Bake This Samhain Bread Instead of Eating Halloween Candy

For most of us, the cuisine of Halloween falls into two major categories: candy and alcohol. Maybe a flask of whiskey slipped into the pocket of your costume chased with three "fun-sized" chocolate bars, or a heavy dip into the party punch soaked with a generously sized bag of candy corn.

But for pagans, you can swap out the candy and swap in some bitchin' homemade bread. (They'll keep the mead, thanks.)

The night before Halloween, October 30, is the time to go deep on some Samhain bread-baking. Samhain, of course, is the pagan celebration of the final harvest before winter sets in. And if you're going to harvest, you've got to make your goods into some lovely, fluffy carbs so that you don't get too drunk on mead and sleep through all the partying.

Debs Summers-Cooper, official Counter Enchantress of Glastonbury's pagan shop The Goddess & The Green Man, offers us two delicious ways to celebrate Samhain. The first is a simple but delicious buttermilk soda bread with poppy seeds and pumpkin seeds. Spooky.

But if your sweet tooth is raging, you may wish to try another version with honey, dried fruit, ginger, brown sugar, and nuts.

Just remember: the veil between the worlds is thin on Samhain, so please be kind and share with your neighborly ghosts and demons.