How to Make a Hauntingly Delicious Spooky Forest Charcuterie Board
Looking for a spooky dessert to serve up this Halloween season? This Spooky Forest Charcuterie Board is exactly what you need. Using lighter options from fresh fruits, pretzels and cheeses, this spread is quite faBOOlous. This post may contain affiliate links.
This fun spread can be served as an appetizer, Halloween movie snack or dessert. The choice is yours. It's mostly sweet with some savory add-ins. Let me show you exactly how I made mine.
SPOOKY FOREST CHARCUTERIE BOARD
Learn how to put together the best charcuterie board that looks like a spooky forest with delicious chocolate icing, fresh fruits and more.
Not only is this a fun treat to serve, it's actually rather fun to make and you can even make it a family activity if you like. Bonus.
Let's go over the ingredients and then the very simple instructions on how to put this all together.
INGREDIENTS FOR SPOOKY CHARCUTERIE
You will need ingredients to prepare the chocolate icing, but you could also use a container of store-bought frosting like I do in many of my dessert boards instead if you prefer.
Then I will share the list of all of the other ingredients that were used to make this spooktacular snack.
CHOCOLATE ICING INGREDIENTS:
- Cream Cheese
- Powdered Sugar
- Cocoa Powder
- Milk
SPOOKY FOREST INGREDIENTS:
- Stick Pretzels
- Blackberries
- Blueberries
- Red Grapes
- Gummy Worms
- OREO Cookie
- Melting Chocolates
- Chocolate covered pretzels (for bat wings)
- White Cheddar Cheese Block (clouds and moon)
- Candy Eyes
- Ghost Peeps
SUPPLIES USED:
If you want to take things to a spookier level, you can also use this dark slate cheeseboard to serve your treats on like I did.
CHOCOLATE ICING DIRECTIONS
Add cream cheese, powdered sugar, and cocoa powder to a stand-mixer bowl or use a bowl with a hand-mixer and turn to medium-high speed to beat. It's ready when it's smooth and combined.
Then, slowly add in milk one tablespoon at a time until you reach your desired consistency.
This is an icing, so it has a thick consistency. It will hold its shape and the gummy worms. It's also soft enough to enjoy as the dip for the pretzels and fruit.
DIRECTIONS TO MAKE BAT:
Here are different steps you can follow to create your bat:
1. Take your melting chocolates and microwave them at ½ power of your microwave for 20 seconds intervals. Make sure to stir your chocolate in between intervals as it melts until it becomes smooth.
2. Dip your Oreo into the melted chocolate, ensuring that all sides are covered. Place it on a piece of parchment paper.
3. Quickly place your pretzels with the edges down onto the sides of the Oreo, creating the wings. Also, add two candy eyes on the Oreo.
4. Allow the chocolate to set before you move it.
Tip: An alternative option is to use chocolate-covered Oreos that are already prepared. However, note that the color of the chocolate might not match the pretzels. For a more coordinated look, you can coat both the Oreos and the pretzels. However, for time's sake, I bought the pretzels already covered.
DIRECTIONS TO MAKE MOON AND CLOUD
Follow these steps to make the moon and clouds:
1. Take your block of white cheese, preferably white cheddar, and slice it lengthwise to create several big, long pieces.
2. To make the full moon, use a biscuit cutter to cut out a perfect circle from the cheese.
3. Use a pair of kitchen shears to hand-cut the cheese into cloud shapes.
HOW TO ASSEMBLE SPOOKY BOARD
Now that you have set things up, it's time to decorate the spooky forest board. Here are my easy step-by-step instructions.
1. Spread icing on the bottom of your board and insert gummy worms into the icing.
2. Use pretzel sticks to build trees. Insert the bottom of the pretzel sticks into the icing to help hold them in place. Snap pretzels into various sizes to create tree limbs. You can build both a big tree and a smaller one. This is where your creativity can take flight.
3. Place the ghost within the forest and position the bat and clouds in the sky.
4. Fill in the area around the trees and ghosts with fruit. You can choose to alternate lines of different fruits, create three sections with each fruit, or mix them all together. To fit them in smaller spaces among the tree branches, you can cut some grapes in half.
5. Once your fruit is assembled, place eyes on top of different fruits to make them appear as if they are peeking out of the forest.
Now, all that is left to do is to enjoy every delicious bite.
Spooky Forest Charcuterie Board
Ingredients
- FROSTING INGREDIENTS:
- 1 block of cream cheese (softened)
- 1 cup of powdered sugar
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- 2-4 tablespoons of milk (to make desired consistency)
- SPOOKY FOREST INGREDIENTS:
- Stick Pretzels
- Blackberries
- Blueberries
- Red Grapes
- Gummy Worms
- Oreo (bat body)
- Melting Chocolates
- Chocolate covered pretzels (for bat wings)
- White Cheddar Cheese Block (clouds and moon)
- Candy Eyes
- Ghost Peeps
Instructions
Directions To Make Frosting:
In a large bowl, combine the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and cocoa powder. Use a stand or hand mixer on medium-high speed, to beat, until it is all smooth and combined. Slowly add in milk one tablespoon at a time until you have reached your desired consistency.
Tip: You can also use a container of store-bought chocolate frosting instead.
Directions To Make Your Bat:
- Take your melting chocolates and microwave them at ½ power of your microwave for 20 seconds intervals. Stir your chocolate in between intervals as it melts, until it is smooth.
- Dip your Oreo into your melted chocolate covering all the sides. Place it on a piece of parchment paper. Quickly place your pretzels with the edges down, onto the sides of the Oreo, creating the wings. Then place two candy eyes on the Oreo.
- Allow the chocolate to set before you move it.
Tip: You can use chocolate covered Oreos that are already done, but I did not find that the color of the chocolate matched the pretzels. If you would like to coat both the Oreos and the pretzels, then you can, but for time’s sake I bought the pretzels already covered.
Directions for the Moon and Clouds:
- Take your block of white cheese, I used white cheddar, and slice it lengthwise so you have several nice big, long pieces. For the full moon, I used a biscuit cuter and cut a perfect circle.
- To make the clouds, I used a pair of kitchen shears and cut the clouds by hand to create the shape of them.
Board Assembly:
- Spread your icing on the bottom of your board. Place gummy worms into the icing.
- Use your pretzel sticks to build your trees. I stuck the bottoms of mine into the icing to help hold them and then built the tree up, snapping pretzels into different sizes for the limbs. I created a big tree and a smaller one. This is where your creativity soars.
- Place your ghost within the forest and the bat and clouds in the sky.
- Then fill in with your fruit around your trees and ghosts. I chose to alternate lines of the fruit, but you can do 3 sections of using each fruit for time’s sake or mix them all up together. I cut some of the grapes in half to fit them into the smaller spaces among the tree branches.
- Once your fruit is assembled then you can place your eyes on top of different fruits, as they peak out of the forest.
- Enjoy!
Notes
The recipe makes an icing, so it will not run off the board. It holds its shape and worms, while being soft enough to scoop your pretzels and fruit up with it.
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Nutrition Information
Yield 8 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 204Total Fat 5gSaturated Fat 2gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 2gCholesterol 8mgSodium 121mgCarbohydrates 38gFiber 1gSugar 27gProtein 3g
This nutritional information is for reference only. We are not responsible for these calculations.
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