Pumpkin King Pumpkin Pie

Because making pie crust is freakin’ HARD.

You’ve partied with Oogie Boogie Meringue Cookies. You’ve sipped tea and nibbled Nightmare Before Christmas Sugar Cookies with your pinky out. You guiltily crammed an entire Jack Skellington Whoopie Pie in your mouth (though you might have redeemed your social graces enough with this fandom tea, courtesy of CuppaGeek). You socialized with Sally’s Blueberry Scones.The time has finally come for Pumpkin King Pumpkin Pie.

So it has finally come down to this: Halloween Week. The final Nightmare Before Christmas tea party recipe. Today I present you with the king of all pies: Pumpkin King Pumpkin Pie! Did you think you would make it out of here without encountering pumpkin spice?! This recipe combines the ‘tried and true’ (my grandmother’s spicy pumpkin pie filling recipe) with the ‘fresh and innovative’ (a buttery, flaky pie crust recipe developed by a friend in culinary school). I must confess: This is the best pumpkin pie I have ever tasted. I do not say such things lightly. A couple of talking points before you read about me cursing at baking supplies:

First order of business: Have you voted for November’s Featured Recipe yet? You are eligible to vote once every 7 days and the poll will be running until November 1st at dawn. Make your vote count now.

Second order of business: This pie crust recipe was gifted to me by a good friend of mine, Luna. She’s absolutely fantastic and deserves full credit for getting me through this with minimal issues. She is also thus far the only person who will give me shit for weird culinary stuff I do and gives great feedback. Stay tuned for a quick interview with her. I promise it’s interesting and funny and she totally fits in here.

Ready? Let’s go.

Nightmare Before Christmas: Sally’s Blueberry Scones

What could be more iconic than scones and tea at a tea party? How about my recipe for Sally’s Blueberry Scones? These scones are delicious with bursts of intense blueberry flavor and a sweet-tart lemon glaze that just won’t quit. The best part? Break one of these scones apart and take a look at that drop-dead gorgeous blue crumb. It’s irresistible. I confess, I ate one scone before I even started on the stitching, burning my tongue on the hot blueberry juices in the process. I had two more scones this morning.

Number of regrets: 0

This is your new go-to scone recipe. End of discussion. Hell, I’m making a second batch and destroying my kitchen later this afternoon. They’re seriously the easiest thing in the world and require zero decorating skill. Ready? Let’s go.

Jack Skellington Whoopie Pies

Skill Up Skillets month of Nightmare Before Christmas continues with a mouthwatering reverse whoopie pie recipe- a white cake cookie on the outside with rich, decadent chocolate on the inside. What’s even better, the center is filled with two different kinds of chocolate: homemade creamy chocolate ganache and a chocolate-chocolate chip whipped cream. The itty bitty Jack Skellington faces turned out to be rather adorable, and they’re so easy to make! Why are you not in the kitchen already?!

Don’t forget to head over to CuppaGeek to see what she has to offer for some spooky good Halloween teas. They’re simply to die for! Yes, I’m very punny, thank you very much. I think her Pumpkin King tea review would be spot-on for this recipe!

After a hysterical conversation with one of my international friends I learned that whoopie pies are an American thing. Seriously, I’d post the whole conversation here if I didn’t think she would hop on a plane to Ohio and beat me senseless with a rolling pin or something. A whoopie pie is a US baked good that is made of two round mound-shaped pieces of chocolate cake, or sometimes pumpkin or gingerbread cake, with a sweet, creamy filling or frosting sandwiched between them. You can learn more about whoopie pies here, if you’d like.

Boys and girls of every age… wouldn’t you like to bake something strange (and wonderful)?

Nightmare Before Christmas Sugar Cookies

This *might* be due to patience required for optimal icing.

And we’re back with another installment of the Nightmare Before Christmas Tea Party series! This week we’re featuring a sugar cookie recipe with charmingly ornate royal icing Zero and nightscape designs. If these cookies make you half as happy as they make me, I’ve done my job. But why another Friday update? Allow me to answer you in verse:

What’s this? What’s this?
There’s flour everywhere
What’s this?
Baking smells in the air
What’s this?
A table laid with cookies
There’s so much icing
Get this black goop out of my hair!
What’s this?

Yes, I managed to get icing in my damn hair.

But seriously, these are quite possibly the best homemade sugar cookies you’ll ever make in the history of ever. Your little ones will love you, your demented teenager will come out of their room for five minutes, your Nightmare Before Christmas-loving significant other will make shrill happy sounds before tackling you, your coworkers will hail you as the food-bringing office hero.. it’s a win:win:win:win situation.

Ready? Let’s go.

Oogie Boogie Meringue Cookies

Yes, I see what I did there. October is here and the Halloween season is upon us. While this may make some run for the pumpkin spice (ahem, basic), there are those of us who get to work making devilishly delicious treats. This month Skill Up Skillet will be hosting a Nightmare Before Christmas tea party of sorts with CuppaGeek! Stay tuned for a stellar tea review and pairing later this month. Seriously, though, did you know there was such a thing as geeky teas? No? You’ve gotta get in on that. Give a girl a click.

This week we’re starting off with the villain, Oogie Boogie. This meringue cookie recipe is positively to die for. There’s a little bit of chewiness, a little bit of crunchiness, and a whole lot of flavor. As an added bonus, they’re so light they practically fly off the plate. Simply diabolical!

Boys and girls of every age, are you ready? Let’s go.