As with every holiday – foods add personality and spice to Halloween. Apples are a treat made for fall, but you can turn them into holiday specials by coating them in caramel and then adding Halloween sprinkles instead of – or in addition to – nuts. Place on a bed of candy corn and pumpkins and you have captured the spirit of the season.

To get in the Halloween mood while staying away from sweets, how about this open-face mummy snack? Cover the bread with either strips of roasted pepper or a marinara sauce and then position strips of mozzarella cheese to look like mummy wrappings. Two olive slices add eyes to finish the effect. Toast until the treat is warm and the cheese starts to melt. Your little goblin will love this!

Halloween cookies can be fun for the whole family. Cookie cutters are available in a variety of scary shapes and regular sugar cookie or gingerbread cookie dough will make cut-outs easy. You can even buy cookie dough mixes to make it simpler.

White, orange and black frostings provide everything you need to make a bevy of Halloween cookies. If you want, look for special Halloween decorations such as sugar bones and pumpkins. You can even get small candy bloodshot eyes!

For cut-outs such as the Jack-o-lantern in the photo, place the pumpkin shape on a piece of parchment paper before making the cuts. Afterwards, the cookie can be moved still on the paper to a baking sheet, to avoid the distortion of trying to lift it with a spatula.

Have fun and experiment, with no fear. The failures will taste just as good as the successes. Make your Halloween even more exciting with a few food items that may start a new tradition with your family.