Make Your Own Ghostly Pops This Halloween

Looking for something special to give out this Halloween? While handing out homemade candies at the door is probably not a wise idea, due to scares over the years, there's nothing stopping you from giving some ghoulish suckers to your friends and family. Here's how to whip up a freaky batch of your own.

To make your ghostly pops, you will need the following ingredients:

White peppermint hard candies, crushed (for tie-dye ghosts, use assorted colored hard candies)

Black peppercorns

You will also need lollipop sticks, which should be available at any crafting store or baking shop, waxed paper and a baking sheet or two.

Lay the waxed paper, waxy side up, on the baking sheet and arrange the sticks on it, about 3" apart. Having this ready before you start melting the candy is important, since there will be little time once you have the melted candy to pour. Keep the entire baking sheet in the fridge so it will be ice cold when you are ready to pour. This will help solidify the shapes faster.

Next, in a double boiler, melt the crushed hard candies. If you are going to make tie-dye ghost pops, you will need to heat each color separately. The best way to do this is to set canning rings in a skillet of boiling water and put a clean tin can on each one. Add candy to the cans and you can melt all at the same time. To make it easier to pour, you may want to use pliers to make a spout before heating the cans.

Stir the candy constantly with a wooden spoon or stir stick until it is liquid. Be VERY careful at this stage, since hot sugar syrup (essentially what hard candies are) is extremely hot and can burn instantly. Use oven mitts to handle the cans, or tongs.

Carefully pour the syrup over each stick and let it form ragged edges at the bottom, with a smooth rounded "head" and a couple of bumps for arms. Don't worry about getting this perfect, the idea is to have randomly shaped ghosts. As long as you end up with a white blobby being, you're fine. Each ghost pop will be original!

Before the candy hardens, drop two peppercorns into it for eyes. You can add a third for a mouth, if you like, but it isn't necessary.

Now, you need to let your ghostly treats cool and harden. This can take 6-12 hours, so be sure to do it ahead of time. Save time by sticking the pops in the fridge for a few hours. When they are hard, peel the paper away and you are ready to hand them out. Use clear cellophane to wrap them and a ribbon or piece of yarn tied below the ghost's robe to secure it.

These pops are way easier to make than creating your own lollipops from scratch and the hard candies give you the ability to mix and match colors, too.