Description
These Halloween Sugar Cookies are a delightful twist on classic soft sugar cookies, perfect for festive celebrations. They feature a rich, buttery dough combined with a creamy sour cream base for extra tenderness, topped with colorful buttercream frostings to create fun Halloween designs like pumpkins, ghosts, and candy corn. Ideal for family baking activities and holiday parties.
Ingredients
Scale
Cookie Dough
- 1 cup butter (at room temperature)
- 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
- 2 eggs (at room temperature)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 cup sour cream
- 5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
Buttercream Frosting
- 3/4 cup butter
- 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 3-4 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Prepare the dough: In a large bowl, beat together the butter and granulated sugar until creamy and smooth. Add in the eggs, vanilla extract, almond extract, and sour cream; mix until all ingredients are well combined.
- Combine dry ingredients: In a separate bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, and sea salt. Gradually add the dry ingredients into the wet mixture, stirring until just combined to avoid overmixing.
- Chill the dough: Divide the dough into two equal portions, wrap each in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1-2 hours to firm up for easier rolling and cutting.
- Roll and cut: Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). On a lightly floured surface or parchment paper, roll out one portion of dough to your desired thickness, adding 1/4 to 1/2 cup flour if the dough is sticky. Use floured Halloween-themed cookie cutters to cut shapes.
- Bake the cookies: Place the cookies on a baking sheet and bake for 8-9 minutes until the bottoms are just turning golden. Avoid overbaking to maintain softness. Remove from oven and let cool on the pan for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Make the buttercream frosting: In a medium bowl, beat the butter, powdered sugar, heavy cream, and vanilla extract together with an electric mixer until smooth and fluffy. Divide the frosting into 2-3 bowls. Leave one bowl white; add orange food coloring to another. For candy corn designs, divide frosting into three parts and add yellow food coloring to one portion.
- Decorate: Once cookies have cooled, frost pumpkin-shaped cookies with the orange frosting. Frost ghost-shaped cookies with white frosting and add candy eyes for decoration. For candy corn cookies, frost the tip with white, the middle with orange, and the top with yellow frosting to mimic candy corn colors.
Notes
- Ensure all ingredients, especially butter and eggs, are at room temperature for optimal mixing.
- Do not overbake cookies to maintain their soft texture.
- Use gel-based food coloring for vibrant frosting without altering consistency.
- Chilling the dough makes it easier to roll and cut clean shapes.
- Decorate cookies only when completely cooled to prevent frosting from melting.
- Store cooled, frosted cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 202
- Sugar: 12 g
- Sodium: 159 mg
- Fat: 8 g
- Saturated Fat: 5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 29 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Cholesterol: 31 mg
