My brother is the reason I love scary movies. When he babysat me, it never failed that he would throw one on. He always warned me. “This one is really scary, Adriana. If you are going to watch this, I don’t want you getting all scared and then running to tell mom and dad.”
I would feign bravery. Please let me stay up and watch this with you.” To this day, my closet door has to be closed, otherwise, “Freddy’s gonna getcha!”
But he also taught me how the making of a scary movie made the movie: the framing, shadows, silence, and a camera angle making an ordinary hallway feel unsafe.
He still gets me. When I’m absorbed, he sneaks up, grabs my shoulder and yells, “Rah!”
I jump. Every. Single. Time.
Somewhere along the way, that became part of Halloween: scary movies, champagne, and brownies topped with whipped cream and candy corns. It became the opening ceremony to the holiday season. Every October, I make the brownies, pour the champagne, find something frightening, and settle in. There is comfort in repeating what reminds us who we are and who helped shape us.
Halloween Brownies
1 cup unsalted butter
1½ cups granulated sugar
½ cup brown sugar
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. salt
1 cup gluten-free flour
1 cup Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips
Heat oven to 350°F. Line an 8x8-inch baking pan with parchment paper.
Melt butter and add to the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat with granulated sugar, brown sugar and cocoa. Add eggs and beat for 2 minutes. Mix in vanilla and salt. Add flour one tablespoon at a time until fully incorporated. Fold in chocolate chips.
Spread batter into an 8x8 inch pan and bake for 35–40 minutes, until the top feels firm and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool, slice, and top with whipped cream and candy corn.
At Scratch-Farm, food is never only about what lands on the plate. It is memory, ritual, season and connection. For more recipes, stories from the farm, and a closer look at the people and ideas shaping our seed-to-supper work, visit the Scratch-Farm blog at scratch-farm.com.