Halloween Jack-O’-Lantern Sugar Cookies

halloween-pumpkin-sugar-cookies

Sugar cookies – they are so lovely.

Very yummy indeed.

I love how perfectly sweet and tender they are.

And they are great for decorating!

This time I grabbed my pumpkin cutter and made a whole army of these cute little faces.

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For the cookies you need:

3 1/2 cups (460 grams) all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/2 cups (300 grams) granulated white sugar

2 larger eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the royal icing you need:

2 large egg whites

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

3 cups (330 grams) confectioner’s (powdered or icing) sugar, sifted

red, yellow and green food coloring (they can be found at cake decorating and party stores or else on-line)

cocoa powder

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1. Preheat an oven to 350 F (176 C).

2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

halloween-pumpkin-sugar-cookies-butter-sugar

3. Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of your electric mixer.

Beat until light and fluffy (about 3 to 4 minutes).

halloween-pumpkin-sugar-cookies-mixed-with-flour

4. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat until combined.

Then add the flour and salt and mix again until you have smooth dough.

halloween-pumpkin-sugar-cookies-dough-ball

5. Place the dough on a floured surface and form a ball.

halloween-pumpkin-sugar-cookies-ready-for-fridge

6. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about one hour or until firm enough to roll.

halloween-pumpkin-sugar-cookies-whipped-royal-icing

7. While you are waiting for the dough to chill, you can prepare the royal icing.

Beat the egg whites with lemon juice.

Add the sifted powdered sugar and beat until combined and smooth (soft peaks should form).

halloween-pumpkin-sugar-cookies-food-coloring-before-mixing

8. And since we need four colors for decorating the pumpkins (orange, darker orange, green and brown) we need to divide the mixture now.

So divide the mixture into 4 parts. One half for the lighter orange color and the other half into three even parts – darker orange, green and brown (I used cocoa powder to create brown and mixed red and yellow to create orange).

halloween-pumpkin-sugar-cookies-food-coloring-mixed

9. It’s fine to follow the instruction on working with the food coloring because some are strong and some are not.

halloween-pumpkin-sugar-cookies-food-coloring-in-closed-containers

10. Keep the royal icing in airtight containers as it hardens when exposed to air.

halloween-pumpkin-sugar-cookies-cutting-out

11. Remove the dough from the fridge.

On a floured surface roll it out to the thickness of about 1/4 inch (0,6 cm).

Keep turning the dough as you roll, making sure it does not stick to the counter.

Using a lightly floured pumpkin cookie cutter cut out the shapes and transfer them to the prepared baking sheet.

Bake for about 10 minutes.

12. Remove from the oven and let cool.

halloween-pumpkin-sugar-cookies-decorating-first-layer

13. Fill your pastry bag with the lighter orange icing and draw a border on your cookie.

Then draw a few lines within the border.

halloween-pumpkin-sugar-cookies-decorating-first-layer-spread

14. Spread the icing with a spoon.

halloween-pumpkin-sugar-cookies-decorating-orange-strips

15. And now draw a few lines with the darker orange color to make it look like a real pumpkin.

Let dry for about one hour now.

halloween-pumpkin-sugar-cookies-decorating-green-stalk

16. Use the green coloring to draw stalks…

halloween-pumpkin-sugar-cookies-decorating-final

17. … and a scary face.

And this is it!

Let the cookies dry overnight (for at least 12 hours).

Enjoy!

This recipe makes about 24 cookies.

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5 thoughts on “Halloween Jack-O’-Lantern Sugar Cookies

  1. 1
    Rylan says:

    They are gorgeous! Thanks for the recipe, I’ve always had problems with mines.

  2. 2

    Those are too cute, you did such a great job!

  3. 3
  4. 4
    Amy Kelly says:

    These look great! I have the same cookie cutter but have a terrible time getting the dough to come out of the cutter without tearing. My dough had been refrigerated overnight and I lightly floured my cutter between each cookie, but they all stuck. Do you have any advice for how to get the cookies to come out cleanly and in one piece?

    • 4.1
      zoomyummy says:

      I think you’ve done everything right. Maybe try flouring the cutter a bit more next time, let it bath in flour before you start to cut.
      If it’s still stuck in the cutter try shaking it out into your hand. You can also try picking out the dough with a spatula. So good luck next time!

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