Cheryl George wants Frankenstein's head on a platter.

She thinks it would be a treat for customers visiting Delish Bakery in downtown St. Joseph.

"I want to do the Frankenstein head so we can display it on the counter," says Ms. George, the bakery's owner.

Of course, this Frank would be crafted from flour and sugar rather than body parts. And he'd taste good, too.

With Halloween coming, it's the time of year when Frank and his cronies turn up in kitchens across the country. They don't hang around for long. But with just a little imagination and skill, you can make their visit a

tasty one.

Decorated cookies, cupcakes, cakes or brownies are a Halloween staple. You can make them as simple as you want (colored frosting and sprinkles) or as elaborate (skeletons dancing in front of tombstones in a moonlit graveyard.

For decorated, cutout cookies, purchase some Halloween-themed cookie cutters. They are available at most stores and come in a variety of shapes and sizes, from pumpkins and witches to cats and ghosts.

To keep dough from sticking to the cutters, Gary Hall, bakery manager at Hy-Vee in St. Joseph, says to dip the cookie cutter in a little flour each time you use it.

Also, go easy when mixing the dough, he and Sandra Justice, owner of Annie's Accents Bakery in Oregon, Mo., say. Ms. Justice says the dough should be easy to roll out.

"If you overmix the dough," Mr. Hall says, "you'll have more trouble cutting them out."

Use your imagination when decorating those cookies. Try adding mouths or eyes to the pumpkin-shaped cookies, Mr. Hall says.

When using icing, Ms. Justice goes easy on the black frosting. It leaves its mark.

"Black frosting turns people's mouths black," she says.

If you're a cupcake person, then Ms. George has an idea for you. Channel your inner witch.

Take a cupcake, turn it upside down and stick a pretzel rod in the center. Then frost the cupcake with straw-colored frosting. To add broom accents, use a star decorator tip and starting at the top, draw lines all the way down the cupcake.

"It looks like a witch's broom when you're done," she says.

If you're feeling really creative and have the time, brightideas.com offers recipes for making dancing bones brownies and vampire bites (they look like red lips with fangs). Both recipes are supposed to take less than an hour to complete and are rated "easy" when it comes to difficulty level.

Of course, if you really don't have the time or feel you have the talent, then many bakeries have Halloween treats already made that you can purchase. Whether you bake or buy, it's not hard to sink your teeth into some tasty Halloween treats.

Lifestyles reporter Cathy Woolridge can be reached at cathyw@npgco.com

Dancing bones brownies

1 box (22.5 ounces) your favorite brownie mix

1 bag Milky Way Fun-Size Bars

1 bag Twix Caramel Cookie bars, fun size

12 cups chocolate cookie crumbs

1 can (16 ounces) chocolate frosting

1 can (16 ounces) vanilla frosting

1 bag M&M'S chocolate mini baking bits

Prepare brownie mix according to box directions. Stir 2 cups chopped Milky Ways into batter before spreading into a foil-lined jelly roll pan. Bake in a preheated 325 degree oven for approximately 15 to 20 minutes. Cool completely. In the meantime, finely chop chocolate cookie crumbs with 12 Twix Caramel Cookie bars in a food processor, set aside. Cover brownies with chocolate frosting and top with chocolate crumbs mixture. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Cut brownies into 16 pieces. Transfer 1 cup of vanilla frosting into resealable plastic bag with a snipped corner. Using the printable template, pipe a skeleton on each brownie. Decorate with mini baking bits. Makes 16 brownies.

- brightideas.com

Vampire bites

1½ cups flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup butter, softened

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

Red food coloring

1/2 cup red decorator's sugar

1 bag Milky Way Minis

1 tube vanilla frosting

Combine flour, baking soda and cinnamon in medium bowl; set aside. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg; beat well. Slowly add flour mixture into dough until blended. Add enough food coloring to tint dough a bright red. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least two hours. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line cookie sheet pans with parchment paper. Using a rolling pin, roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/4-inch thickness. Use the printable templates or cookie cutter to cut out 24 lip shapes. Otherwise, you can form the dough into 24 balls and flatten each slightly to create free-form shaped lips using your hands to pinch and shape the dough. Transfer these to prepared cookie sheets. Re-roll scraps if necessary. Sprinkle cookies with red sugar. Bake seven to 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from the oven, and immediately press an unwrapped mini into center of each cookie. Cool completely. Use vanilla frosting to pipe fangs over the candy.

Tip: If short on time, consider using store-bought refrigerated sugar cookie dough. Begin by kneading 2/3 cup of flour into dough, then roll and cut according to the above directions. One roll of cookie dough makes approximately 18 cookies.

- brightideas.com

Whacky batty cupcakes

1 18.25-ounce chocolate cake mix

1 bag Milky Way Fun-Size bars

1 can (16 ounces) vanilla frosting

Yellow food coloring

Decorator's sugar, optional

1 cup dark chocolate frosting

Black food coloring

1 bag M&M'S Milk Chocolate Candies, Pumpkin Patch Mix

1 bag M&M'S Brand Peanut Chocolate Candies, Pumpkin Patch Mix

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners. Prepare the cake mix according to package instructions and spoon the batter into the prepared pans. Place 1/2 of a Milky Way in the center of each cupcake. Bake for approximately 19 to 22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven, transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Tint vanilla frosting bright yellow with food coloring. Tint chocolate frosting black with the food coloring and spoon into a resealable bag. Spread top of cupcakes with yellow frosting. Roll edges into the decorating sugar if desired. Place one or two black M&M'S Milk Chocolate and M&M'S Peanut Chocolate Candies on top of each cupcake as the bats' bodies. Snip a small corner from the bag with the black frosting. Pipe bat wings on the either side of each M&M'S and ears on top of each M&M'S. Makes 24 cupcakes.

- brightideas.com