Impress your guests with a festive Halloween charcuterie board that is family-friendly and satisfyingly spooky.
One of the best things about fall is the Halloween season. Yummy treats, beautiful colors, and delicious scents that permeate the whole house. And for all of you festive foodies out there, this is the perfect time to try out a themed charcuterie board for your next Halloween party.
A Halloween themed charcuterie board for kids and teens is the perfect treat for a movie night, party or any other event. And with these awesome food options taking a spooky twist, everyone will be coming back for more. Follow along with these helpful tips for creating a festive Halloween snack board you can't get enough of.
Why Choose a Charcuterie Board?
An easy Halloween charcuterie board is definitely worth considering for your next big Halloween party or family-friendly event. Plus, all of those great options for yummy Halloween treats in one place? Hard to beat.
- A charcuterie board is a quick and easy way to feed a crowd
- Not much prep work involved
- Very little dishes to clean up
- Can make the perfect centerpiece
- Spooky charcuterie board is a part of your Halloween decorations
- Easily customized to food preferences with lots of great options
- A great way to involve your kids
Since this specific Halloween-themed board is mostly store-bought treats, it was fun and super simple to put together. And if your guest list includes a bunch of teens and kids like mine, this is the perfect way to serve them a fun and ghoulish treat!
If you are just a beginner making your own charcuterie boards be sure to keep reading to find out what I do to get started.
My Favorite Charcuterie Boards
The first thing is making sure you have a charcuterie board or snack tray platter on hand. It doesn't necessarily have to be circular shaped either. Rectangular boards can work or even festive shapes like I used with my Christmas charcuterie. I've included my personal favorites and accessories below.
How to Create a Kid-Friendly Halloween Charcuterie Board
We made this specific board to watch Hocus Pocus with some friends and family. Our focus was on sweet and salty treats, but you can easily make this dessert board more healthy by throwing in some colorful fresh fruit. The fun thing about any charcuterie board is there are no strict rules and so many fun ideas. This themed charcuterie board was inspired by my other charcuterie board for kids and teens.
This Halloween board pairs well with this toffee apple dip. You could also add some homemade caramel apples to your next party menu.
Ingredients Options
When shopping for supplies at your local grocery store, it is easiest to have a color or color scheme, in mind. For this spooky board I wanted purple, green and orange colored treats. Bright colors are more appealing for these spooky decorations.
Try to find foods with different textures. This is a great way to bring a design element into your food presentation. Candy pumpkins and licorice adds great texture to a board. And it's always appealing to incorporate fun Halloween foods like gummy frogs or gummy worms into the mix.
This is what I purchased for this particular board:
- Frankenstein Peeps
- Candy corn flavored licorice
- Candy eyeballs
- Orange mini pumpkins
- Grape heads
- Gummy frogs
- White dipped pretzels
- Black gummy candy pumpkins
- Purple and green gummies
- Oreos with orange frosting
There are plenty of other color theme options out there if you want to do something different. Plus, so many different types of Halloween candy and sweet treats to make the perfect charcuterie board.
Instructions for Assembly
Use a Large Charcuterie Board
First, get out your snack tray, large cutting board or whatever you are going to use. This is my favorite charcuterie board for this occasion because it is an extra large board. Sides are super helpful because it allows you to add more food without it falling off the edge.
Use Small Bowls for Small Items
Using three small bowls, add items that are hard to contain or that are fun to build up. In one bowl I have chocolate eyeballs. These are great to stack high and overfill the bowl. I also have a bowl of Grapehead candy that adds a great spooky dark purple color. The third bowl contains candy pumpkins which brings in our orange palette and extra texture.
Pro Decorative Tip: If you don't have or don't want to use small bowls, using Halloween cookie cutters is another fun way to create a barrier that will hold small treats.
Fill in Treats Around the Bowls
Once the bowls are filled, start assembling around the bowls with Oreos or another food item that can layer easily. Crackers are another easy option. The bowls will help the Oreo cookies stay standing up. If you can find filled cookies with orange frosting, it works perfectly with the color theme.
Add Your Main Focal Point
For this charcuterie board the Frankenstein Peeps are the main focus. Aren't they so cute and festive? Choose a main focal point that is larger than your smaller items to make a big impact.
To highlight the Peeps, put them in a central location where they can be easily seen. I leaned them against the Oreos so they can stand upright. The bright green color really pops against the dark Oreos behind them.
Fill in Empty Space
Next, fill in any large empty spaces. I added the white pretzels to help break up the Oreos and provide a good contrast against the dark colors.
Make Witch Hats
And of course, we opted to add a little festive embellishment fitting for the spooky season.
- Spread a dollop of green frosting onto your Oreo base.
- Push a Hershey Kiss into the frosting. It's ok if your frosting spreads out farther than your chocolate because that is what your sprinkles will stick to.
- Top it off with some fun Halloween sprinkles to match.
Voila! Witch hats. These Halloween cookies are awesome for creating a unique charcuterie board. Stack these dessert items up as best you can without ruining your handy work.
Finishing Touches
Pro Decorative Tip: Licorice is a great option to create barriers and adds a pop of color and texture to your board. I found these candy corn flavored Red Vines at our local grocery store.
To finish up the board, stack gummies in orange, green and purple colors. This gets rid of all the empty spots left on the Halloween candy board. Fill it as full as you can without spilling too much food over the sides. That is why having sides on a charcuterie board is essential!
Halloween Candy Substitutions
If the candies I chose don't work for you, here are some other great options to make your charcuterie board the best part of your party.
- Anything gummy
- Chocolate skulls
- Mint Twix
- Mint Reeses Peanut Butter Cups
- Colored popcorn
- Candy corn
- Cheese balls or hard cheeses
- Halloween colored M&M's
- Candy melts
- Fresh fruit like black grapes
- Black or green olives
- Carrots and celery sticks
Spooky Variations
With the tips from above you can now make your own unique and tasty charcuterie board. Here are some great options to add.
- Small cookie cutters in Halloween shapes are a fun way to contain candy, as mentioned up above!
- Add plastic spiders on top for a spooky twist.
- Add mozzarella balls (eyeballs) and meat products for the protein lovers in your family.
You can also try this skeleton head charcuterie board variation using white treats and popcorn. Here is what you need:
- Popcorn
- White chocolate Kit Kats
- White Peeps ghosts
- Mini marshmallows
- Chocolate chips, Tootsie Rolls, Milk Duds or Junior Mints
- Hershey's cookies n' cream bites
Halloween Charcuterie Board
This charcuterie board is a hit with teens and kids and made for a great movie party. Want the perfect way to kick off this spooky season? Try out one of these awesome Halloween charcuterie boards and get creative!
Make sure and check out my other charcuterie board here.
Also check out these fun turkey ideas here. Thanksgiving is right around the corner!
And don't forget to add some spooky decorations to your home with some of these fun ideas.
Happy Entertaining!
Brooke
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