Halloween Movie Snacks: Corpse Bride/Sweeny Todd Meat Pies

Can we just talk about Tim Burton movies set in Victorian England for a second? Whether you're looking for family friendly or down-right creepy, you've got options. As much as I love Sweeny Todd, we went with Corpse Bride for our Halloween movie night because it's more kid-friendly. We shaped our meat pies into skulls to mimic the skeletons in the musical part of the movie, but you wouldn't have to shape them into skulls if you were watching Sweeny Todd.

This recipe is super fun to make with kiddos that are old enough to help create the skull faces!

Another perk: There will be extra filling left over. I mixed it with rice and served it for dinner, which was delicious.

Skull Meat Pies

Makes 5-6 pies

2 Tbsp Olive oil

1/2 small yellow onion, minced

1/2 large carrot, minced

1 rib celery, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 lb ground beef or turkey

1 Tbsp Cumin

1 tsp Smoked paprika

1/4 tsp Cayenne pepper

1 Cup dry white wine

1 small can tomato sauce

Salt and pepper

1 Puff pastry roll

1 egg, beaten with 1 Tbsp water

Special equipment: Skull shaped cookie cutter (or, if not making skulls, a round cookie cutter)

For the filling:

1. Heat the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pot and add the onion, carrots, and celery. Season with salt and sautee until the onions are translucent.

2. Add the garlic and cook about 1 minute more, until fragrant.

3. Add the ground meat and season again with salt and pepper. Add the cumin, smoked paprika, and cayenne. Stir, breaking up the meat into small pieces, until browned.

4. Pour in the wine and allow to simmer about 10 minutes, stirring frequently.

5. Add in the tomato sauce and simmer another 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently, until thickened.

6. Allow the filling to cool while you prepare the skulls.

For the skulls:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 425.

2. Unroll the puff pastry on a flat surface, leaving it on the parchment paper that came with it.

3. Use the cookie cutter to cut out 10-12 skull shapes. Half of them will be the bottom of the pie, and the other half will become the skull face top.

4. Using the remaining scraps of dough, cut out 10-12 small circles for the eyes, 5-6 triangles for the noses, and 5-6 thin strips for the mouthes. Create stitched mouths using tiny scraps of dough placed across the "mouth" strip, as shown in the photo above. You will use these to decorate HALF of the skulls you cut out.

5. Place about 2 tablespoons of filling on the un-decorated bottom skull shapes. Place the decorated skull tops on top of the filling. Use a fork to press the edges closed.

6. Brush (or use your fingers) the egg and water mixture onto the skull tops.

7. Bake 15 minutes.

8. Remove the skulls from the oven and carefully press the eyeballs back down into the face (they will have popped up).