Are you ready to add a little spooky sweetness to your Halloween festivities? These Halloween Sugar Cookies are about to become your new favorite October tradition.
With the perfect texture to sink your teeth into, these not-too-sweet Halloween cookies are not only cute, but they’re truly easy to make, even for beginner bakers! The cookie dough requires no chilling time and only one bowl to whip up!
In this recipe, you’ll learn how to make my favorite sugar cookie dough, how to roll it out and how to cut cookies out of it! Plus, you’ll be given a list of all the tools you need to make these cutie little cookies a reality.
Sprinkles Halloween Sugar Cookies Ingredients
Here’s everything you need:
- Granulated sugar. For that sweetness you expect from any sugar cookie.
- Unsalted butter. You can use salted in a pinch, but unsalted butter allows you to have more control over the salt content of your cookie. Make sure your butter is softened!
- Vanilla and almond extract. The almond extract is optional, but highly encouraged.
- Eggs. To bind your cookies together.
- All-purpose flour. The base of your Halloween cookie dough.
- Salt. To bring out all the other flavors in these cut-out cookies.
- Baking powder. For a little lift.
- Cornstarch. To avoid spreading without the need for chilling time.
Cut Out Halloween Sugar Cookies Tips and Tricks
Set Yourself Up for Sugar Cookie Success
First things first! Start your process by pre-heating your oven to 350°F and lining your cookie sheet.
I also personally like to measure all of my ingredients ahead of time, so my baking process is easy and seamless.
Green tip: Consider using reusable baking mats for a more sustainable option!
Start Your Dough by Creaming the Butter and Sugar
For successful sugar cookie dough, make sure you start with softened butter. That means not too cold and solid, and not too hot and melty. Somewhere in between!
The best way to tell if your butter is softened is to poke it with your finger. You’ll know your butter is perfectly softened when your finger leaves a little imprint in the butter.
Green tip: Look for organic and palm oil-free butter if you can. Buying organic means you are supporting farms that do not use damaging pesticides and fertilizers, and palm oil production is a huge driver behind deforestation.
The simplest way to soften your butter is to simply take it out of the refrigerator a couple of hours before baking and allow it to come to room temperature naturally.
However, if you need your butter to soften up more quickly, you do have a couple of shortcut options.
The first is to just place your stick of butter directly on top of your oven while it’s pre-heating. Flip it over after a couple of minutes to allow both sides to get warm.
An even quicker way is to put your stick of butter in the microwave for about 15-20 seconds. For more detailed instructions and more options, check out this article on how to soften butter quickly and easily.
Once your butter is softened, add it to a mixing bowl with the granulated sugar. Use a hand or stand mixer to whip them together. Creaming the two together should take about 3-5 minutes.
The process of creaming actually aerates the cookie dough, adding little air pockets and ultimately giving you the perfect-textured Halloween cookie.
Add the Eggs and Extracts Next
Add the vanilla extract, almond extract, and egg and whip again with your hand or stand mixer until smooth. Try to whip only as much as you need to and no more. It’s best not to overbeat the dough once the eggs are added.
The almond extract is optional simply because you can still bake up delicious sugar cookies without it. However, I highly recommend using the almond extract for a truly flavorful Halloween sugar cookie.
Green tip: Look for pasture-raised eggs (over free-range or cage-free) to support agriculture that is less reliant on chemicals and fossil fuels.
Here’s your obligatory reminder that it’s always best practice to crack your egg into a separate dish or bowl first and then transfer it to your cookie dough.
This just makes it easier to extract any accidental bits of eggshell that may fall in and maybe even more importantly, it means if you get a bloody egg, you won’t have to waste your ingredients already in the bowl.
Add the Dry Ingredients Next
Once your eggs and extracts are integrated, all that’s left to do to form your dough is add the dry ingredients. Add the flour, baking powder, salt, and cornstarch.
Grab your hand mixer again and use it on the lowest setting to combine them into the dough. We want no lumps left behind!
You may notice some dry ingredients clinging to the sides of the bowl. Use a rubber spatula to push them down and integrate them into the bowl. No ingredients left behind!
Roll Out Your Sugar Cookie Dough
Generously flour a clean surface to roll out your dough on. Add some flour to your rolling pin as well. This will ensure that the dough doesn’t stick to either, making the process much easier.
Once your surface and pin are covered with flour, use a rolling pin to roll the dough out, until it is about 2 inches thick. I like to roll my dough out on a large rectangular cutting board to help me shape it.
The shape of the rolled-out dough should be roughly rectangular, but it certainly does not need to be uniform. The most important thing is that the dough is all the same thickness.
Add a Generous Amount of Sprinkles
Once your dough is rolled out flat, add the sprinkles and lightly press down, so they are firmly in your sugar cookie dough.
I find it easier to add the sprinkles now, before cutting out your shapes.
Cut Out Your Halloween Cookie Shapes
Use a cookie cutter to cut out as many cute cookies as you can. You can do simple circles or use these Halloween cookie cutters for a variety of fun shapes and sizes!
Then, carefully lift the cut-out cookies and place them on your prepped baking sheet. Make sure to leave a couple of inches between each cookie to give them the space to bake evenly.
After cutting out as many cookies as you can, fold the remaining dough back over itself and roll it out again. Continue to cut the cookies out, re-rolling out, adding more sprinkles, and cutting more until the dough is all used up.
You should be able to get pretty close to using all the dough, but you may have a tiny bit leftover. You can add whatever is left over to the cookie sheet and bake it just so it is not wasted. It can be your little taste tester 😉.
Once your cookies are cut, bake them for 8-10 minutes and allow them to cool completely before removing them from the baking sheet.
Storing Leftover Halloween Sugar Cookies with Sprinkles
These chewy chocolate chip cookies will last for 5-7 days when covered or stored in an airtight container at room temperature. In the refrigerator in an airtight container, they will last up to three weeks.
Quick tip: Storing your cookies with a piece of bread will keep them softer and chewier. This is the perfect use for the end piece!
These cookies do tend to get a little crunchy within the first few days of storing them. If you want to keep them softer, store a piece of bread in the airtight container with them. Believe it or not, excess moisture from the bread stops the cookies from drying out.
You can also freeze them once they’re baked for up to a year, but I recommend freezing the unbaked dough instead (more on that next).
Green tip: Of the billions of tons of food wasted annually, 50% of food waste happens at home. Reduce your contribution to food waste by properly storing baked goods!
How to Freeze Sugar Cookie Dough
Freezing some or all of the dough for your Halloween cookies is a great way to have dough on hand for whenever you want fresh baked cookies! This dough can be frozen for up to a year.
Shape the cookie dough with your cookie cutters and store them in a freezer safe storage bag (consider reusable storage bags for a more sustainable option!). Then, when you have a cookie craving, bake them straight from the freezer.
Watch them closely when you bake them and add an extra minute or two to your baking time if need be.
Halloween Sugar Cut Out Cookies with Sprinkles Frequently Asked Questions
Should you put sprinkles on before or after baking sugar cookies?
There’s no hard and fast rule for when to add your sprinkles, but I find it much easier to add the sprinkles to the cookie dough before cutting out the cookies.
Especially when you’re using larger sprinkles (like these Halloween-themed sprinkles), adding the sprinkles to the sugar cookie dough before baking allows you to push them into the dough.
Then, the sprinkles will bake into the cookies and ensure they adhere to the cookie. That being said, if you take them out of the oven and decide you want to add extra sprinkles, you can still do so while the cookies are hot!
Why You Should Make these Easy Halloween Sugar Cookies with Sprinkles
- They’re quick! These sugar cookies for Halloween require no chilling time, making for delicious cookies in a flash.
- They’re easy. This recipe is achievable for even beginner bakers.
- They’re fun! Festive and fun for Halloween or any spooky spectacle!
If you’re loving these Easy Halloween Sugar Cookies with Sprinkles and want more Halloween fun, check out these Leftover Halloween Candy Cookies and this Dark and Spooky Halloween Cocktail.
Easy Halloween Sugar Cookies with Sprinkles
SAVE RECIPE TO COLLECTION PIN PRINT RATEEquipment
- Reusable Baking Mat (optional)
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter (1 cup = 2 sticks)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract (optional)
- 2 large eggs
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour + more for flouring surface
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup Halloween sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F and line your baking sheet (consider these reusable baking mats for a more sustainable option).
- In a large mixing bowl, use a hand mixer to cream your butter and sugar together until smooth and aerated (2-3 minutes).
- Add your eggs and vanilla and almond extracts and mix to combine.
- Add the flour, salt, cornstarch, and baking powder and mix again. Use a spatula to scrape down any dry ingredients clinging to the inside of the bowl, integrating all of the ingredients until smooth.
- Generously flour a clean surface (I like to use a large, rectangular cutting board) and rolling pin. Turn the dough out onto the floured surface and use the rolling pin to flatten it until it is about ½ inch thick.
- Add the sprinkles and spread them out in an even layer on top of the dough. Lightly press down so the sprinkles adhere to the cookie dough.
- Use Halloween cookie cutters to cut out whichever shapes of cookies you like, then carefully peel the cookies off the cutting board and place them on your lined baking sheet, leaving at least an inch of space in between each cookie.
- Take the leftover dough and use clean hands to form it into a ball. Use your rolling pin to roll it out again to cut more cookies. Add more sprinkles as needed. Repeat until all the cookie dough is used up.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes and allow to cool completely on your baking sheet before transferring them to a plate to enjoy.
Pro Tips
- You can freeze excess cookie dough before baking it to give you fresh baked cookies every time when the craving hits! Just bake them as normal straight out of the freezer.
