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“Trick o’ treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat…”
Where this sassy little rhyme came from we’ll never know, but if you’re feeling like giving your little goblins and their friends something good to eat this year, sugar cookies are sure to do the trick (and the treat)!
So whether you’re making homemade gifts for family and friends, looking for a new holiday tradition to start with your kids, or wanting to prepare a deliciously spooky treat for a class party or small gathering in your home, you’re sure to find something that fits your needs among this list of sugar cookie Halloween ideas.
Start with the basics: Easy sugar cookie recipes
Whether you're an expert or a novice, these basic recipes will leave you more time for decorating — and eating — your creations.
1. No-roll(ing pin) cake mix cookies
This recipe from Together As Family makes thick, soft-baked cookies and uses one bowl and only five ingredients, including cake mix and sour cream. Mix together, roll into balls, and bake! Decorate with Halloween-colored frosting and sprinkles, or turn them into spiders or monsters with these simple instructions from PrincessPinkyGirl.com and KimspiredDIY.com.
2. Healthy, egg-free cut-out sugar cookies
This recipe from YummyToddlerFood.com requires nothing other than your hands to mix it. It also has only one gram of sugar per cookie and is a nice option for kids with allergies (scroll down for dairy- and gluten-free modifications), while still retaining the classic flavor and texture of a sugar cookie. Decorate with icing and sprinkles or get fancy with one of the designs below!
Ghosts and spiders and skulls, oh my: Using Halloween cookie cutters
These designs range in complexity and were chosen for their one-of-a-kind depictions of traditional Halloween faves. They use a cut-out sugar cookie recipe and royal icing.
Bianca Sinclair, mom and self-taught cookie hobbyist, recommends this sugar cookie recipe from food blog Neda’s Nummees, and this royal icing recipe from YouTube channel The Honey Blonde. “I follow both recipes as is, and make sure to put the cookies in the oven immediately after cutting so when they bake, they don’t melt out,” Sinclair shared with Mom.com.
She also recommends purchasing an electric hand mixer with dough hooks, a silicone baking mat to prevent burning, and a cookie icing needle tool to pop air bubbles that rise after frosting cookies.
1. Happy tulip ghosts
Great for beginners, these bite-sized, flower-shaped ghosts from Sarah’s Bake Studio are accomplished using a mini tulip cookie cutter. Once baked, flood cookies with white icing, then draw cute little faces with a black food marker.
2. Elegant spider webs
These classy cookies feature a black webbed design on a white backdrop. Flood circular cookies with white icing. Use black icing to pipe three concentric circles. Using a toothpick, drag eight lines out from the center of the cookie, creating a webbed effect. For variety, try making them in purple and green, too. See Southern Living for full instructions.
3. Jack o’ lantern buckets
These triangular-shaped cookies look like a trick o’ treat bucket bursting with candy. Use orange icing to turn the bottom half of the cookie into a pumpkin bucket, and black icing for the handle and Jack o’ lantern face. Cover a small area above the bucket with white icing, and sprinkle neon quins on top for the candy. Get the recipe from SweetSugarbelle.com.
4. Sugar Skulls
This design is a beautiful way to celebrate Halloween and Dia de los Muertos. Belinda Gonzales, mom of three and self-taught cookier, made these elaborate and colorful cookies at the request of her son. “I studied masks I found online, then sketched a few simplified designs,” Gonzales told Mom.com. She drew flowers for the eyes, an upside down heart for the nose, a rounded rectangle with teeth for the mouth, and floral embellishments on the chin and forehead. For a similar recipe and design, visit food blog Leite’s Culinaria.
5. Candy corn swirls
These cookies look like rolled up rainbows. Divide your dough into three sections. Dye one part orange, one yellow, and leave the third plain. Stack together and roll into one big log, then chill, slice, and bake! See how it’s done on TheSimple-SweetLife.com.
Everyone gets a cookie: Allergy free and gluten free sugar cookie recipes
Make sure no one gets left out at the Halloween cookie table. Here are some gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan recipes recipes to make sure everyone gets a treat.
8. Allergy-free cut-out sugar cookies
This is a modified version of the previously mentioned recipe from YummyToddlerFood.com. For gluten-free cookies use a gluten-free flour blend, like King Arthur's brand. “It’s nearly impossible to tell the difference!” wrote recipe developer Amy Palanjian. And for dairy-free cookies, use plain unsweetened non-dairy milk and coconut oil, just softened. Visit Palanjian’s blog for full instructions.
9. Vegan pumpkin cookies
For vegans who have always wanted to try those Pillsbury slice-and-bake pumpkin sugar cookies, this tutorial shows you how one mom made her own, using vegan butter and apple sauce for the egg. View her post on AminoApps.com.
A note on sharing homemade food:
If you’re wondering whether it’s safe to share homemade food or not, “The general answer is ‘yes’,” Elizabeth A. Bihn, professor at the Department of Food Science at Cornell University, told The New York Times. The chances of transmitting coronavirus through food or its packaging is very low, but precautions should still be taken.
So as you’re spreading Halloween cheer, please remember to follow safe food-handling practices: wash hands often, package cookies individually, and mask up before delivering.
Wishing you a boo-tiful Halloween!
