Description
Celebrate the Day of the Dead with these charming and easy-to-make skeleton cookies. Featuring a lightly spiced anise and cinnamon flavored sugar cookie base decorated with royal icing and colorful food markers, these festive cookies are perfect for sharing at any gathering or as a delightful treat during the holiday season.
Ingredients
Scale
Cookies
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon anise extract or anise seeds
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup orange juice
Decoration
- Royal icing (prepared according to package instructions)
- Colored food markers for decorating
Instructions
- Prepare dry ingredients: Whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder in a medium-sized bowl. Set aside this dry mixture.
- Cream butter and sugar: In a separate large mixing bowl, beat the unsalted butter and granulated sugar until creamy and light in texture.
- Add flavorings: Mix in the anise extract (or seeds) and cinnamon until fully incorporated into the butter-sugar mixture.
- Incorporate egg: Beat in the large egg until the mixture is smooth and homogeneous.
- Add orange juice: Slowly pour in the orange juice, continuing to mix until the mixture is well combined.
- Combine wet and dry: Gradually add the dry flour mixture to the wet ingredients, mixing until the dough comes together. If the dough is sticky, add a little more flour to achieve workable consistency.
- Chill dough: Divide the dough into two equal portions. Shape each into a disk, wrap tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or overnight to firm up.
- Roll out dough: On a lightly floured surface, roll out one disk to approximately 1/4 inch thickness.
- Cut shapes: Use cookie cutters to cut out skeleton shapes and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing cookies apart.
- Preheat oven: Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
- Bake cookies: Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes or until edges are lightly golden.
- Cool cookies: Remove from oven and allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Repeat rolling and cutting: Roll out the second dough disk and repeat the cutting and baking process.
- Prepare royal icing: Make royal icing according to package instructions, ensuring it is thick but spreadable.
- Adjust icing consistency: Thin the royal icing with a few drops of water at a time, stirring well after each addition, to achieve a thickness similar to thick yogurt for easier piping.
- Pipe skeleton details: Transfer icing to a piping bag fitted with a small round tip and pipe the head, rib cage, and bones onto the cookies.
- Allow icing to set: Let the piped icing harden by setting the cookies for a few hours or preferably overnight.
- Decorate with food markers: Use colored food markers to add intricate details and vibrant decorations over the set icing.
- Dry decorated cookies: Let the designs dry completely to ensure the marker ink is set before handling or storing.
Notes
- For best results, chill the dough thoroughly to make rolling and cutting easier.
- If you don’t have anise extract, substitute with seeds or omit for a milder flavor.
- The orange juice adds moisture and a subtle citrus note enhancing the flavor profile.
- Royal icing consistency can be adjusted to suit piping or flooding techniques as needed.
- Allow sufficient drying time so the icing and food coloring do not smudge.
- Store decorated cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 95
- Sugar: 9 grams
- Sodium: 65 milligrams
- Fat: 1 grams
- Saturated Fat: 0 grams
- Unsaturated Fat: 1 grams
- Trans Fat: 0 grams
- Carbohydrates: 20 grams
- Fiber: 0 grams
- Protein: 2 grams
- Cholesterol: 9 milligrams
