These easy Halloween cookies are one tray, two doughs, three designs: vanilla sugar cookies cut into ghosts and jack-o-lanterns, plus soft cocoa cookies decorated as monster eyes. The batch makes about 30 cookies, 15 of each, with roughly 1 hour 40 minutes of hands-on time.
Most of the work is waiting. The sugar dough chills for an hour so the shapes stay sharp, and the royal icing dries overnight. Mix and bake in the evening, and the tray is ready by breakfast.
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Every recipe on this site can be converted to gluten-free, vegan, dairy-free, keto, nut-free or egg-free with adjusted ratios so nothing falls flat.
Try the Recipe Converter →The Numbers for a 30 Cookie Halloween Tray
- Yield: about 30 cookies, 15 cut-out sugar cookies and 15 round chocolate cookies
- Oven: 350°F (175°C) for both doughs
- Bake: sugar cookies 8 to 10 minutes, chocolate cookies 9 to 11 minutes
- Chill: sugar dough at least 1 hour, chocolate dough 30 to 45 minutes
- Roll: ¼ inch thick for the ghosts and pumpkins
- Icing: 3 cups powdered sugar, 2 tbsp meringue powder, 4 to 6 tbsp warm water
- Drying: several hours, or overnight, uncovered
One Dough or Two for a Halloween Cookie Tray?
You can cut every shape from the sugar dough. It is faster, and you only wash one bowl. I still make both. The pale vanilla cookies carry the white and orange designs, and the dark cocoa rounds make the white eyeball pop, so the tray reads as three different cookies from across the room.
The two doughs also eat differently. The sugar cookie is tender with crisp edges, lifted by vanilla and an optional ¼ teaspoon of almond extract. You will not taste almond as such. It just makes the cookie smell more like a bakery. The chocolate cookie uses brown sugar along with white, which holds moisture and keeps it soft for days.
Short on time? Make only the sugar dough, or start from my Halloween sugar cookies for a single dough version.
Mixing the Vanilla Sugar Cookie Dough
Beat the room temperature butter and sugar for a full 3 to 4 minutes. It should look pale and fluffy, like the bowl above, not greasy. Add the egg, vanilla and almond, then the flour, baking powder and salt on low speed until a soft dough forms.
Divide it in half. Here is the step that saves the most trouble: roll each half ¼ inch thick between two sheets of parchment, then chill it flat for at least an hour. Cold, already rolled dough cuts cleanly straight from the fridge, and you skip the extra flour that makes cut-outs dry.
Cocoa Dough for the Monster Eye Cookies
Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Cocoa clumps, and a lump of dry cocoa in a baked cookie is bitter. Beat the butter with both sugars, add the egg and vanilla, then mix in the dry ingredients and chill for 30 to 45 minutes.
The chocolate chips are optional. Leave them out if you want flat, smooth tops, because the eye sits right in the middle and chips make it lumpy. Scoop tablespoon portions, roll them into balls and press each one down a little.
Cocoa cookies do not brown, so do not wait for color. At 9 to 11 minutes the tops look dry and the centers still feel soft. They firm up as they cool on the tray.
Cutting Ghosts and Pumpkins That Keep Their Shape
Pick cutters with bold outlines. Thin ghost arms and deep pumpkin ridges blur once the baking powder lifts the dough. Place the shapes on parchment-lined sheets about an inch apart. If they have gone soft while you cut, put the whole tray in the fridge for 10 minutes before baking.
Bake 8 to 10 minutes and pull them while the edges are dry and set but still pale. Any browning means they will be crisp, not tender. Cool them completely on a rack, since warm cookies melt royal icing. The same rolled dough works for a ghost cookie cake if you need something bigger for a crowd.
Royal Icing Consistency for Outlining and Flooding
This is a meringue powder royal icing, so it is safe without raw egg whites and dries hard enough to stack. Beat 3 cups powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons meringue powder with 4 tablespoons warm water until stiff peaks form. Then thin it with water, 1 teaspoon at a time.
- Outline icing: holds a soft peak, like toothpaste. Use it for borders, eyes and mouths.
- Flood icing: drag a knife through the bowl and count. The line should vanish in 10 to 15 seconds.
- Too runny: stir in a spoonful of powdered sugar. Runny flood icing spills over the edge and dries with craters.
Use gel coloring only. Liquid coloring adds water and throws off the texture you just built. Mix the black and red first, because gel colors deepen as the icing rests, and dark grey often turns black after an hour. Keep each bowl covered with a damp towel while you work.
Prefer a softer icing that still sets? My sugar cookie icing that hardens works on the ghosts and pumpkins too.
Decorating Ghost, Jack-o-Lantern and Eyeball Cookies
Work in layers and let each one crust before the next. Black piped onto wet white icing bleeds into grey halos, so give the base flood about an hour first.
Ghosts
Outline in white, flood in white, then wait. Pipe two black eyes and an open mouth once the surface is dry to the touch. Uneven faces are fine. A tray of slightly different ghosts looks more alive than a row of copies.
Jack-o-Lanterns
Flood the pumpkin orange and pipe a short green stem at the top. When the orange has crusted, add black triangle eyes and a jagged mouth. This is the design kids enjoy most, so let them pipe the faces.
Monster Eyes
Pipe a white circle in the center of each chocolate cookie and let it set. Add thin red lines for veins, then a dot of red or black for the pupil. For more eyeball ideas, see my monster eye cupcakes.
A Last Minute Halloween Cookie Plan
You can do this in one evening and a night. Here is the order that works:
- Up to 2 days ahead (optional): make both doughs and keep them wrapped in the fridge.
- Evening, first hour: mix both doughs, roll the sugar dough between parchment, chill.
- Second hour: cut and bake the shapes, bake the chocolate rounds, make the icing while they cool.
- Third hour: outline and flood, then pipe faces after the base crusts.
- Overnight: leave the cookies uncovered on fresh parchment to dry hard and shiny.
For an even earlier start, freeze the cut, unbaked shapes on a tray, then bag them. Bake them straight from frozen and add about a minute to the bake time.
Keeping Decorated Cookies Fresh Until the Party
Once the icing is fully dry, store the cookies in single layers in an airtight tin, with wax paper between layers. They keep at room temperature for up to 1 week. Humidity is the enemy of royal icing, so keep them out of the fridge, where the icing can turn sticky.
On a party table they sit well next to softer treats. I like them with Halloween cake pops, a savory Halloween charcuterie board, or a plate of Halloween finger cookies for a reaction. Want something with no rolling at all? Try Halloween Oreos.
Halloween Cookie Questions Before You Pipe
Can I make royal icing without meringue powder?
Yes, with fresh egg whites or pasteurized whites from a carton, but meringue powder is more consistent and safer to serve to kids.
What if I do not have Halloween cookie cutters?
Cut circles with a glass and flood them orange as pumpkins, or trace a paper ghost template with a small knife.
Can I freeze decorated Halloween cookies?
Yes, once the icing is completely dry. Freeze them in an airtight container and thaw with the lid on so condensation forms on the box, not the icing.
Easy Halloween Cookies
These easy Halloween cookies are a decorated cookie tray made from two doughs: a vanilla almond sugar cookie cut into ghosts and jack-o-lanterns, and a soft cocoa cookie topped as monster eyes. One batch makes about 30 cookies, 15 of each, with around 1 hour 40 minutes of work plus chilling and drying time. The sugar dough is chilled for an hour and rolled ¼ inch thick so the shapes stay sharp at 350°F. Royal icing made with meringue powder dries hard, so these Halloween cookie recipes stack well for class parties, cookie exchanges, bake sales and a Halloween dessert table. Make the doughs up to 2 days ahead and keep decorated cookies airtight for up to 1 week.
Ingredients
- FOR THE SUGAR COOKIES
- 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp almond extract (optional)
- FOR THE CHOCOLATE COOKIES
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (optional)
- FOR THE ROYAL ICING
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp meringue powder
- 4–6 tbsp warm water
- Gel food coloring (white, orange, black, green, red)
Instructions
- MAKE THE SUGAR COOKIE DOUGH: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a separate large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract if using. Mix until combined. Gradually add the dry ingredients and mix until a soft dough forms. Divide the dough in half, wrap each portion in plastic wrap, and chill for at least 1 hour.
- MAKE THE CHOCOLATE COOKIE DOUGH: In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. In another large bowl, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until smooth and creamy. Add the egg and vanilla extract, mixing until fully incorporated. Gradually add the dry mixture to the wet ingredients, mixing until combined. Fold in chocolate chips if using. Chill the dough for 30 to 45 minutes.
- BAKE THE SUGAR COOKIES: Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Roll the chilled sugar cookie dough out on a lightly floured surface to ¼-inch thickness. Use ghost and pumpkin cookie cutters to cut out shapes. Transfer to parchment-lined baking sheets and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the edges are just set. Let cool completely on wire racks before decorating.
- BAKE THE CHOCOLATE COOKIES: Scoop tablespoon-sized portions of chocolate dough and roll into balls. Place them on a lined baking sheet and slightly flatten each one. Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 9 to 11 minutes. Allow cookies to cool fully before decorating the tops as monster eyes.
- MAKE THE ROYAL ICING: In a large bowl, combine powdered sugar and meringue powder. Add 4 tablespoons of warm water and beat until stiff peaks form. Add more water, one teaspoon at a time, until the icing reaches a smooth, pipeable consistency. Divide the icing into separate bowls and color each portion as needed using gel food coloring.
- DECORATE THE COOKIES: For ghosts, flood the cookies with white icing and pipe black eyes and a mouth. For pumpkins, use orange icing to flood, then add black faces and green stems. For monster eyes, pipe a white circle in the center of the chocolate cookie, add red icing lines for veins, and finish with a colored center pupil in red or black.
Notes
Make both cookie doughs up to 2 days ahead and keep them wrapped in the refrigerator. Rolling the sugar dough ¼ inch thick between parchment before chilling lets you cut shapes straight from the fridge. Bake the sugar cookies only until the edges are set and still pale. Let the white and orange flood icing crust for about an hour before piping black faces, or the black will bleed. Royal icing sets best when left to dry uncovered for several hours or overnight. Store decorated cookies in single layers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
