A kid-friendly, fun, festive, and spooktacular snack that celebrates the spirit of Halloween taste way better than they appear and promises to really freak out your family and little trick-or-treaters!
Here is a fantastic Halloween recipe that is super delicious, addictive, and packed with a petrifying punch! Serve these party-worthy appetizers as snacks before trick-or-treating and win adorable little hearts. The name ‘Croquettes‘ in french means croquer (kro-kay), meaning to crunch. Originally from France, these croquettes are an easy way to use up the leftovers in the fridge. The leftover meat or veggies are mixed with other ingredients and rendered a cylindrical shape. These are then rolled in the breadcrumbs and deep-fried or baked. The croquettes you come across in Spain are the customized version of French croquettes, which are filled with béchamel sauce instead of potato and veggies/meat filling. Just cook the corn croquettes, unroll the pastry sheets, wrap the croquettes with the pastry sheets and bake them in the air fryer! They are this easy! Corn, carrots, and peas are the filling ingredients that are tasty and healthy too. Onions add their distinct flavor, and chilies bring the heat. Besides that, you will love these spooky, fun treats as they are —
Fun and super easy Delicious, attractive, and addictive Veggies make them healthy Comes together pretty quickly, and Scalable as per the need
The best part is these Halloween appetizers can be prepped ahead of time and served just as when the party kicks off.
Corn kernels — Forms the key ingredient, lending nutrition, and color to the recipe. You can use store-bought frozen corn or even fresh ones. Green peas — High in nutrients, fiber, and antioxidants, this recipe uses frozen green peas that add color and nutrition. Carrots — Carrots are a great source of vitamins and minerals and rich in beta-carotene. Wash, peel, chop and cube the carrots before adding them to the recipe. Potatoes — Boiled and mashed potatoes help bind the croquette mixture together, easing the process of shaping Halloween corn croquettes. Green Chillies — Chopped green chilies spice up the flavor of the recipe. Cilantro — Freshly chopped herbs like cilantro add color and flavor to the recipe. Breadcrumbs — Breadcrumbs are added to the croquette mixture to absorb the extra moisture and help the ingredients to bind correctly. I have used homemade breadcrumbs, although store-bought breadcrumbs also work great. Seasonings — Seasonings like cumin seeds, paprika, salt, and pepper add more flavor and spiciness to the corn croquette recipe. Oil — For brushing the croquettes.
Follow the step-by-step instructions to make the best Halloween Corn Croquettes
Fry the croquettes — Instead of baking these delicious corn croquettes, you may also consider frying them. Place the croquettes in the moderately hot oil and cook them for 3- 4 minutes or until golden. Then, flip them and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes. Ensure the oil is not too hot or will burn the croquettes and spoil the recipe. Scalable recipe — If you need to feed a large crowd, you can always double the Halloween corn croquette recipe as it is easily scalable. For better binding — The croquette mixture may have some extra moisture, making it difficult to bind. This also doesn’t let the croquettes hold their shape. To fix this, add some flour or breadcrumbs to the mixture. The flour/ breadcrumbs soak the extra moisture, making it easy for the fritters to bind and hold their shape. More veggies for more flavor — This recipe comprises veggies such as potatoes, peas, carrots, and corn. You may also add more veggies of your choice to make this recipe more flavorful and healthy. Adding a healthy punch — You can also add chopped spinach or kale to the croquettes for more flavor, color, and nutritional significance. Spinach and kale provide more vitamins and minerals to the recipe. Swap peas for other veggies — If you don’t like peas, swap them entirely and add other veggies of your choice. Baking the croquettes — You can brush them with oil and bake them in a preheated oven at 400° F (200° C) for 15 to 20 minutes until they turn crispy golden. Shallow frying is another option — You can also shallow fry the croquettes if you prefer something other than deep frying or baking. Shape them cylindrical and shallow fry them in a pan in batches. Ensure they are not over-crowded in the pan, or else they will not fry properly. Baking duration — The baking time of the croquettes may vary depending on the number of puff pastry layers that you have added to each corn croquette. Making edible eyeballs — You can substitute the eyes with a small circle of cheese slices and place a black peppercorn or corn kernel for the eyeball. Work with one pastry sheet at a time — If kept at room temperature for a long time, the puff pastry sheets may become sticky and tough to work with. Keeping them in the fridge, covered in a large zip-lock bag, until ready to use is best. Take one sheet at a time and work on it. Roll the puff pastry sheet on a floured surface — The puff pastry sheets may stick to the board when rolling; therefore, flour the surface before rolling them. Bring more crispiness to the recipe — You may place your freshly shaped corn croquettes in the refrigerator and chill them for some time to ensure extra flakiness and crispiness when they are fried. Garnish — I have used a dab of vegan mayo to stick the edible eyeballs to my Halloween corn croquettes. But you can use mustard sauce or ketchup too to create eyes. Get ready with the ingredients, and let us begin our Halloween adventures! I promise you will love the unlimited fun and flavor that will come along. And don’t forget to share it with your family and friends.
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