Spooky Halloween Cheese Board
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Updated Sep 14, 2025, Published Oct 13, 2023
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Bring the frightful fun to your party with this Spooky Halloween Cheese Board—a festive spread of sweet and savory bites featuring crisp fall fruits, creamy cheeses, homemade jalapeño jelly, and the star of the show: cinnamon-sugar buñuelo ghosts!
This Halloween charcuterie board is the perfect centerpiece for your spooky gathering. Not only is it easy to put together, but it’s also endlessly customizable with your favorite cheeses, fruits, spreads, and festive touches. Think of it as char-CUTE-erie at its finest!
What is a Halloween Cheese Board?
A Halloween cheese board (also called a spooky cheese board or Halloween charcuterie board) is a fun and festive snack tray designed to celebrate the holiday. It’s filled with a variety of cheeses, fruits, spreads, crackers, and playful themed add-ons like candy eyeballs, ghost-shaped buñuelos, and plastic spiders for decoration.
It’s the ultimate Halloween appetizer idea—guests can graze, mingle, and get into the spirit before heading out for trick-or-treating or costume parties.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Fun & festive: The ghost-shaped buñuelos and spooky garnishes make it an instant conversation piece.
- Customizable: Swap in your favorite cheeses, fruits, and dips to suit your taste or what’s in season.
- Sweet & savory balance: From crisp apples and pears to creamy cheeses and spicy-sweet Jalapeño Pepper Jelly, this board has it all.
- Perfect for parties: Easy to assemble ahead of time and great for feeding a crowd.
Ingredients & Substitutions
Here’s what you’ll need to make your Halloween party cheese board. (Full quantities are in the recipe card below.)
Cheese Board Ingredients
- Moon drop grapes – or use any seasonal grapes.
- Pomegranates – for pops of spooky red color.
- Pears – fresh and crisp, a great fall fruit.
- Apples – Honeycrisp or Granny Smith work well.
- Sungold kiwis – swap for green kiwi or even melon slices.
- Crackers – any variety; try seeded or herbed crackers for flavor.
- Cream cheese & blue cheese – for simplicity, but you can add aged cheddar, gouda, or pecorino for variety.
- Spreads & Dips – Homemade Jalapeño Jelly – adds a sweet-heat kick. Store-bought jelly or honey also works. For variety, include a few extra spreads like spicy green chile hummus, chimichurri sauce, spicy roasted pepitas, salsa macha, puré de calabaza, or honey.
- Buñuelo ghosts – recipe below.
Buñuelos (Halloween Ghosts)
- Flour tortillas – cut into ghost shapes.
- Sugar + ground cinnamon – classic buñuelo flavor.
- Olive oil or vegetable oil – for frying.
How to Make a Spooky Halloween Cheese Board
Step 1: Make Buñuelo Ghosts
- Cut tortillas: Use ghost cookie cutters, a Halloween cookie cutter set, or scissors to cut tortillas into festive shapes.
- Mix coating: Combine sugar and cinnamon on a plate.
- Fry shapes: Heat oil in a skillet and fry tortilla shapes in batches until golden, about 2 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels.
- Coat in sugar: While still warm, toss in cinnamon-sugar to coat. For extra fun, add candy eyeballs with writing gel.
Step 2: Prepare the Board
- Wash and slice fruit into bite-sized pieces.
- Place cheeses, crackers, and spreads on a large platter or slate board.
- Fill in gaps with fruit, buñuelo ghosts, and any decorative Halloween touches like edible candy eyeballs or plastic spiders.
Step 3: Serve & Enjoy
- Place the board in a central spot for easy grazing.
- Pair with a festive drink (like my Witch’s Brew Sangia or a Mezcal Apple Cider Hot Toddy) and let everyone dig in!
Expert Tips & Tricks
- Choose your cheeses wisely: I kept it simple with blue cheese and cream cheese, but you can also go bold with aged cheddar, gouda, or even a dark-rind pecorino for a spookier vibe.
- Pick seasonal fruit: To capture the fall ambiance, stick with fruits that fit the season’s colors—like grapes, pears, apples, and kiwi. For variety, add blueberries, blackberries, dried apricots, figs, or dates.
- Style it spooky: Have fun with your presentation! Add handwritten labels, cut cheese into gravestone shapes, or carve fruit into creepy faces. Candy eyeballs, gummy worms, and plastic spiders are easy ways to make your board scream Halloween.
- Use a dark board for spooky vibes: A black slate tray or dark wood tray makes the bright fruits and cheeses pop. Adding a cheesecloth runner underneath can mimic spiderwebs for extra effect.
- Prep ahead smartly: Make the jalapeño jelly weeks in advance and the buñuelo ghosts up to 3 days ahead. Just hold off on adding crackers until serving time so they stay fresh and crisp.
- Stick with seasonal fruits for best flavor and lower cost.
- Use a dark charcuterie board or black slate tray for extra spooky vibes.
- Add color pops with pomegranate seeds, dried apricots, or blackberries.
Storage Instructions
This board is best enjoyed fresh, but you can:
- Make buñuelos ahead: Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- Prep fruit in advance: Slice pears and apples right before serving to avoid browning, or toss them lightly in lemon juice.
- Store leftovers: Wrap cheese tightly and refrigerate; eat within 2-3 days.
Frequently Asked Questions
It’s all about the theme! A Halloween cheese board includes playful touches like ghost-shaped buñuelos, candy eyeballs, and spooky props to set the mood for your party.
Yes! The jalapeño jelly will keep for up to a month in the fridge, and the buñuelo ghosts can be made 2–3 days in advance if stored in an airtight container. Just add crackers right before serving so they stay crisp.
I used blue cheese and cream cheese, but you can also add aged cheddar, gouda, or even a dark-rind pecorino for a more dramatic look and bold flavor.
More Festive Halloween Ideas
Seeing the spooktacular spreads and snacks you whip up from my tips brings me immense joy! 🎃👻If you make a Halloween charcuterie board inspired by this post, please tag me at @muybuenocooking so I can see and share! And, If you liked this post, please rate and review.
Spooky Halloween Cheese Board with Buñuelo Ghosts
Equipment
Ingredients
- Moon drop grapes
- Pomegranates
- Pears
- Apples
- Sungold kiwis
- Crackers
- Cream cheese
- Blue cheese
- Homemade Jalapeño Jelly
- Buñuelo ghosts
Halloween Buñuelos:
- 4 large flour tortillas
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup olive oil or vegetable oil
Instructions
- Arrange fruit and cheese on a platter or cutting board.
Halloween Buñuelos:
- Using cookie cutters or scissors, cut any shape from the tortillas.
- Combine sugar and cinnamon on a large plate.
- Heat oil in a medium pan. Fry shapes in batches until golden, about 2 minutes each side. Transfer to paper towels to drain.
- Transfer to cinnamon-sugar while still warm and toss to coat completely.
Video
Notes
- Cheese options: I used cream cheese and blue cheese, but aged cheddar, gouda, or a dark-rind pecorino also work great for Halloween vibes.
- Fruit ideas: Grapes, pears, apples, and kiwi are my go-tos, but you can also add berries, figs, dates, or dried apricots.
- Spreads & dips: Jalapeño jelly is traditional in my house, but hummus, chimichurri, salsa macha, pesto, or honey all make tasty additions.
- Gluten-free option: Swap in gluten free tortillas for the buñuelo ghosts and gluten free crackers for serving.
- Make ahead: Jalapeño jelly will last up to a month in the fridge, and buñuelo ghosts can be fried and stored in an airtight container for 2–3 days. Add crackers just before serving to keep them crisp.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Photography by Jenna Sparks
I love it, looks very Delicous and inviting. You are very creative. Mija…..