Nutty Apple Frogs

Halloween would not be Halloween without mini chocolate bars and candy corn but there are some healthier treats that can be appropriate too. These little frogs are made from apple quarters with sunflower seeds for teeth, hazelnuts for eyes, strawberry slices for tongues and a bit of nut butter to hold the tongue and eyes on. I originally intended for them to be monsters but with the green apples and not so scary tongues, everyone thought they were frogs so I went with it and added some dried cranberry flies. Frogs are like toads, which are associated with witches, so they can still be sort of Halloween appropriate. Red apples and two rows of teeth instead of a tongue on the bottom could look more monstery, or even vampire-like with two larger pumpkin seeds for incisors. Raisins or other roundish nuts like pistachios could work for the eyes instead of hazelnuts.Start by cutting an apple into quarters then cutting out a large mouth on the skin side and place a small spoonful of nut butter on the bottom of the cut out. I used cashew butter because it is really thick, but any nut or seed butter works. With the natural versions, the ones where the oil separates, don’t mix the oil in, just use the thicker bottom part as it will be a better adhesive- if the butter is too runny it will not stick as well.Flip it upside down and stick 4-6 sunflower seeds into the roof of the mouth, pointy side in.Scoop a bit of nut butter onto the bottom, flat sides of the hazelnuts then stick them onto the apple above the mouth. Place the strawberry tongue on the bottom shelf of the mouth and press down gently into the nut butter.
To make the flies, stick two almond slices (or pumpkin seeds), pointy side down, into a raisin, dried cranberry, blueberry or cherry. The almond slices are fragile so it helps to make a small cut into the dried fruit to insert them into.