Recipes Holidays and Events Recipes Halloween 17 Vintage Halloween Treats That Never Get Old Bring on the nostalgia. By Vanessa Greaves Vanessa Greaves Vanessa Greaves is a Senior Editor at Allrecipes with nearly two decades of experience helping home cooks gain confidence in the kitchen. A self-taught cook who grew up reading cookbooks for fun, Vanessa lives and breathes the challenges faced by busy everyday cooks to get dinner on the table. Allrecipes' editorial guidelines Published on October 26, 2024 Close Photo: Dotdash Meredith Food Studios The tradition of consuming sweets on Halloween (or All Hallows Eve) dates back many centuries, evolving from handing out sweet pastries back then to our present-day ritual of shoveling out handfuls of packaged candies to roving trick-or-treaters. This year, why not impress your home crew with old-school Halloween goodies steeped in history and nostalgia. We're sharing some old-fashioned Halloween treats along with a few tidbits of food lore to go with them. You can still pass out the commercial candies to the hordes at the door and serve up the homemade confections to your in-house revelers. Scroll through to check them out. 01 of 18 Caramel Popcorn Balls Allrecipes Magazine Corn as a foodstuff dates back thousands of years, but the history of the popcorn ball is a little harder to verify. One fanciful story traces the origin story of popcorn balls to a perfect storm involving a hot Nebraska cornfield, a rain-soaked sticky sorghum field, and a tornado. What we do know for sure is that a recipe for Pop Corn Balls appeared in E.F. Haskell's "Housekeeper's Encyclopedia" in 1861. View Recipe 02 of 18 Rocky Road Popcorn Balls Melody Almogabar Barr According to food lore, "rocky road" as a dessert name dates back to 1853 when Australian merchants needed to come up with a way to repackage and market candies that didn't quite survive the long journey overseas from Europe. Here, two old-time treats meet up in one Halloween delight. "I made these fun treats for my boys and am now making them for the grandkids. Great any time of the year, but especially good at Halloween for trick-or-treaters. A combination of rocky road candy and sweet popcorn rolled into a ball." —SweetBasil View Recipe 03 of 18 Salted Pumpkin Caramels Chef John "Making your own homemade salted pumpkin caramels is much easier than you would think. Scooping out a pumpkin and carving a jack-o-lantern is much harder! If you've never made caramel candy, this recipe is a great place to start." —Chef John View Recipe 04 of 18 Caramel Apples Melissa Goff The official origin story of caramel apples is that a Kraft Foods salesman named Dan Walker came up with apples dipped in melted caramel back in the 1950s when he was trying to use up some extra caramel stock after Halloween. Dentists have blessed or cursed him ever since. View Recipe 05 of 18 Pumpkin Whoopie Pies CookinBug Cake-like cookies sandwiching a sweet filling were so beloved long ago that Amish farmers would shout "Whoopie!" when they found them packed in their lunches — or so goes one version of the lore. In the first decades of the 20th century, whoopie pies became commercially produced (some say 1918; others say 1925), and they've retained their old-fashioned appeal to this day. This version, made with pumpkin instead of the more traditional chocolate, is just right for Halloween, and just might get a few whoops of joy from your family and friends. View Recipe 06 of 18 Marshmallow Treats footballgrl16 Officially dating back to 1939, this combination of marshmallows, crisp rice cereal, and butter was invented by Kellogg's employees Mildred Day and Malitta Jensen. Yes, you can cut them into crispy, sticky beige squares as originally intended. But you can also add color and bend this highly malleable mixture to your creative will. View Recipe 07 of 18 Crispy Rice Candy Corn Treats Jaana Smith Bauman Crispy rice treats also make the perfect base to customize with your favorite candy. We can't think of a more classic choice for Halloween than candy corn, which dates back to the 1880s. View Recipe 08 of 18 Seasoned Pumpkin Seeds lutzflcat Ancient native cultures in the Americas consumed nutrient-dense pumpkin seeds both raw and roasted, as far back as 10,000 years ago. There's no evidence that they sprinkled them with sugar and cinnamon, though. View Recipe 09 of 18 Honeycomb Toffee Chef John With its light and airy construction, this crispy confection resembles a sponge or a honeycomb, and is known by many names all over the world. Some date the candy back to the 1940s, but that's hard to verify given its global appeal. This particular recipe comes from Chef John, who says, "This very fun and simple-to-make candy goes by many names; cinder toffee, sponge candy, and my personal favorite, 'hokey pokey,' but no matter what you call it, this eye-catching confection is a proven crowd pleaser. As long as you're very careful and heat the syrup up to the correct temp, there's not a lot that can go wrong." View Recipe 10 of 18 Nutmeg Cake naples34102 The tradition of eating spiced "soul cakes" on All Hallow's Eve dates back to the Middle Ages. Children would go door to door singing a ritual song in honor of the dearly departed, and collecting small, spiced cakes to eat. View Recipe 11 of 18 Slime Popcorn Allrecipes Magazine We've already talked about corn as a traditional foodstuff, but what about marshmallow? Food history tells us that ancient Egyptians enjoyed the sap of the mallow plant mixed with honey and nuts. Centuries later, the French used the same sap to create a fluffy but labor-intensive candy. And of course the process was mechanized and modern-day marshmallows were popularized in the United States in the early 1900s. Which brings us to this eyeball-studded bowl of green-tinted marshmallow popcorn. Who could resist? View Recipe 12 of 18 Pumpkin Cake I Kim Pumpkin spice may have become an ultra-popular flavor in the 2010s, but the blend of spices dates to 1934 when McCormick began producing it with pumpkin pie in mind. The flavor has since inspired tons of recipes. Bake our Pumpkin Cake I in a bundt pan for vintage charm. View Recipe 13 of 18 Pumpkin Cake amawilma Did you know that the first jack-o'-lanterns weren't pumpkins at all, but were originally carved out of turnips? The tradition originated in Ireland, inspired by a folktale that involved a guy named Stingy Jack who reneged on a deal with the Devil and was condemned to roam the night with only a coal in a turnip lantern to light his way. Fast forward to this sweeter version of the tale, and you have a pumpkin cake decorated like a grinning jack-o'-lantern. View Recipe 14 of 18 Hoot Owl Cookies SUZZANNA "This recipe has been around since the 1960s. My mom made them for us every fall," reviewer Carolyn says. "My favorite thing about them: When they bake, they all take on different personalities!" View Recipe 15 of 18 Bloody Skeleton S'mores This cute and creepy treat is a gruesome twist on the classic graham cracker + chocolate + marshmallow treat you know and love as s'mores. While no one really knows who officially invented the s'more, it first appeared as a recipe in a 1927 publication about the Girl Scouts. View Recipe 16 of 18 Apple Hand Pies Kari Bailey Food encased in pastry for portable, hand-held meals dates back to forever, and can be stuffed with both sweet and savory fillings. You'll find a version of hand pies in cultures all over the world, so let us just focus on the hand pies before us. They're stuffed with fall's favorite fruit, making them perfect for this roundup of old-fashioned Halloween treats. View Recipe 17 of 18 Monster Bites KGora Bobbing for apples is a popular Halloween party activity that actually dates back to the 14th century as a match-making game wherein women would try to capture a floating apple with one bite and thereby discover the names of their sweethearts. You know, because apples were ancient symbols of fertility and all that. Well, these playful apples bite back with almond teeth embedded in peanut butter, minus the angst of the dating game. View Recipe 18 of 18 More Halloween Ideas bd.weld 15 Halloween Recipes to Make With 3 Ingredients Or Fewer These Chocolate Spiderwebs Add Major Spookiness to Your Halloween Sweets Browse All Halloween Recipes Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit