked me this question.
I have a feeling that either the proportions in the recipe will need to be a little different, or that you might need to add something to it to keep the fluff from setting up.
Let me see what I can find out. I’ll get back to you on this one as soon as I can.
Cheers!
+Jessie
Amazing treats!
What a great project for this weekend! So far, I have only gotten as far as making Candy Corn Mousse from my site. I think its time to make my own candy!
I love your site and recipes… one thing that would be very helpful in copying the recipe is to have the directions consolidated in one spot. I know that the way it’s done now is instructive and shows the different stages as you go along, but- if it was written down in the conventional recipe manner it would be a cinch to copy to my files. Right now itis a lot of work to get the instructions assembled.
Thanks
hey – how did you keep the chocolate from attaching itself to the muffin liners? Mine attached and only some came off easily?