Looking for a great baked good for your Halloween care package? Your servicemember will love this spooky brownie graveyard! Milano cookies play "tombstones" in this ghoulish delight, and thanks to some very helpful marshmallow ghosts, it is very shippable. Let's make it!
You'll Need:
Brownie mix
Metal foil pan with an elevated lid
Food-safe markers
Ghost-shaped marshmallow peeps
Step One: Make the brownies
You can use whatever your favorite brownie recipe stateside is, just substitute butter flavored shortening for the butter and powdered eggs for the eggs - this way the brownies won't go rancid before they get there. (That would be a spooky surprise we should all avoid.) I recommend baking the brownies in a metal foil pan that also has an elevated lid so you're all ready for shipping - that way you don't have to repackage the brownies later. It's just easier!
Step Two: Ready the tombstones
Get a bag of milanos (or similar) and food-coloring markers. I got these at Michael's, but you can usually get them at the bigger grocery stores. Figure out how many "tombstones" your brownie pan can fit and get to decorating the cookies. I figured a simple "RIP" was perfect.
Tip: The marker wasn't great, so don't do anything too complicated. The tip just won't hold up.
Step Three: Insert the tombstones
When the brownies are done, let them sit for two minutes and set before you try to insert the tombstones. When the two minutes are up, stick the cookie in firmly until it reaches the bottom. If you want to stagger the sizes, cut the bottom of the cookies before you put them in. To figure out what size works for you, look at your lid: how high can your tombstones be underneath it for it to still close? We used the standard elevated lid and pan set, and the full milano stood up perfectly as long as it was all the way inserted into the brownie pan.
Step Four: Let it set
Before you package the brownies for shipment, let the graveyard set and cool completely.
Step Five: Prepare it for shipping
The best part of this project was figuring out how to keep the tombstones from crumbling under the hands of USPS... and we were thrilled when we figured out what was perfect: soft, squishy, package-perfect marshmallow ghosts!
Place the ghosts along the tombstones so that when you press the lid down, they will cushion the cookie and prevent it from breaking. The peeps are just tall enough to make sure that the lid squishes them, and not the tombstone! Plus, what's more perfect for a Halloween graveyard than a ghost?
Tell us: What are you putting in your Halloween care package?
