There’s something to be said for classy Halloween appetizer recipes. They’re just the right amount of spooky and sophisticated! I wanted to throw together an easy Halloween appetizer recipe, so I settled on these Candied Pumpkin Spice Walnut Brains, which has been adapted from this 5 Minute Candied Walnuts recipe. I think they pair great with wine and are excellent finger food for a Halloween themed party. So, here’s how to throw them together (spoiler alert, just like the original recipe they only take like 5 minutes!)

When contemplating the conundrum that comes from creating Halloween party appetizers appropriate for an adults only party, I knew one thing – I wanted it to be brain focused. I mean, it’s Halloween why not?

But I didn’t necessarily want to make something that looked really unnatural. Because I was going for a pretty natural spooky vibe for my Halloween Appetizer Bar.

So after much thought I settled upon walnuts!

Candied Pumpkin Spice Walnut Brains

First of all I pulled out enough whole walnut halves to fill about 1 cup. Now to be clear, I don’t champion food waste. You could use the broken pieces and advertise them as “Brain Lobes”. Or you could just plan to use them as a salad topping (ala me). Either way, have a plan to use everything you have eventually whether or not it’s for this Halloween appetizer recipe.

Then I placed the walnuts a couple tablespoons of butter, a teaspoon of pumpkin spice and 1/4 cup of  C & H granulated White Sugar in a pan.

I heated them on medium for about 5 minutes. Be sure to be a little ginger in how you stir them so as not to break them apart. I wanted them to look real brain-y either way. Basically just make sure you’re not letting them burn.

Then remove them and put them somewhere to cool. Natasha recommended parchment paper in her original recipe. Considering the fact you’re dealing with sticky sugar this is a perfect fit!

Now at this point I decided to sprinkle a teaspoon or so of sugar on top so the pumpkin spice wouldn’t overpower the sweetness. I also appreciated that there was a little bit of spillage from the caramelized sugar, I thought it kind of looked like brain juice! It truly is the little stuff that makes me continuously fall in love with Halloween party appetizers like this one!

They turned out pretty well. I plated them next to my Green Chile Stuffed Mushrooms in my Spooky Dollar Tree Appetizer Bar.

What are some of your favorite Halloween appetizer recipes?

Thanks for reading!

Lauren

Candied Pumpkin Spice Walnut Brains (5 Minute Candied Walnuts)

Ingredients

• 1 Cup Walnut Halves
• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• 1 teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice
• 1/4 cup C & H granulated White Sugar

Instructions

1. Pull out 1 cup of walnut halves from the bag.
2. Then, place walnuts, pecans, butter, pumpkin pie spice and white sugar in pan. Cook over medium heat stirring frequently to avoid burning.
3. Separate individual walnuts onto parchment paper. Sprinkle with additional sugar and let cool for 10 minutes.
4. Plate & Enjoy!