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This week marks Tim Burton's return to stop-motion animation, with Frankenweenie. In honor of the October 5 release, Disney has scared up a few delicious treats to go with your weekend movie festivities.
Frankenweenie is based on the director's 1984 live-action short about boy named Victor who loses his beloved dog Sparky – temporarily, anyway. Thanks to the power of science (!), Victor brings his best friend back to life, making him almost as good as new. The original short is very cool and this remake seems to capture the creepy spirit. In other words, it fits very well in with the rest of Burton's big-screen creations.
To get pumped up for this week's premiere, my 6-year-old son and I decided to test out three of the treat ideas that Disney sent along, courtesy of Spoonful.com. Each one is insanely easy to make, which is perfect if you plan to have a house full of little goblins this Halloween. Let's take a closer peek at these ghastly goodies.
Funny Bones
These crunchy, sweet treats are supposed to look like individual bones. Thankfully, they don't taste like them. The recipe seemed simple enough, calling for the following:
- 7 ounces of white meltable candy wafers
- 36 pretzel sticks and rods of various lengths
- 72 mini marshmallows
First, melt the candy according to the package directions. I always find that it melts better in a double broiler, but a microwave is perfectly acceptable. While that's melting, assemble your "bones," which are basically the pretzel sticks with a mini marshmallow wedged onto each end.
Once the candy is nice and smooth, start dipping the pretzel bones. Just know that you have about 3 seconds for each one. The candy is warm and those marshmallows are so super-tiny. Shake off any excess candy and put your creation onto waxed paper to dry.
I had a lot of mistakes with these. Melted candy can be tricky and messy, but delicious. With this type of project, where the item being dipped is so tiny, it's important to use candy that melts kind of thin. I went for a bag of Ghirardelli White Chocolate Baking Chips because they're oh-so-delicious and it's what I had in my pantry. However, these melt a little thicker than the wafers do.
That said, my husband and son seemed to really enjoy the mistakes. Hey, they all taste the same! Also, my son remarked that the "good" ones looked a little like barbells. I will have to remember that if we ever have a strongman-themed party.
Worms in Dirt
Next, we prepped the Worms in Dirt, because they need about an hour to chill. I'm no stranger to the Worms in Dirt concept, having made worm-filled cupcakes before. When I say that, I'm talking about the gummy-variety, of course. There's no need to decline any of my future dinner invitations.
This recipe called for a lot more ingredients, but seemed more simple overall:
- 2 cups of cold milk
- 1 package of instant chocolate pudding (4-serving size)
- 8 ounces of thawed whipped topping
- 1 package (16 ounces) of chocolate sandwich cookies, crushed
- Gummy worms or insects
- 8-10 paper or plastic cups
Start by mixing up the milk with the pudding packet. Set that aside for about 5 minutes, while you take out your aggressions on those cookies. They need to be crushed up good! After the wait, fold the whipped topping into the pudding mixture, along with about half of the cookie crumbles.
I had these fantastic flowerpot-looking ramekins, but you can use paper or plastic cups. If you want them to go with the theme a little more, try wrapping them in construction paper.
Put about one tablespoon of crushed cookies into the bottom of each cup, followed by the pudding mixture. Spoonful.com says to fill them about 3/4 of the way, and don't think about getting greedy. That should be plenty. Remember that you need to leave a little room on top for the remainder of the cookie crumbles. Once you've added that topper, you can insert as many gummy worms as your tummy can handle. Chill them for at least an hour, for best results.
And results we had! These had a nice chocolatey taste, but the whipped topping made it light and sort of like mousse. It was easy to make and a little messy to eat. In other words, a huge hit.
Pizza Mummies
Could there be a better lunch or snack than mini pizzas? Make 'em look like mummies and you may have your answer. Making little pizzas is a no-brainer; it's also a really fun project for kids. This spooky-inspired treat requires the following ingredients:
- English muffins
- Pizza sauce
- Black olives, sliced
- Red or green peppers
- Cheese sticks or slices
First, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. If you use English muffins, these can also be prepped in a toaster oven. Of course, you could also use pizza dough and pair this with a scary movie!
Whatever base you use, the sauce goes on first. You can be as generous as you'd like, but don't go too crazy. That dough may get soggy. In fact, I wish I had pre-toasted the muffins a little beforehand. However, there were no complaints from my peanut gallery.
Next, you're going to place the eyes, which are made out of sliced olives. If your kids don't like olives, they don't have to eat them. They're easy to pick off, but also fun to make. The recipe says that you can use scallions or red and green peppers to make the pupils. However, we opted for sliced green beans. They seemed to be the perfect size to pop into the middle of the olive slices and added a nice little crunch.
After the eyes are in place, it's time to start "wrapping" the mummies. Sliced cheese works, but string cheese is just perfect for this project. Don't worry about how many sticks you have to use. For an entire bag of English muffins, only three cheese sticks were needed.
Once the mummies are wrapped and ready, bake them for 10 to 13 minutes. These were boo-tiful, but also yummy. Of course, most kids love pizza, but my son really enjoyed putting these together. It's a fun project for the kids and everyone can get creative with the different ways to decorate each mummy. Enjoy!
Thanks to Disney and Spoonful.com for the recipes. Frankenweenie hits theaters this Friday, October 5, 2012.
