Halloween haunts us on a weekday this year, but fear not! Treat the little ghouls to a spooktacular breakfast, and for the grown-ups, indulge in a scary-movie snack so good, it’s love at first bite.
Spooky toasts with better Nutella
Serves 2
2 slices sourdough bread, toasted and buttered
1 banana, peeled
A handful of baked pretzels
A pinch of black sesame seeds
6 edible eyeball decorations
For the better Nutella
250 g hazelnut butter
2 tsp cold-pressed oil (macadamia oil is great)
50g dark chocolate (50–70% cocoa), coarsely chopped
2 tsp Dutch-processed cocoa*
1/4 tsp ground cassia*
1/4 tsp ground wattleseed*
1/2 tsp coconut sugar*
1/8 tsp fine Himalayan pink salt
Spice shortcuts*
3 tsp Gewürzhaus Feel Good Hot Chocolate
To make the better Nutella, combine all the ingredients in a saucepan (ideally with a spout) over medium–low heat and, stirring occasionally, heat until the chocolate is melted.
Pour the warmed mixture into a 300 ml sterilised glass jar and spoon any excess into your mouth! Set aside.
To assemble the spooky toasts, spread a layer of better Nutella on each.
For the spider toast, place two slices of banana on the toast, then decorate with broken-off pieces of pretzels for the legs, sesame seeds for the mouths and eyeball decorations for the eyes.
For the ghost toast, cut the banana in half and then again lengthways in half. Place on the toast and using a chopstick, poke a whole into the banana to make the mouth of the ghost. Decorate with eyeball decorations for the eyes and sesame seeds for eyebrows.
Chocolate-coated candied popcorn
Makes 35 clusters
1 tbsp coconut oil or vegetable oil
50g plain popcorn kernels
150g caster (superfine) sugar
1 tsp sea salt
300g good-quality milk chocolate
In a medium saucepan, heat the coconut oil over medium heat until hot and beginning to smoke slightly.
Add the popcorn kernels and immediately sit a sieve on top to seal the top of the saucepan.
As the kernels begin to pop, reduce the heat to low and shake the saucepan occasionally.
As the popping subsides, add the sugar to the sieve and shake the saucepan until the sugar has sifted through.
Continue to shake the pan until the sugar has caramelised – this will take a couple of minutes.
Remove the pan from the heat and stir the popcorn to ensure it is completely coated in caramel. Transfer to a sheet of baking paper and quickly separate the popcorn using a spatula.
Sprinkle the salt over the popcorn, then leave to cool completely at room temperature.
Temper the chocolate by placing it in a microwave-safe plastic bowl and heating it in the microwave on high in 30-second increments, stirring in between. Once you have 50 per cent solids and 50 per cent liquid, stir vigorously until the solids have completely melted. If you have some resistant buttons, you can gently heat the chocolate with a hair dryer while stirring to melt them.
Place the cooled popcorn in a bowl. Pour the tempered chocolate over the popcorn and stir to coat.
Create clusters by spooning tablespoons of the chocolate popcorn onto a sheet of baking paper. Leave to set at room temperature.
Store in an airtight container for up to 6 weeks below 25°C.
