Pumpkin Board
JERRELLE GUY

Assemble a smiling jack-o’-lantern shaped pumpkin board with a great variety of orange- and black-colored snacks, and it’s sure to be a Halloween hit with all the little ghosts and goblins. Triangle-shaped cookie cutters are used to place the pumpkin’s blackberry eyes and nose, while two big bunches of black grapes create the grin. Once the face is in place, you’ll fill it out with rows of orange snacks. A holiday hit!

Serves 10+ people
Use a 20-in. (51 cm.) round board

Ingredients and Tools for Making a Pumpkin Board

  • 3 triangle-shaped cookie cutters, for the eyes and nose
  • 2 large bunches black Concord grapes
  • 1½ cups (225 g.) blackberries
  • ¼ medium cucumber, thinly sliced
  • 30 orange cheddar cheese cracker cuts
  • 1½ cups (150 g.) cheese crackers
  • 2 cups (120 g.) sweet potato crisps
  • 1 bag (12 ounces, or 336 g.) baby carrots
  • 2 orange bell peppers, cut into strips
  • 2 cups (32 g.) orange cheddar popcorn
  • 1½ mini cheese balls
  • 2 cups (60 g.) orange yogurt-covered pretzels
  • 1 cup (30 g.) seeded sweet potato crackers
  • 1 cup (130 g.) dried apricots
  • 3 clementines, peeled and segments separated
  • Ranch dressing and hummus on the side for dipping

Steps to Making a Pumpkin Board

  1. Place the cookie cutters on the board for the pumpkin’s eyes and nose. Shape the black grapes into a grin. Fill the cookie cutters with blackberries.
  2. Place the cucumber slices at the top of the board for the pumpkin’s stem.
  3. Fan the cheese slices down the middle of the board. Line the cheese crackers, sweet potato crisps, carrots, bell pepper slices, popcorn, cheese balls, pretzels, sweet potato crackers, apricots, and clementine segments out on both sides of the cheese slices and around the black foods until the board is completely covered. Tightly pack the orange foods at the edges of the board, so they stay in place if you transfer the board to another location to serve.
  4. Carefully, lift the cookie cutters from the board, shaping the blackberries back into the triangle shapes, if necessary. You can always add more black and orange foods to fill in any gaps.
  5. Serve bowls of ranch dressing and hummus on the side for dipping.

Excerpted from Beautiful Boards: 50 Amazing Snack Boards for Any Occasion. To be published on September 24, 2019 by Rock Point, an imprint of The Quarto Group. Text ©2019 by Maegan Brown. Photography by Jerrelle Guy.