HALLOWEEN SKELETON COOKIES

Halloween Skeleton Cookies are festive & fun chocolate sugar cookies decorated in a perfectly creepy way! Simple cut-out skeleton cookies that are fun to make & enjoy!

These cut out sugar cookies are as much fun to decorate as they are to eat, grab the kids and have them join in on the decorating fun. This Halloween sugar cookie recipe is a dessert and art project all in one, watch everyone squeal in excitement as they reach for a sweet chocolatey treat of their own.

Halloween Chocolate Sugar Cookies

Making chocolate sugar cookies is very simple, but the recipe has several steps that can be spread out over days even! It is worth it though because these skeleton sugar cookies are a festive and spooky treat to serve at your next Halloween party. Made from scratch so that every cookie is uniquely wonderful, this will quickly become one of your favorite Halloween recipes. Let your kids and their friends have fun decorating, make it a party of its own making this fun treat.

Why you’ll love this Halloween Cookie Recipe

• Simple ingredients. You will be pleasantly surprised to find that most of the ingredients for this recipe are already in your pantry, including flour, baking powder, salt, and more.
• You can prep the cookie dough in advance. The dough will need to chill for 2 hours before you roll it out and shape it, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make it sooner. You can prep the dough up to 2 days in advance and just roll, shape, bake and decorate when it is more convenient.
• You are repurposing Christmas cookie cutters! If you have gingerbread man shaped cookie cutters in a drawer somewhere, then you should feel great about giving them a little more attention. Using a simple gingerbread cutter, we get the cookies shape so that we can add a skeleton.

Skeleton Halloween Cookie Ingredients

Butter: You need 1 cup of unsalted, room temperature butter, this is two sticks.

Sugar: Use 1 cup of granulated sugar to make the cookies soft and sweet.

Extracts: Enhance the flavor of the dough by adding 1 tsp clear vanilla extract (divided) and ¼ tsp almond extract.

Egg: 1 large egg will help bind the ingredients together well.

Flour: Create a good cookie structure with 2 cups of all-purpose flour (plus another 2 TBSP for rolling the dough out on).

Cocoa powder: Add ½ cup of unsweetened natural cocoa powder to give the cookies a nice rich taste.

Baking powder: ¾ tsp of baking powder is needed to help the cookies puff up as they bake.

Salt: Balance the flavors in the cookies with ¾ tsp of salt.

Glaze

Powdered sugar: The base of the icing is 3 cups of powdered sugar.

Milk: Add ¼ cup of milk to make the glaze the right consistency.

Corn syrup: Using 2 TBSP light corn syrup gives the glaze have a shiny finish and keeps it from crystallizing.

Candy eyeballs: These are used to decorate your Halloween cookies. You can find them in the cake decorating sections of crafts stores, Walmart, or here on Amazon.

Edible ink pens: If desired, you can use edible ink pens to add designs over the hardened icing.

Decorating Instructions for your Halloween Cookies

For making skeletons– Start by drawing a hole to become the mouth and then pipe around it to make the skull. Use a toothpick as needed to fill in small gaps. Attach two eyeballs to each skull.

For making mummies- Pipe outlines on the cookies (not too close to each other) and then add the eyeballs. Allow the cookies to dry for several hours, and then decorate with the edible markers as desired.

How long are skeleton decorated cookies good for?

Once the icing on the cookies has fully hardened, you can place the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5-7 days.

Can you freeze these frosted sugar cookies?

Yes, you can freeze frosted sugar cookies! The key is to freeze them properly so the frosting doesn’t get smudged or damaged. Here’s how:

1. Let them set – Make sure the frosting is completely dry and firm before freezing.
2. Flash freeze – Place the cookies in a single layer on a baking sheet and freeze for 1–2 hours until solid.
3. Layer carefully – Once frozen, stack them in an airtight container with parchment or wax paper between each layer.
4. Seal well – Close tightly to prevent freezer burn.
5. Thawing – When ready to enjoy, thaw them in the container at room temperature so condensation forms on the container, not the cookies.

What would I use the edible ink pens for? 

If you want to add more detail to the skull perhaps, you could use the black marker. You could also just ice the entire cookie and draw pretty Halloween themed pictures on the royal icing. 

Can I make regular sugar cookies instead of chocolate sugar cookies?

Definitely, leave out the cocoa powder and increase the ingredients to 2-1/2 Cups of flour instead. You might then want to add some color to your royal icing as it won’t be as noticeable.

Check out these other Halloween Cookie Recipes

• Halloween Sprinkle Cookies are soft, buttery brown sugar cookies tinted in spooky colors and coated in festive sprinkles. A fun and delicious treat that’s perfect for Halloween celebrations!
• Perfect M&M Halloween Cookies are soft, chewy treats made with pudding mix, butter, and sugar, then loaded with colorful M&M’s. A festive and crowd-pleasing cookie for any Halloween celebration!
• These Halloween Cobweb Cookies are topped with chocolate and vanilla icing, decorated with a quick spider web design. A spooky yet simple treat that’s as fun to make as it is to eat!
• Caramel Apple Snickerdoodles are cinnamon sugar cookies filled with fresh apples and gooey caramel. A cozy fall twist on the classic snickerdoodle!
• Make a batch of these incredible Pumpkin Pudding Cookies! Loaded with warm pumpkin spice flavor, sweet white chocolate chips, plus the pudding mix makes them extra moist and irresistible.
• Funfetti Halloween Cookies are soft, colorful treats packed with festive sprinkles and a boost of texture from pudding mix. A spooky-fun cookie that’s as tasty as it is playful!

Halloween Skeleton Cookies are chocolate sugar cookies decorated with skeleton designs that can be made cute or spooky. An easy recipe with simple ingredients you likely already have on hand!