10 homemade Halloween treat recipes for kids of all ages

There’s no trick to making your own homemade Halloween treats — chocolate bars, peanut butter cups, marshmallow ghosts, even candy corn.

Oct. 21, 2022

Witches on broomsticks, jack-o’-lanterns and black cats are iconic Halloween symbols, but let’s be honest. Halloween is primarily an excuse to collect and indulge in copious amounts of candy and other sweet treats.

They’ve filled trick-or-treat bags for generations. Look past the wrappers, the corn syrup and the nostalgia and you’ll see that with a little know-how and a good recipe, you can replicate many of these confections in your own kitchen. These riffs on popular candy bars and Halloween classics are fun, easy projects to take on and enjoy with kids of all ages.

Re-create these candy bar classics at home: Homemade Peanut Butter Cups, Homemade Butterfinger Bites, Shortbread Bars With Dark Caramel And Chocolate (compare to Twix), Coconut Bars With Almonds And Dark Chocolate (like Mounds and Almond Joy) or Homemade PayDay Bars.

Homemade PayDay Bars

1 hour 30 minutes

Makes about 6 dozen pieces

For a Twix twist: homemade shortbread with dark caramel and chocolate.

Shortbread Bars with Dark Caramel and Chocolate

2 hours

Makes about 5 dozen (3 1/2-inch) bars

LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 14: Homemade butterfinger and payday candy bars photographed in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020 in Los Angeles, CA. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

Homemade Butterfinger Bites

1 hour 15 minutes, plus 5 hours resting

Makes 4 to 5 dozen pieces

Coconut Bars with Almonds and Dark Chocolate

1 hour

Makes about 4 dozen (2 1/2- by 2-inch) bars

Homemade Peanut Butter Cups

1 hour

Makes about 4 ½ dozen miniature peanut butter cups

Other Halloween essentials include Candy Corn (homemade has to be better), Marshmallow Ghosts (think Peeps for Halloween) and Ghoulish Gummies. Of course, Candy Apples are a Halloween must.

Candy Corn

1 hour 30 minutes

Makes 12 to 15 dozen candies, depending on size

Marshmallow Ghosts

1 hour

Makes about 3 dozen candies, depending on size

Ghoulish Gummies

45 minutes

Makes about 3 dozen candies, depending on size.

WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA.,OCTOBER 10, 2017--Candied apples: apples coated with cooked sugar, flavoring and a little food coloring. (kirk McKoy /Los Angels Times)

Candy Apples

1 hour

Makes 6 to 12 candied apples, depending on size

Finally, these No-Bake Peanut Butter Bars, a simple riff on Rice Krispy Treats, include the necessary components of Halloween candy. Note that it doesn’t have to be Halloween to make and enjoy them.