Halloween Sugar Cookies

Halloween sugar cookies are melt-in-your-mouth delicious. These cute pumpkins are perfect for parties and fall festivals!

Tasty Halloween sugar cookies are perfect for shaping into cuteness for any season, but these pumpkins are especially adorable! For more Halloween fun, try Mummy Cookies, Candy Corn Rice Krispie Treats, or Halloween Sugar Cookie Cake.

Kids Go Nuts Over Them!

These are just the cutest little pumpkins ever! They really take on a cute personality when you add those mismatched eyes, don’t they?

The kids absolutely LOVE making and decorating Halloween sugar cookies. They especially love making these super cute pumpkins for all things fall and Halloween.

Halloween sugar cookies are a fun dessert to share with neighbors, bring to a potluck or party, or a school party. They are sure to be snatched up quickly!

Soft and chewy. These are my favorite sugar cookies to make for a couple of reasons.

• First, they don’t require chilling in the fridge before rolling.
• Second, the cream cheese not only adds to the flavor but helps balance the sturdiness of the cookie while also helping them be soft and chewy. 

Cute Pumpkin Cookies

Halloween decorated cookies are sweet and cute, and so easy to make! Your kids will love getting in on the fun.

PREP. Preheat oven to 375°F

BATTER. Cream butter, cream cheese, sugars, egg, and almond in a large bowl (or Kitchen-Aid) until fluffy.

In a separate medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt.

Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture. Stir until soft dough forms.

ROLL & CUT. Roll out and cut with a cookie cutter. Thin dough will make crunchy cookies so if you want soft cookies, the dough needs to be about ⅜ in. {NOTE: Try not to handle the dough too much}

BAKE. Bake for 8-10 minutes on greased pan. Let cool.

Tip. Let the Halloween cookies cool on the baking sheet for a couple of minutes before transferring them to wire racks. Cookies must be completely cool before frosting, otherwise, the heat from the cookie will melt the frosting. 

Sugar Cookie Tips

Make perfect fall sugar cookies with these simple tips.

• Don’t over-mix the dough because it can make it tough. 
• Crunchy cookie. Stick to rolling the dough out to ⅜” thick. A thinner dough will give a crunchy cookie and thicker will make the outside bake too quickly while leaving the inside doughy.
• Dry dough. If your dough is too dry and crumbly when rolling, wet your hands and knead the dough a little. Continue wetting your hands and kneading until you moisten the dough enough for it to hold together.
• Sticky dough. If it’s too sticky just add a small amount of flour until you get the right texture. 

Frost and Decorate

Make these pumpkin shaped sugar cookies look as good as they taste!

FROSTING. Make frosting by mixing all ingredients with a hand mixer. If too thick, add a tad more milk until you reach the desired consistency.

DECORATE. Frost the cookies with orange frosting.

Use the decorating gel to add texture to the pumpkins. Sprinkle with orange sugar sprinkles then add an M&M for the green stem and place on the candy eyes.

Flood icing. These Halloween pumpkin cookies hold a nice shape and are sturdy enough to use flood icing which is also referred to as royal icing. This type of frosting uses meringue powder which helps give the frosting a smooth, hard, matte finish.

I have a Royal Icing Recipe with all the piping tips and tricks you need to make some fun sugar cookie designs. 

Decoration Variations

We stuck to these adorable fall sugar cookies shaped like pumpkins, but it would be so easy to change them according to the shape of the cookie cutter and the color of the frosting.

For example:

• Black cat, bat and witch hat cookie cutters would all use black frosting, black decorating gel, and black sugar sprinkles.
• Ghost and skull cookie cutters can use white frosting with a combination of black and white decorating gel to create features.

There are so many different cookie-cutter options out there to list every variation. Be creative and have fun!

Storing info

STORE. Cool and store the baked cookies with or without the frosting.

• If frosted, be sure the frosting has been set before storing them.
• Place cookies in an airtight container, separating layers with wax or parchment paper. They can last for 4-5 days at room temperature.

FREEZE. They are best when unfrosted, but can be frozen with frosting. Again, be sure the frosting has set before stacking. Use parchment/wax paper between layers. They should stay good for up to 3 months.

Store the dough. Like many cookies, this dough can be made ahead of time to be baked later. Roll the dough out into a disk that’s ⅜” thick or keep it in a dough log. Either way, wrap the dough in plastic wrap, then again with aluminum foil, or stick it into a Ziploc. 

Freeze the dough. Cut out the cookie shapes, then freeze!

• Simply place the cut shapes on a baking sheet and freeze until solid. Transfer the dough to a freezer-safe storage container. I would still separate layers with parchment/wax paper.
• The dough can be frozen for 2-3 months. Thaw in the fridge, then allow it to come to room temperature before rolling, cutting, and baking. 

Recipe FAQ

For More Sugar Cookies, Try:

• Lemon Sugar Cookies
• Sugar Cookie Bars
• No Roll Sugar Cookie
• Funfetti Cookies