Michelle Darmody: monster cookies for your cookie monsters — and other Halloween treats 

Halloween monster cookies

It's exactly a week to Halloween — and it will undoubtedly be a Halloween like no other. Many of the things we took for granted in other years will not be possible. The tradition of Halloween originated from the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain: people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts. Over the centuries this melded into an evening for dressing up and getting treats from your neighbours and friends.

Spending time over the next week baking some of these spooky treats might help to cheer little ones up. All of these recipes entail a bit of assembling, but this can be the fun part and you can use your imagination and adapt them in lots of different ways. Slivered almonds can be added to make pointy teeth and chocolate balls can be turned into spiders that sit happily in their icing cobwebs.