Happy Monday, everyone!
And Happy Halloween Eve!
To celebrate, I’m sharing the cutest (and easiest) Halloween treat today – Sugar Ghost Cookies.
Seriously, how boo-tiful are these? (haha)
I cannot take the credit for these bad boys. My mom found nesting ghost cookie cutters a while back and has been making these cookies forever. They are super adorable and are the easiest thing to pull together (which means that you can whip them up today for all the holiday parties tomorrow). While this is probably the easiest sugar cookie recipe on planet Earth, you can also totally use store-bought, refrigerated sugar cookie dough (I won’t tell!).
These cute Sugar Ghost Cookies start with a dry ingredient base.
In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and a dash of nutmeg (not pictured because I forgot to add it before the photo was taken…). Mix them together thoroughly and set the bowl aside.
Now onto the wet ingredients.
Toss some softened butter (or a margarine/butter combo) and some sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until the mixture is light and creamy.
Then add in four eggs, one at a time.
And then drizzle in some vanilla extract and some cream or half-and-half. I have made this successfully with regular ‘ole skim milk, so if you don’t have either cream or half-and-half, don’t worry about it! With all the wet ingredients thoroughly combined, turn the mixer onto low speed and add in the dry ingredients.
Mix until a soft dough forms.
For easy rolling, I like to dump the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap, flatten into a thick disc, and wrap it up. The dough chills a lot faster, rolls out better, and fits better in my fridge. Win-win.
After the dough chills for at least an hour in the fridge, unwrap the dough disc and place it onto a lightly floured surface and roll it out into a ¼-inch sheet using a rolling pin. Then cut out your desired ghost shapes! My mom makes about medium-sized ghosts, but you can make them as big or as small as you want.
Pop them onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven. I use two baking sheets at a time to speed up this process and I make sure to rotate the pans (top pan moves to the bottom, bottom pan moves to the top) halfway through for even baking.
Ghostly perfection!
To take them over the top, I make a simple glaze made of confectioner sugar and skim milk. I never have exact proportions for the glaze – I just dump some confectioner sugar into a bowl and add in skim milk ½ a teaspoon at a time until a slightly thick, yet pourable glaze is formed. You can either spoon or dip the cooled cookies into the glaze. Pop on two mini chocolate-coated candies to be the eyes. Allow the glaze to set before digging in!
Seriously, guys, how cute??
Definitely going to be the star of tomorrow’s get-togethers!
Have a safe, fun Halloween, guys!
oxox,
Catherine
- 6 cups all-purpose flour
- 5 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 sticks butter, softened (you can use a margarine/butter mixture!)
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 4 eggs
- 4 tablespoons fat-free half-and-half - milk works here too!
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- For the Icing:
- Confectioner sugar
- Milk
- Mini chocolate-coated candies
- In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Mix until thoroughly combined.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar together until combined. Add in eggs one at a time. Wait until the first egg is combined before adding in the next one. Add half-and-half and vanilla to the wet ingredients. Beat until combined.
- Put mixer onto lowest setting and put on bowl guards. Slowly add in the dry ingredients and mix until soft dough forms.
- Place the dough into the fridge for at least one hour before rolling. For easier rolling, I like to dump the finished dough onto a piece of plastic wrap, flatten the dough into a disc, and wrap it up tightly. This helps the dough fit into your fridge better, but it lets you roll the cookies out easier!
- Preheat your oven to 350° and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. While the oven is preheating, unwrap your dough and place onto a lightly floured surface. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough until it is a quarter-inch thick. Then using a ghost-shaped cookie cutter, cut out your cookies! Place the cut cookies onto the baking sheets, leaving at least an inch on each side - these cookies can spread. Pop the cookies into the oven and bake for 5 minutes and then rotate the pans (top pan goes to the bottom, bottom pan goes to the top) and bake for another 5 minutes until the cookies are just golden brown on the bottom.
- Cool the cookies on a cooling rack until they reach room temperature.
- When the cookies are cooled, prepare the icing. In a bowl, add confectioner sugar. Add in milk ½ teaspoon at a time until a slightly thick, yet pourable icing.
- To decorate, spoon or dip the sugar cookie into the icing and decorate with mini chocolate-coated candies for eyes! Enjoy!
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