SPOOKY GHOST RECIPES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.  In another large bowl, beat butter and sugar together. Add egg, milk, and vanilla and beat until combined, then add flour mixture gradually until just combined. Shape into a disk and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate 1 hour. When ready to roll, preheat oven to 350º and line two large baking sheets with parchment. Lightly flour a clean work surface and roll out dough until 1/8” thick. Using a ghost cookie cutter, cut out cookies. Re-roll scraps and cut out more cookies. Transfer to prepared baking sheets and freeze for 10 minutes. Bake until edges are lightly golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Place on a wire cooling rack and let cool completely.  Meanwhile, make icing: In a medium bowl, combine powdered sugar, corn syrup, milk, and almond extract.  Place about 1/4 of icing into a small bowl and dye black with black food coloring.  Place about half the white icing in a piping bag fitted with a small round tip and pipe edges around cookies.   Thin remaining white icing by adding 1 teaspoon milk at a time until icing runs easily on cookies, but isn't water thin. Place icing in another piping bag with a small round tip and fill in centers of cookies. Use a toothpick to pop any air bubbles and to spread icing to help fill any gaps. Let cookies dry until icing is set, 15 minutes.  Place black icing in a piping bag with a small round tip and pipe eyes and mouths onto cookies. 

Steps:

• Combine ground beef, salt, pepper, cayenne, green onions, parsley, bread crumbs, egg, and Worcestershire sauce in a large bowl. Mix with a fork until just combined; do not overmix. Wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a sheet pan with a silicone liner (such as Silpat®).
• Remove meat from the refrigerator and divide into 8 equal portions. Dampen your fingers with cold water and roll meat into smooth balls. Form each ball into a ghost (or pear) shape and place on the prepared sheet pan; try to center the heads over the bodies.
• Bake in the center of the preheated oven until cooked through, about 20 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 150 degrees F (66 degrees C).
• Remove from the oven and immediately place a slice of provolone cheese on the top of each ghost, centering it the best you can. Cut the remaining 2 slices of provolone into quarters and place those over the center to provide more cheese for the head. The residual heat from the meat will start to melt the cheese and it will droop down.
• Return to the oven until the cheese melts, 30 to 60 seconds.
• Remove from the oven and take some of the melted cheese around the bottoms and wrap and drape it back up over the heads. Use the tip of a knife to form eyes and mouths, then neaten up the bottom of the cheese "sheets."
• Combine ketchup, barbecue sauce, and Sriracha for blood sauce; ladle onto plates and serve meatloaf ghosts on top.