Happy Spooky Season!

It’s finally that time of year where there always seems to be an occasion for baking and hosting. One of my favorite things to do is make “Boo Baskets” for friends and family. It’s always so much fun to put together a halloween-themed gift and it’s even better when everything inside is homemade!

What’s Included?

This year, I decided to do a mix of chocolate desserts as well as some simple (but sweet) additions. One of my absolute favorite candy bars is a Twix so I thought it would be fun to recreate that in a homemade version. That being said, I was on a bit of a time crunch and wasn’t able to do the whole trial and error process for creating and testing a new recipe. I found that the homemade Twix recipe from Broma Bakery was perfect and I didn’t see a reason to change it!

Along with the homemade Twix bars, I made a simple puppy chow, a Halloween pretzel mix, bake & slice pumpkin sugar cookies, and my delicious chocolate chip cookies with some cute chocolate spider decorations on top.

Scroll down to see all of the links to each individual recipe as well as the packaging materials you’ll need!

Recipes

Below, you will find links to all of the recipes included in my boo baskets:

Homemade Twix Bars

Puppy Chow

Halloween Pretzel Mix

Spooky Spider Chocolate Chip Cookies

Slice & Bake Pumpkin Sugar Cookies

Get My Materials

If you’d like to recreate these baskets at home, click here to go to my Amazon Storefront where you’ll find all of the materials I used (and love)!

If you want to use the same baskets, go to your local Dollar Tree and check the Halloween section. If you can’t find them there, here are some similar options.

See the below section for details on the types of packaging that I used and why:

Gift Basket Packaging

It’s no secret that I love doing everything that I can to give something simple just a little more flare. Finding the perfect package to display all of your hard work doesn’t have to be difficult!

This year, I got my Boo Baskets from Dollar Tree for $1.25 per basket! I also purchased the orange Easter grass that I placed in the bottom of each basket from Dollar Tree and it worked out perfectly. For properly wrapping all of the yummy desserts, I used a few different materials that I ordered from Amazon.

I also purchased orange and white ribbon from Michael’s craft store (you could also order this on Amazon if you would prefer something easier) and I made my own “Homemade Twix Bar” stickers using my thermal printer from, you guessed it, Amazon!

Lastly, I found some adorable Halloween greeting cards that I wrote sweet messages in to add the perfect finishing touch to all of the baskets. I found these cards at a local thrift store for only $2 for a pack of 8 (thrift stores have more than just clothes!). I cannot find the same cards online, however, I found a few on Amazon that would be a perfect option.

Proper Storage & Serving

When giving a gift full of homemade treats, one thing you might not think about is how quickly you need to wrap them up and deliver them. With homemade desserts, you’re not using all of those preservatives that desserts from the grocery store have, so your treats will go stale much faster. Here are a few packaging & serving tips for all five desserts included in my baskets:

1. For the chocolate chip and slice & bake cookies, make sure to allow them to fully cool in a room temperature room before wrapping them up and sealing their bags. I placed my smaller slice & bake pumpkin cookies in my normal cookie bags (I use these things all the time) and then I heat sealed them using my heat sealer from Amazon. After that, I tied a thin white ribbon on top and they were ready to go! These slice & bake cookies will stay fresh for up to 2-3 days. You can do this same thing with the chocolate chip cookies, but I didn’t want to use too many small bags, so I placed four of those in a larger resealable plastic bag. I then folded the bag over itself and wrapped it tightly around all four cookies so that I could get out as much air as possible. I then sealed the adhesive strip so that they would stay fresh for up to 2-3 days! I recommend baking both of these cookies the same day that you plan on delivering the baskets so that they’re as fresh as possible.
2. For the homemade Twix bars, I used the same bags from my slice & bake cookies to place three Twix bars in each bag for each basket. I then heat sealed those and created a custom circle sticker to label the candy bars. I folded the top portion of the bag down the back of the Twix bars and placed the custom sticker right in the center. Please keep in mind that the Twix bars MUST BE REFRIGERATED before serving. If you do not refrigerate them after packaging them, the caramel will warm up and begin to ooze out of the chocolate shell (trust me). Simply refrigerate all Twix bar packages until you’re ready to assemble and deliver your Boo Baskets to friends & family. Just make sure you make them aware of refrigerating the candy bars when they receive their baskets!
3. Lastly, the Halloween pretzel mix and the puppy chow are super simple. I used the same large resealable plastic bags for these two treats as I did for the chocolate chip cookies. Fill some the bags with an even amount of the pretzel mix and then add the puppy chow to their own separate bags. You can mix these desserts together if you’d like, but I think they deserve their own spotlight. Peel off the cover on the adhesive seal and wrap the plastic bag around itself just like you did for the chocolate chip cookies. Seal the bags tightly and add them to their baskets! Since we used pre-popped popcorn in the pretzel mix, that should stay fresh for up to 2 days when sealed properly. If you used microwave popcorn, it will go stale almost instantly. The puppy chow will be good for 3-4 days as long as you reseal the bag after snacking on it! I recommend making these desserts the same day that you plan on delivering the baskets.

Make It Simple

If you’re eager to get into the Halloween spirit but you’re short on time, there is no problem making a Boo Basket with store bought desserts! Everyone always loves the classics that you can find at almost all of your local stores and I can promise you that any gift will always be appreciated, homemade or not.

A sweet Boo Basket idea is to go to the Dollar Tree, grab a few of the plastic baskets that I used for mine, some orange Easter grass, as well as candy bars and chocolates that they have in the same aisle (they make it so easy!). Almost all of the candy that you find in the Halloween section of Dollar Tree, Dollar General, Walmart, Aldi, etc. will be packaged with adorable Halloween-themed colors and images. These make for the perfect themed gift basket and will also save you so much time!