Halloween Party Cutout Cookies

I've been making these Halloween cookies for about 40 years—first for my children and now my grandchildren and all their friends, too. I make about 20 trays a year to give away to trick-or-treaters.

Halloween Party Cutout Cookies

Average Rating: 4.166666

TOTAL TIME: Prep: 1 hour + chilling Bake: 10 min./batch + cooling
YIELD: 2 dozen.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 large egg, room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • FROSTING:
  • 3-3/4 cups confectioners' sugar
  • 1/4 cup shortening
  • 4 to 6 tablespoons water
  • Yellow, orange, green and black paste food coloring, optional

Instructions

  • 1. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and blended. Beat in egg and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt; gradually beat into creamed mixture. Shape dough into 2 portions. Shape each into a disk; wrap and refrigerate 1 hour or until firm enough to roll.
  • 2. Preheat oven to 350°. On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion of dough to 1/4-in. thickness. Cut with floured 2-1/2-in. Halloween-shaped cookie cutters. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake 8-10 minutes or until edges are light brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely.
  • 3. In a large bowl, beat confectioners’ sugar, shortening and enough water to reach spreading consistency. Tint frosting and decorate as desired. Let stand until set.

Nutrition Facts

1 cookie: 182 calories, 6g fat (3g saturated fat), 18mg cholesterol, 103mg sodium, 31g carbohydrate (25g sugars, 0 fiber), 1g protein.