Edible Haunted Houses: Halloween Candy House Ideas and Guide

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We recently spent a joyful afternoon building mini edible haunted houses for Halloween using simple store-bought supplies like graham crackers and candy. The secret ingredient was a homemade, three-ingredient royal icing made with Truvia® Confectioners Sweetener, a calorie-free powdered sweetener blended with stevia that measures cup-for-cup like traditional powdered sugar.

This project works great for both adults and kids. You can decorate with refined piping and spiderwebs, or let children cover their houses in whatever candies and sprinkles they choose. Both approaches are fun, and the variety makes for a lively little haunted village. Most of all, this activity brings festive Halloween energy into your home and creates a lovely way to spend time with family.

How To Make An Easy 3-Ingredient Royal Icing Recipe with Truvia® Confectioners Sweetener

I wanted a royal icing that’s quick, reliable and kid-friendly. This version swaps traditional powdered sugar for Truvia® Confectioners Sweetener and uses meringue powder instead of raw egg whites, so it’s simple and safe for a family decorating session.

Truvia® Confectioners Sweetener gives the same sweetness and texture as powdered sugar but without the sugar, which is helpful during a holiday full of treats. It measures cup-for-cup like powdered sugar, so it’s an easy substitution in any icing recipe.

Meringue powder yields the familiar royal icing texture and eliminates the need for raw egg whites. For building and piping on graham cracker houses, keep the icing on the thicker side; if you want to flood cookies or fill shapes, thin the icing with water, a tablespoon at a time, until you reach the desired consistency.

How To Build A Graham Cracker Haunted House

To make a classic graham cracker house, cut five graham crackers as follows using a serrated knife:

• Front and back: Trim the top quarter from two crackers, then cut the remaining top third into a triangle for the peaked roofline.
• Sides: Cut one cracker in half for the two side walls.
• Roof: Trim the top quarter from two crackers and use those pieces as the roof panels.

Pipe royal icing along the edges of the front piece and attach the side walls, repeating with the back. Finally, pipe icing along the triangular tops of the front and back and secure the roof panels. Hold pieces briefly until the icing sets enough to support the structure.

What You’ll Need To Decorate Your Edible Haunted Houses

Gather these supplies to make decorating easy and fun:

• Squeeze bottles for decorating — they’re cleaner and easier for children’s hands than piping bags.
• Food coloring — make several colors from a basic set to create a coordinated palette.
• Edible eyes — perfect for doorknobs or spooky accents.
• Candies — stick to a limited color palette (for example purple chocolates, orange pumpkins and white candy bones) so the finished village looks unified.
• Trays and small bowls — organize toppings and display finished houses on a large tray or cake plate.

How To Decorate Edible Haunted Houses

Here are creative ideas to inspire a variety of spooky houses:

• Create spiderwebs across the roof or the front peak with thin lines of royal icing.
• Attach edible eyes as a border along the roof peak using icing as glue.
• Pipe diamond or shingle patterns on the roof to mimic tiles.
• Pipe icing so it looks like it’s dripping down the roof for a creepy effect.
• Thicken icing slightly with more Truvia® Confectioners Sweetener and pipe decorative dots along rooflines and edges for texture.
• Or embrace the “more is more” approach: let little ones squeeze an entire bottle of icing on a roof and add a handful of pumpkins — the results are adorably chaotic.

I can’t stop laughing at the house overloaded with pumpkins and the one dripping with icing — both full of personality and the perfect examples of how varied and fun this activity can be.

Photos by Jeff Mindell

If you want extra Halloween magic at home this year, give this easy graham cracker haunted house project a try. The whole family will have fun building and decorating, and you’ll end up with a charming haunted village to display — or enjoy as a tasty, festive treat.