Spooky Halloween Cookies
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Every Halloween, I make these Spooky Halloween Cookies when the kids want to help, and I need something for the party table. Each one is two sugar cookies pressed around mini marshmallow teeth, with black icing and two marshmallow eyes staring back.
You spread the icing with a spoon and press the marshmallows on by hand, so there’s no piping bag and nothing fiddly to get right. Every cookie comes out as its own slightly different little monster.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- No piping or decorating skills needed. The rougher and more uneven it looks, the more each cookie looks like a monster, so there’s nothing precise to get right.
- The kids can do the fun parts, rolling the dough, cutting the circles, and pressing on the marshmallow teeth.
- The dough is five everyday ingredients: sugar, butter, an egg yolk, vanilla, and flour, so there’s nothing special to buy.
- They’re an easy thing to bring to a class party, a Halloween get-together, or a potluck, and they hold their shape once the icing sets.
Ingredients You’ll Need
You’ll need all the ingredients shown in the photograph below.
- Vegetarian mini marshmallows. This is the one ingredient to check the label on. Most marshmallows are set with gelatin, which comes from animals, so they aren’t vegetarian. You want the kind set with a plant-based gelling agent like carrageenan or agar instead, and the mini size is right for teeth and eyes.
- Unsalted butter, softened. Softened means it gives to gentle pressure but isn’t greasy or starting to melt. Butter that’s too soft makes a dough that spreads and loses the cut shape in the oven.
- Black food coloring. Gel colors go darker than liquid ones with less liquid added, which keeps the icing thick enough to hold the marshmallows. Add it a little at a time, since black can turn out gray or faintly purple if you rush it.
- All-purpose flour. Spoon it into the cup and level it off rather than scooping, which packs in too much and gives you dense, dry cookies.
How to Make Spooky Halloween Cookies
A complete printable recipe and the measurements in both US customary and metric are available in the recipe card below.
Make and Chill the Dough
Cream the sugar and softened butter until pale and light, then mix in the egg yolk and vanilla. Add the flour and stir with a spoon just until it comes together, no more, because overworked dough bakes up tough.
Shape it into a log, wrap it, and chill it for the full 2 hours. The chill is the step people skip and then regret, because cold dough holds its cut shape while warm dough spreads into blobs. You can make the dough up to 3 days ahead and keep it wrapped in the fridge until you’re ready to roll.
Roll and Cut
Cut the chilled dough in half and work with one piece at a time. Roll it on a lightly floured surface to about an eighth of an inch, and press your cutter straight down without twisting so the edges stay clean. Gather the scraps and re-roll them once; keep re-rolling past that, and they toughen and spread more than the first cut did.
Bake the Cookies
Line a sheet with parchment and space the cookies apart. Bake at 350°F (180°C) for about 10 minutes, until the edges are just turning golden. Pull them before they color all over, since they firm up as they cool, then let them cool completely on a rack.
Decorate
Whisk the confectioners’ sugar, water, and black coloring into an icing that’s thick but still spoonable and dark enough to read as black. Spread one or two tablespoons over a cooled cookie, press the marshmallows around the edge like teeth, and set some also in the middle so the sandwich has something to rest on.
Spread icing on a second cookie and flip it on top. Add a little more icing, press on two marshmallows for eyes, and dot each with icing for pupils. Work with fully cooled cookies, because warm ones melt the icing and slide the marshmallows off.
They’re part of a little Halloween cookie lineup here, along with my witch finger cookies, an icing-free shortbread, and my big blue monster cookies, the chunky, stuffed kind for when you want a change. If the kids get hooked on the decorating, my Halloween monster whoopie pies are the same kind of hands-on build.
Recipe Notes and Expert Tips
- Chill, then chill again if your kitchen is warm. If the cut cookies feel soft before they go in, slide the tray into the fridge for 10 minutes first. Firm dough is what keeps the circles from spreading.
- Fix gray or purple-black icing with a speck of yellow. Black gel often carries a cool, purple undertone that reads as gray. A tiny dot of yellow gel cancels it and pushes the icing toward black, and mixing it a little ahead lets the color deepen as it sits.
- Spread icing on both cookies, not just one. Icing on the top and the bottom cookie is the glue that holds the sandwich together around the marshmallow teeth. One dry cookie slides right off.
- Expect black mouths, and don’t worry about them. A deeply black icing takes a lot of coloring, and it’ll tint little tongues and teeth for a while. It’s harmless and washes off, but if you’d rather skip it, a dark green or purple icing is just as spooky.
Recipe Variations
- Swap the black icing for green, purple, or red, and you’ve got a different monster from the same method; I’ve tested all three, and they’re just as fun for a table of little ghouls.
- Cut different shapes instead of circles; try pumpkins, bats, or ghosts, using Halloween cutters or the rim of a glass. The dough and bake time stay exactly the same, so it’s a supported swap.
- For a different base, use my roll-out sugar cookies and decorate them the same way; that dough is tested, and the decorating doesn’t change.
How to Store Leftovers
Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days, or up to a week in the fridge. Let fridge-cold cookies sit out for a few minutes before serving so they soften back up.
Baked, undecorated cookies also freeze well. Freeze them solid on a tray, then stack them in a container with parchment between the layers, and thaw at room temperature before you decorate.
If you’re carrying them to a party or potluck, let the icing set firm first, then pack them in a single layer so the marshmallows don’t smudge.
What to Serve With Spooky Halloween Cookies
These sit at the center of a Halloween treat table for me, and the rest builds out around them. For more to bake, a slice of Biscoff-crust pumpkin cheesecake gives the grown-ups something richer, and a plate of no-bake chocolate truffles tends to go first with the kids.
On the savory side, a party cheese ball with crackers balances all the sugar. For something to drink, a cucumber Tom Collins mocktail keeps the little ones happy while the adults pour something with more bite.
FAQs
Not the standard bags. Gelatin, an animal product, is what sets most marshmallows, so check for ones marked vegetarian or vegan, which use carrageenan or agar instead. Buy the mini size for neat teeth and eyes.
That cool, purplish cast is normal for black gel, especially the cheaper ones. A dot of yellow gel knocks it back toward black, and the color also darkens if you mix the icing an hour or two ahead.
It can, yes. Getting icing properly dark takes a lot of coloring, and that shows up on teeth and tongues for a bit. It washes off and does no harm, though a green or purple icing can avoid it if you’d rather.
Yes, any shape works, from pumpkins and bats to plain circles cut with the rim of a glass. The dough and the 10-minute bake stay the same whatever shape you choose.
More Cookie Recipes to Bake
A few more from my cookie shelf, depending on the night:
- Soft gingerbread cookies. When you want the kitchen to smell like the holidays and a dough you can cut into shapes.
- Double chocolate chip cookies. For the chocolate lovers who find a sugar cookie too plain.
- Peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. The ones I make when I want soft and chewy over crisp.
- Bright lemon cookies. These land on the table when the chocolate and spice start to feel heavy.
Ingredients
For the Cookies
- ¾ cup sugar
- ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1¾ cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
For the Decoration
- 1 cup confectioner's sugar
- 6 tablespoons water
- 3 teaspoons black food grade coloring
- 1 cup white vegetarian mini marshmallows
Video
Instructions
- In a bowl, combine sugar and softened butter and mix until creamy. Add the egg yolk and vanilla extract and mix well. Add the flour and mix with a spoon, just until it’s all combined – don’t overmix. Shape the cookie dough into a log, and cover it with plastic wrap, refrigerate for 2 hours.¾ cup sugar, ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, 1 egg yolk, 2 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1¾ cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- Remove from the fridge, and cut it in two parts. Working on a floured surface, roll the dough until it’s about an eighth of an inch thick. Use a cookie cutter to cut discs out of the dough; you can re-roll the remaining dough and roll it again.
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the cookies on it. Bake for 10 minutes until they turn slightly golden brown. Remove from the oven, and transfer the cookies to a cooling rack, and let them cool.
- In a mixing bowl, mix the confectioner’s sugar, water, and black food coloring. You may need to adjust the quantities according to your coloring; the idea is to get a thick mixture that you can still spoon out and that’s super black.1 cup confectioner's sugar, 6 tablespoons water, 3 teaspoons black food grade coloring
- Place around 1-2 tablespoons of the black mixture over a cookie and spread it all around, arrange the marshmallows as if they were teeth, including the middle part so the cookies are sturdy and support the upper layer, and then spread 1-2 tablespoons of the black mixture over another cookie, and quickly flip it over the marshmallows.1 cup white vegetarian mini marshmallows
- Place a tablespoon of the black mixture on top and place two marshmallows as eyes and carefully make the two eyeballs with the mixture. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
I did a test run on these cookies last night and love how they turned out! The cookies were delicious, and I love how easy the dough was to handle. We’re having a Halloween party in a couple weeks, and I can’t wait to see the look on all the kids’ faces when I set out these cookies! They’re just so cute and fun.
I hope the kids love them and glad you did too 🙂