Easy Halloween Party Food // Garlic Bread Stick Recipe

Last night was the annual Trunk or Treat halloween carnival at church and I had lots of fun stealing people’s adorable babies in between refilling all the food baskets. I was asked to come up with a few healthier (or more substantive) food options for people who didn’t want to eat candy all night. I am in no way recommending anyone attempt to make breadsticks for 400 people in one afternoon, if you’re having a smaller halloween get-together, or you enlist some help, this spread is pretty easy. 
Monster Brains: All you have to do for this one is clean out and carve a pumpkin (or squash) while making sure that the mouth is close enough to the bottom so you can have the guacamole spreading out.  I covered a cookie sheet (upside down) in tin foil and simply placed it next to the pumpkin. I spread the guacamole with a spoon onto the covered cookie sheet and placed chips in baskets all around. 
***I added a big bowl of “ground intestines” (mild salsa) because we had far more chips than guac.
Assorted Fingers and Toes:  I had great plans for creatively carved carrots to look like fingers but in the end, I just put out some veggies and dip with a little card. 
Bones and Blood: This was the most time consuming of the projects but easily the favorite of the night. I played with a variety of shapes for the breadsticks and while I gave up on the knobby ends after 80 of them or so, I think I liked those best. You can also just make regular rectangle breadsticks and call them bones, people will love the warm buttery bread so much they won’t really care. For the blood, I simply heated up Classico Tomato and Basil pasta sauce. 
**My biggest tip is to serve them warm if you can. I baked mine ahead of time and then reheated them in the oven throughout the night. They are best straight out of the oven. If I were doing it again, I’d have everything on cookie sheets and just put them in the oven right before guests arrived. 
What You’ll Need: 
  • 1 1/2 C warm water
  • 1 Tbsp Yeast
  • 1 Tbsp Sugar
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 3 C flour 
  • 1/2 C butter, melted (1 stick)
  • Garlic Salt (or garlic powder and table salt), Sea Salt, or Parmesan cheese for sprinkling
What You’ll Do:
  1. Combine water, yeast, and sugar and set aside for 10 minutes (this lets the yeast activate). 
  2. Add salt and then flour. If you’re using a mixer, use the dough hook and let it knead for 4 minutes. If mixing by hand, once the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl, remove and knead by hand for 7 minutes (approximately). 
  3. Roll into a rectangle and cut into one inch strips using a pizza cutter. If you want the ends to look like bones, make a small cut at both ends of the breadstick and using your finger, round into knobs. 
  4. Pour melted butter into a bowl and dip each strip in butter (I use a shallow bowl, and lay each side of the bread stick in the butter) and place on cookie sheet. 
  5. Sprinkle with garlic salt, sea salt, or parmesan cheese. 
  6. Let rise at least half an hour ( they’ll be fluffier if they rise for an hour). 
  7. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until the bottom turns a very light tan. 

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