Halloween Sugar Cookie Recipe is easy to make and beautifully decorated. These festive Jack O Lantern Sugar cookies make the best treat for parties and trick or treating.
These darling pumpkin cookies turn out perfectly every time. It is the best sugar cookie recipe and the decorations are stunning. Anyone can easily make these for fall festivals, Halloween parties and much more.
See more Halloween Cookies recipes as this is the perfect time of year to enjoy holiday desserts. Check out these other fun and festive cookies – Halloween Chocolate Covered Oreos or Halloween Witch Hat Cookies. Also make Halloween Cake Pop Recipes, Spider Web Cupcakes, The Best Monster Cupcakes Recipe and Monster Donuts.
Don’t forget to get ready for Thanksgiving and make Thanksgiving Sugar Cookies Recipe.
Table of contents
Why We Love This Recipe
These cookies are ready in less than 30 minutes. It’s easy enough to make last minute but turns out so festive. These decorated Halloween sugar cookies make the perfect Halloween treat or to make for a fun activity.
Ingredients
Cookies
- All Purpose Flour. Plain flour, not self-rising.
- Butter. Unsalted butter softened to room temperature.
- Sugar. White, granulated sugar.
- Eggs. Large eggs.
- Vanilla Extract. Pure vanilla is recommended for baking.
Frosting
- Powdered Sugar. Sifted to remove lumps.
- Milk. Whole milk will make the frosting richer.
- Orange Food Coloring and Black Food Coloring. I like to use gel food coloring.
For the full recipe and ingredients, scroll to the bottom to the recipe card.
Variations
- Royal Icing. You can use royal icing to decorate the cookies instead of the buttercream frosting. Feel free to also use gel food coloring or liquid food coloring.
- Different shapes. This recipe can easily be adapted to other shapes. The options for cookie cutters are endless.
- Sprinkles. Top with sugar sprinkles or a mixture of Halloween sprinkles instead of decorating the face. Just make sure to do this before the orange frosting sets or they will not stick.
- Candy faces. Skip the black icing and use candy eyes for the face and green M&M’s for the stem.
- Sandwich cookies. Add icing in between two of these cookies to make a festive Halloween cookie sandwich.
Step by Step Instructions
Step 1 – In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Then set aside the bowl.
Step 2 – In a separate bowl, beat the butter and the sugar until creamy and light and fluffy. Add in eggs and vanilla extract.
Step 3 – Slowly add the dry mixture to the butter mixture. Mix until just combined with a stand mixer with paddle attachment.
Step 4 – Roll out sugar cookie dough balls onto a lightly floured surface. Then use a pumpkin cookie cutter to cut out the cookies.
Step 5 – Line the cookie sheet with parchment paper. Using a metal spatula move the cut out cookies to the parchment lined cookie sheet. Then bake cookies for about 7 minutes.
Step 6 – Place cookies on a wire rack to cool completely before decorating.
Step 7 – Mix all the frosting ingredients together in a large mixing bowl with a mixer.
Step 8 – Place approximately ¼ of the icing in a small bowl. Dye this frosting black and dye the remaining frosting orange.
Step 9 – Frost each of the cookies with the orange frosting.
Step 10 – Use the piping bag to make the face on a Jack-o’-lantern onto each cookie.
Expert Tips
- Allow to cool before transferring. The sugar cookies need to cool a few minutes before being transferred to a wire rack. This will prevent them from crumbling.
- Don’t overmix the dough. Mix the dough until it is just combined. Do not overmix or it will make the cookies tough.
- Moisten your hands if the dough is too dry to roll. If you find the dough too dry while rolling it out, dampen your hands. Then knead the dough until it is moistened to the correct consistency.
- Add extra flour to sticky dough. However, if the dough is sticky when rolling out, add more flour to it. Be very careful that you only add a small amount of flour and not more than necessary.
- Line the baking sheet. This will make clean up easier and help the cookies to bake more evenly. You can use parchment paper or a silicone baking liner.
Frequently Asked Questions
Store the leftover cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. Make sure the frosting has completely set before placing the cooking inside the container. Separate the layers of cookies with parchment paper so they do not stick.
You can also freeze the cookies either plain or decorated. If freezing the cookies decorated, they should be completely set before freezing. They will last up to 3 months if stored properly inside a freezer container.
Another option is to freeze the dough before baking. I prefer to cut out the cookies into shapes and then freeze. Just be sure to add a layer of parchment paper so the dough does not stick.
More Fun Halloween Dessert Recipes
- Halloween Spider Cookies
- Frankenstein Rice Krispie Treats
- Jack-O-Lantern Cupcakes
- Oreo Spider Cookies
- Candy Corn Cookies
- 55 Delicious Halloween Cupcakes
If you make these Halloween Sugar Cookies, make sure to leave us a comment a star review. We love hearing from you!
Halloween Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
For the Cookies:
- 2 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 Large Eggs
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
For the Frosting:
- 1/3 cup Butter softened
- 4 1/2 cups Powdered Sugar
- 1/4 cup Milk
- 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- Orange Food Coloring
- Black Food Coloring
Instructions
For the Cookies:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a medium size mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Then set aside.
- In a separate bowl, beat together the butter with the sugar until creamy and light and fluffy. Add in the eggs one at a time until combined. Then add in the vanilla extract. Continue mixing.
- Slowly add the dry mixture to the butter mixture. Mix until just combined. Be careful not to over mix.
- Divide the cookie dough into 2-3 balls.
- Roll out each of the dough balls onto a lightly floured surface until the dough is approximately ¼ inch thick. Then use a pumpkin cookie cutter to cut out the cookies. Continue this process until all the dough is formed into the cookies.
- Line the cookie sheet with parchment paper. Using a metal spatula move the cut out cookies to the parchment lined cookie sheet.
- Bake for 7-8 minutes until the cookies are lightly browned around the edges (just a slight change of color).
- Let the cookies cool on the pan for 5 minutes and then carefully move the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. (About 10 minutes).
For the Frosting:
- Mix all the frosting ingredients together in a large mixing bowl with a hand held mixer or a stand up mixer.
- Place approximately ¼ of the icing in a small bowl. Dye this frosting black and dye the remaining frosting orange.
- Frost each of the cookies with the orange frosting.
- Then put the black frosting into a pipe bag fitting with a round tip and use the pipe bag to make the face on a Jack-o’-lantern onto each cookie.
- Then let the frosting dry on the cookies and then they are ready to serve and enjoy!
