By Sidney Bricker

Local News Editor

With Halloween around the corner and fall knocking at the door, these three halloween recipes are sure to get you in the autumn mood. These desserts are perfect for parties, presents, or just enjoying on your own while watching your favorite horror movie. They’ll definitely put an autumn scent in the air, even when it is still disappointingly 90° outside. These recipes are continuously evolving, as the amount of time I spend baking increases exponentially each year. 

Ginger Spice Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream

Makes 6 cupcakes

Prep time: 20 minutes

Bake time: 20 minutes

Clean up: 17 hours 

Ingredients:

• ⅝ cup all purpose flour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp ground cloves
• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• 3 tbsp molasses 
• ½ cup oat milk (or other non-dairy milk)
• 1 tbsp silken tofu, blended
• 1 tsp grated lemon zest

Buttercream (should make a little more than you’ll need):

• ¼ cup vegetable shortening
• ¼ cup vegan margarine (Earth Balance’s Vegan Buttery Sticks work perfectly)
• 1 ¾ cups powdered sugar
• ¾ tsp vanilla extract
• ¼ tsp maple extract (or more vanilla)
• 2 tbsp oat milk (or other non-dairy milk)
• 4 drops food coloring

Directions: 

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a cupcake tin with six cupcake liners.
2. Sift the dry ingredients, flour, baking powder, salt, and spices into a medium bowl and mix. 
3. Put your tofu in a food processor or emulsifier and blend until smooth. You may need to blend more of the tofu than you plan on using, but store the excess, because you can use it in many other recipes. The tofu helps add moisture to the cupcakes, so if you prefer not to use tofu, soy yogurt, or soy sour cream will work just as well. 
4. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the vegetable oil, maple syrup, molasses, oat milk, tofu, and lemon zest.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until combined and no substantial lumps remain. 
6. Divide the batter evenly into the prepared cupcake wrappers and place in the oven for 18-20 minutes, removing them when an inserted toothpick comes out clean. These cupcakes will most likely not have rounded tops, but what they lack in rising potential they make up for in flavor.

Buttercream:

1. In a mixing bowl, cream together the vegetable shortening and the margarine with an electric mixer for a couple minutes.
2. Sift the powdered sugar and add to the bowl in parts, beating in between with the electric mixer (if you add it all at once, the sugar will fly everywhere.) 
3. Add the extracts, food coloring (I chose orange,) and half of the milk. Beat the mixture for a few seconds, then, if necessary, add the rest of the milk. Beat the mixture for 3-5 more minutes, this is important to avoid any lumps in your buttercream.
4. When the cupcakes are fully cooled, load your buttercream into a piping bag and frost them!

Maple Sugar Cookies

Makes 6 huge pumpkin cookies (or 12 normal-sized cookies)

Prep time: 15 minutes

Chill time: 1 hour

Bake time: 10-12 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 ¼ cup flour
• ⅛ tsp baking powder
• 1 tbsp arrowroot powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ cup margarine, slightly softened (not melted)
• ¼ cup vegetable shortening
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ¼ cup oat milk
• 4 drops food coloring
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ tsp maple extract

Directions: 

1. In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, arrowroot, and salt.
2. In a large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to beat together the margarine, vegetable shortening, and sugar at a high speed for about 5 minutes, until fluffy.
3. Add in the oat milk, food coloring, and extracts, and continue to mix for a few more seconds. 
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in two parts, mixing at a slow speed until just combined.
5. Shape the dough into a disk and wrap it in plastic wrap. Chill it in the freezer for an hour or more.
6. After an hour, roll the dough out to about ¼ inch thick on a floured surface and use a floured cookie cutter to cut out shapes.
7. Place the shapes on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes, removing them when they are just lightly golden around the edges.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Maple Glaze 

Makes about 10 cinnamon rolls

Prep time: 15 minutes

Rise time: 1.5 hours

Bake time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

Dough:

• ½ cup pumpkin puree
• ½ cup oat milk
• ¼ cup margarine, melted
• ¼ cup sugar
• ½ tsp instant yeast (or heaping ½ tsp activated yeast)
• 2 ¼ – 2 ¾ cups of flour
• ½ tsp salt

Filling:

• ¼ cup melted margarine
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• 2 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp cinnamon sugar (no need to measure, just sprinkle until the surface is evenly and generously coated)

Glaze:

• 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
• 2 tbsp oat milk
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• ½ tsp maple extract (optional)

Directions:

1. Coat a round cake pan with an oil, vegetable, coconut or margarine. 
2. In a large bowl mix together the pumpkin puree, oat milk, melted margarine, and sugar. (If using activated yeast, try not to use a metal mixing bowl or metal spoon, heat the mixture on the stove to 100-110°F, and don’t add the salt until step 4. Follow the rest of the recipe like usual.)
3. Sprinkle the instant yeast overtop and let sit for 5 minutes.
4. Add 2 cups of flour to the mixture and mix, adding more flour as you go, until the dough is sticky but moldable. Do not add more than 2 ¾ cups of flour. Now is the time to add the salt if you’re using activated yeast.
5. Cover the bowl with a towel and let the dough rise for 1 hour.
6. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
7. Roll out the dough to a rectangular sheet about ¼ inch thick on a floured surface. Use a butter knife to spread melted butter and evenly coat the surface of the dough. Sprinkle on both sugars and the cinnamon.
8. Roll the rectangle into a long cylinder and cut into 1 inch pieces. Arrange those pieces in the cake pan. They should be a bit squished together.
9. Cover again and let rest for 30 minutes. 

Glaze:

1. Mix all of the ingredients together. That’s it.

Baking and assembling:

1. Bake for 25 minutes until the edges of the spirals are golden brown. Don’t be alarmed if the rolls look to be drowning when you first take them out of the oven. To fix the problem, just avert your eyes, leave the pan sitting on the counter, and come back in 10 minutes. They’ll look perfect. 
2. After 30 minutes or so, the rolls should be cool enough to be removed from the pan. Now is a great time to drizzle on the glaze.