Legoland's Brick Or Treat: Witch Hat Cookies

It's that time of year again, time for us to dig into as much Halloween fun as we can find.  As usual, this means starting the holiday off with a BOO at Legoland's Brick or Treat.

Brick or Treat happens every Saturday in October, so this coming Saturday is the last night of the event.  It's an additional add on to your regular ticket (or membership for most levels), but well worth it.  It's so much fun to get dressed up and run around the park in the dark, with the bonus of collecting candy and treats!

Brick or Treat starts at 5pm and goes until 9pm, so after years of experience, we know not to get to the park too early.  It's a long day for kids.  We usually head over after nap time.  Which also helps the little guy not turn into an actual monster.  Once we get into the park we usually ride a few rides before changing into our costumes.

Costumes are not required for this event, but they make everything so much more fun, don't you think?  

The entire park is decorated in fun Halloween decor that is perfect for kids - not too spooky.  Even spooky elements like spiders take on an air of fun when they're jamming to rock music.  There are seasonal specialty foods offered, although we always end up at the pizza and pasta buffet - a good deal for refillable drinks and a place to fill up on something other than candy.

There are so many different events during the night.  Dance parties, shows, stilt walkers and entertainers, people who go around with bubble carts.  The kids usually enter the costume contest, which is always emcee'd  by the best performer who interviews all the kids and is so quick witted.  This year the kids opted not to participate in the contest so they could have more time for rides.   And we rode lots of rides this year.  While most of the rides aren't done any differently for Halloween, it's fun to ride them in costume, or get to ride them at night when it's dark.  The one exception is the "Coast Cruise" which is revamped as the "Ghost Cruise" with corny Halloween jokes instead of corny regular jokes.

In addition to the costumes, shows, and rides, the big draw for Brick or Treat is, obviously, the Treat part.  There are treat stations set up all over the park.  The treats handed out are things that don't melt - things like granola bars, apple sauce, jolly ranchers, sour straws, lollipops, starburst, laffy taffy, and there's always a collectible lego brick and a lego magazine. 

We always end up closing down the park, so our pro tip is to bring pajamas for the kids to change into for the ride home.  They always fall asleep during the drive, which is nice for Thatboy and I.  Because they're not the only ones exhausted!

Know Before You Go

Hours:  5-9pm

Admission: $64, parking is not included and costs $18 on the weekend

Packages: Packages available to add on a day at Legoland, 2 day admission, or even a hotel stay.

See Brick or Treat Tickets on Legoland's website for more information.

In honor of our classic monster costumes, I wanted to make a classic monster cookie.  I've been seeing witch hat cookies all over the internet.  I grew up with these, called peanut butter blossoms, which my mom made every Christmas.  It's weird to see them rebranded as Halloween cookies.  Especially when they don't even look like witch hats - have you ever seen a two toned witch hat?  I felt like I could improve upon the idea very easily.  Take away the peanut butter base and sub in something darker.  My original thought was a chocolate crack cookie, but then I was thumbing through my Maida Heatter cookie book and found something even better.  She calls them "Down East Chocolate Cookies" - an almond chocolate cookie with no flour, so they spread into a nice, flat circle.  But also, because of the use of almond paste, instead of flour they have the most wonderful, dense, chewy quality.  I've seen them described as the texture of a tootsie roll, and that's not far off.  So delightfully decadent, dark, and sinful they make the perfect Halloween treat.  No tricks.

Witch Hat Cookies (Adapted from Maida Heatter's Down East Chocolate Cookies)

1 1/2 oz unsweetened chocolate

3 oz unsalted butter

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/8 tsp salt

3 1/2 oz almond paste

1 egg

1/2 tsp almond extract

24 Hershey kisses, unwrapped

1. Place the chocolate and butter in the top of a large double boiler, uncovered, over warm water on moderate heat.  Stir frequently until melted.
2. Add the sugar and salt and stir to mix. 
3. Add the almond paste and stir until the almond paste is completely blended.
4. Remove the top of the double boiler from the heat and whisk in the egg and almond extract until smooth.  Let the mixture cool, then place in the freezer for 30 minutes.
5. Preheat oven to 300.  Place aluminum foil on a cookie sheets with only one raised side.  Drop batter by rounded teaspoons-ful onto the cookie sheet.  Do not place more than 6 on each cookie sheet because they will spread.  Bake for 21 minutes reversing sheets top to bottom and front to back during baking to ensure even baking.
6. Remove from oven and let them cool for one minute, before putting the kisses in the middle of the cookies.  Let cool completely on the foil.  When completely cool, peel the foil away from the backs of the cookies.