There’s something about rodents at Halloween that are expected and acceptable in connection with food. These rats are so cute and they taste good too! I couldn’t find the candy coated sunflower seeds so I used a pinch of yellow from a candy corn kernel and rolled it into eyes. For the mouth I used a Red Hot cinnamon candy. They even looked a little more sinister! 

 

 

 

 

1 1/2 cup(s) ground chocolate wafers (Oreo Thin Crisps)

4 tablespoons sugar

5 tablespoons butter, melted

 

Filling:

2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened

1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1/2 cups sour cream
Yellow food coloring

 

Heat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom.

 

Combine cookie crumbs, sugar, and melted butter in a medium bowl; stir well. Press crumbs evenly onto bottom and sides of prepared tart pan. Bake until fragrant and lightly toasted, about 7 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Reduce oven temperature to 325°F.

 

Beat cream cheese and sugar in a medium bowl, until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and making sure to scrape sides of the bowl. Add lemon zest and sour cream and beat until just blended.

Add 4 drops of yellow food coloring and stir well to blend.

 

Remove 1/2 cup of the cheesecake batter and place into a small bowl. Add 5 drops of yellow food coloring to the 1/2 cup batter and stir well. Spoon the batter into a resealable bag.

 

Pour light yellow batter into baked tart crust and smooth top. Snip a very small corner from bag with darker yellow batter. Pipe random spots of batter on top of the tart in a variety of sizes to make the cheese holes.

 

Bake tart until lightly puffed and center is just set, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack; cool completely. Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving. Serve with Chocolate Rats.

 

 

8 large strawberries, stems removed

Sliced almonds

1 container(s) (7 ounces) dipping chocolate

1/2 cup(s) black decorating sugar* (a little trick and that’s a treat since it saves money too)

Yellow and brown candy-coated chocolate-covered sunflower seeds

Slivered almonds

Black licorice laces

 

 

Line a cookie sheet with wax paper. Trim a small piece from one side of each strawberry so they can rest horizontally on wax paper. Insert 2 sliced almonds — about 1 inch from pointed end of strawberry and about 1 inch apart — to make the ears of the rat.

 

Follow heating directions for dipping chocolate. Insert a fork into the large end of a strawberry. Holding strawberry on fork over container of dipping chocolate, spoon chocolate over strawberry to coat. Allow excess chocolate to drip off, tapping fork lightly.

 

Sprinkle with black sugar to coat and transfer strawberry to prepared cookie sheet. Add yellow candies for the eyes, slivered almonds for the teeth, and brown candies for the nose. Repeat with the remaining 7 strawberries. Refrigerate rats until ready to serve.

 

Make a hole with a toothpick in back side of a chocolate-covered strawberry and insert one end of a 4-inch piece of black licorice for the tail. Repeat with the remaining 7 strawberries.

 

 

 

1/3 cup white sugar

5 drops black color liquid food color 

 

Place sugar into a jar with a tight fitting lid or sandwich bag. Drip the food coloring onto the sugar, close the lid, and shake vigorously for about 1 minute. If in a sandwich bag, then massage the color into the sugar. Adjust color with additional food coloring and repeat if the color is too light.

 

Spread the sugar on aluminum foil for several hours or up to overnight to dry, that way you can just fold the foil in half and pour it right into a jar or sandwich bag. If the sugar gets clumpy from the food coloring, give it a spin in the food processor to break up the lumps.