12 Halloween treats from Long Island bakeries

The confectionery heart of Halloween used to be the candy collected by trick-or-treating kids, but Long Island bakeries have horned in on the action, creating holiday-themed cookies, cupcakes and more. No one is giving these out for free — you’ll have to pay for them — but, on the upside, they usually hit the shelves a week or two before Oct. 31. 

Sweet Karma, Plainview

Sweet Karma owners Jenn and Brian Fishman, known for their meticulous custom cakes and many gluten-free desserts, have an assortment of spooky options available. There are pistachio-flavored Frankenstein macaroons ($2.50) and half brownie-half chocolate chip cookie graves, ghost and goblin cakesicles ($3.75) and raspberry flavored "brain" cupcakes ($3.75), s’mores cobweb pop-tarts ($4.25) and slashed jelly doughnuts and pumpkin spider web doughnuts ($3.50). Don't forget iced sugar cookies shaped like ghosts, witches, monsters and more ($4). Gluten-free offerings include cupcakes, doughnuts, sugar cookies, pumpkin cream cheese hand pies ($4), S’mores pop-tarts, cakesicles and macaroons. More info: 136 Manetto Hill Rd., 516-794-4478, sweetkarmadesserts.com

Front Street Bakery, Rockville Centre 

This RVC standard-bearer, founded in 1946, will be showcasing its Halloween finest starting Oct. 24. Among the many creations are 4-inch cakes ($17.95) decorated to look like mummies or monsters, 6-inch cakes ($25.95) in various scary guises, an assemblage of 11 cupcakes frosted to resemble a pumpkin ($36.95) and the shop’s famous “dot” cookies, little butter cookies decorated with a blob of frosting. For Halloween they are dotted with orange and tied up with a black ribbon ($25.95 a pound). More info: 51 Front St., Rockville Centre, 516-766-1199, frontstreetbakery.com

Blondie’s Bake Shop, Centerport 

Featuring jack-o’-lantern handheld tarts with homemade pumpkin pie filling, coffin surprise cookie boxes made from sugar cookies (and filled with sprinkles and candy), ghostly marshmallow-topped s'mores cupcakes, and an assortment of Halloween-themed royal iced cookies, this cozy, sunny bakery is ready for visitors who want to make their Halloween parties more festive and sweet. Prices range from $3.50 to $7 for handheld treats and specialty Halloween cakes (which can be customized) begin at $31. More info: 90A Washington Drive, Centerport, 631-424-4545, blondiesbakeshop.com

The Cake Don, Huntington

If you follow Don Donneruno on Instagram, you know he's a master baker, adept at making cakes of all colors, shapes, sizes, and creepy fantasies. For Halloween, he will deliver the same cupcakes in fall shades of orange, yellow, black and purple, decorated with pumpkins, ghosts, candy corn, and horror movie headliners, the likes of Freddy Kreuger, Michael Myers, Pennywise, and Chucky. Cupcakes are $20 for a six-pack, $36 for a dozen, and individually priced at $5 each. More info: 605 W. Jericho Tpke., Huntington, 631-377-5477, thecakedoncreations.com

North Fork Doughnut Co., Massapequa Park

With a new location in Massapequa Park joining those in Mattituck and Bay Shore, North Fork Doughnut Co. will be celebrating the haunted holidays with festive Fall-themed, and even scarier Halloween-themed doughnuts, throughout the month of October. Choose from treats like the Candy Corn (vanilla doughnut with candy corn topping and marshmallow cream inside), Spider Web (vanilla doughnut with sprinkles and an Oreo spider), or the Pumpkin Spice Twist (chocolate frosting with pumpkin spice cream cheese and chopped pecans). Prices range from $3.50 — $5. More info: 1000 Park Blvd., Massapequa Park, nofodoco.com

Sugarberry Bakery, Rockville Centre

If ghoul and goblin cookies and witch and warlock whoopie pies aren't your bag, but pumpkin flavored everything is, we got you, too. Sugarberry Bakery has a tasteful selection of Halloween-themed pumpkin desserts at the ready. From pumpkin cupcakes to pumpkin pie, pecan caramel pie to pumpkin loaf pound cake, pumpkin cheesecake to apple cinnamon spice pie, prices range from $3.95 to $7.50 for handheld treats. Whole pies start at $22, cheesecakes at $34. More info: 312 Sunrise Hwy., Rockville Centre, 516-764-2881, sugarberrybakery.com

Baked by the Ocean, Long Beach

With their shiny colors and geometric shapes, the sweets here look like artifacts from a different planet. High-end pastry veteran Catherine Schimenti goes wild with the whimsy, producing bright pink cake pops molded into skulls ($12). Brownies have skeleton designs etched into the powdered sugar, and Rice Krispies Treats look like big bricks of candy corn. There are also sparkly Halloween colored cupcakes ($4) and cake pops with purple and orange sprinkles ($4). Halloween is one of the busiest times of the year, but the shop makes enough to keep up with the demand, so there's no need to pre-order. More info: 919 W Beech St., Long Beach, 516-889-2253, bakedbytheocean.com

Duck Island Bread Company, Huntington

Ever since his “bakery” was a stand at the Northport Farmers Market, Baker Robert Biancavilla has celebrated Halloween with a scary variation on the fougasse, an olive-oil-rich, herb-flecked Provençal flatbread. His “boo-Gasse” has been pulled into a face reminiscent of Munch’s “The Scream” ($6). Also on offer: jack-o'-lantern cookies ($3). Both items will be on sale Oct. 25-29. (The bakery is closed on Oct. 30-31.) More info: 212 Wall St., Huntington, 631-629-4848, duckislandbreadcompany.com

Bare Naked Bakery, Bellmore and Plainview 

A certified gluten-free bakery, Bare Naked's creations are "yummy without the tummy." But this season they're scary as well with Halloween creations like sugar cookies and cupcakes decorated with spiders, ghosts, pumpkins and candy corn ($6.78). Both chocolate and vanilla options are gluten-free, nut free and can be made vegan without the dairy. Both the Bellmore and Plainview stores will sell them individually and in six-packs in regular and mini sizes ($14.98 for a six-pack). No need to pre-order as they should have plenty leading up to and on the day of Halloween. More info: 2572 Merrick Road, Bellmore, 516-809-7370 and 164 Manetto Hill Road, Plainview, 516-513-0598, barenakedbakery.com

Nettie's Country Bakery, Center Moriches

This charming bakery is only open Friday-Sunday but it’s worth the trip for homey, old-fashioned confections — this is a fondant-free zone. Starting Oct. 20, Nettie’s will be selling spooky cupcakes ($3.25), candy-corn blondie bites and Reese's Pieces peanut-butter brownie bites (both $1.65). Nettie’s “campus” also includes a spacious lawn with picnic tables and Adirondack chairs; a cozy tea room with a fireplace accommodates guests in inclement or cold weather. More info: 366 Railroad Ave., Center Moriches; 631-400-9900, nettiescountrybakery.com

Fiorello Dolce, Huntington

You could say it’s Halloween all year long at this French-style patisserie. Soon after baker Gerard Fioravanti opened it in 2006, he began to perceive the spirits of Huntington residents who had met untimely ends in the immediate neighborhood. The havoc they wreak is more teasing than threatening and, over the years, the bakery’s living and undead populations have learned to coexist peaceably. Fioravanti just published a book, “The Baker’s Ghost: A Mystery Baked to Perfection,” about his ghostly interlopers and has doubled down on his usual lineup of Halloween treats. This year there are “ghost” éclairs ($4.25 for large, $1.95 for small), bandaged “mummy” tarts with bloodshot eyes (and filled with raspberries and chocolate, $6.25), large black-and-orange cookies ($3.75) and individual cakes, including chocolate graves topped by a tombstone ($6.95). More info: 57 Wall St., Huntington, 631-424-0803, fiorellodolce.com

Sweet Surrender, Levittown

This 12-year-old bakery is known for its creative takes on doughnuts and croissants, including a cannoli/croissant hybrid called the crannoli. Halloween creations get even wilder with Beetlejuice-themed cakes, and the Jack Skellington character from "The Nightmare Before Christmas." (Cakes range from $24-$28.) Customers can also pre-order other designs featured on Sweet Surrender's Instagram page. There will also be $4 cupcakes topped with plastic eyeballs and ghosts, as well as royal icing cookies that look like ghosts and pumpkins ($5). On Halloween, they'll also give out free cookies for trick-or-treaters. More info: 297 Wantagh Ave, Levittown, 516-731-2424, sweetsurrenderbakehouse.com