10 Halloween Bakes

Party bakes that look as fun as they taste — most of them make-ahead.

  1. Graveyard dirt cake

    #1

    Graveyard Dirt Cake

    Layers of chocolate pudding and crushed cookie "dirt" in a pan, with cookie tombstones and gummy worms on top.

    Full recipe →

  2. Meringue bones

    #2

    Meringue Bones

    Piped meringue in little dog-bone shapes, baked low and slow until crisp. Dust with cocoa for an unearthed look.

    Full recipe →

  3. Purple velvet bundt

    #3

    Purple Velvet Bundt

    Red-velvet method, swapped to a deep violet, with a marigold cream-cheese glaze dripping down the ridges.

    Full recipe →

  4. Marigold pan de muerto

    #4

    Marigold Pan de Muerto

    Orange-blossom sweet bread with a bone-shaped crust and a saffron-marigold sugar coating.

  5. Spiderweb brownies

    #5

    Spiderweb Brownies

    Fudgy brownies with a white-chocolate spiral pulled outward with a toothpick into a web, plus a candy spider.

  6. Monster eye cupcakes

    #6

    Monster Eye Cupcakes

    Purple buttercream swirls topped with a single candy eyeball and a drip of "slime" ganache.

  7. Pumpkin spice cinnamon rolls

    #7

    Pumpkin Spice Cinnamon Rolls

    Pumpkin-dough rolls with a brown-butter glaze, coiled to look like little rising ghosts in the pan.

  8. Jack-o-lantern sugar cookies

    #8

    Jack-o'-Lantern Sugar Cookies

    Rolled sugar cookies flooded with orange royal icing and piped with a different carved face on every one.

  9. Candy corn blondies

    #9

    Candy Corn Blondies

    Brown-sugar blondies studded with candy corn and white chocolate, cut into sharp triangle wedges.

  10. Mummy cake pops

    #10

    Mummy Cake Pops

    Cake pops dipped in white candy melt, drizzled back and forth for bandages, with two candy eyes peeking out.