I’m no longer a child but I still love Halloween! Ghosts and goblins, oh my! These easy BOO-tiful Halloween cookies are simple to make and fun for the kids to decorate.

BOO-tiful Halloween Cookie Recipe

Sugar Cookie:

3/4 cup butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

Method:

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper, and set aside. In a large bowl, beat butter until fluffy and beat in sugar in three additions.  Beat in egg and vanilla.  In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt.  Stir into butter mixture in three additions.

Divide dough in half and shape into discs. Wrap and put in the fridge for an hour.  Take them out of the fridge for a few minutes.  You may need to work each disc with your hands to soften and may need to roll out several times.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out each disc to ¼-inch thickness. Using Halloween cookie cutters, cut out shapes. Place one inch apart on prepared pans.

Bake in top and bottom thirds of 375-degree oven, rotating and switching pans halfway through, until lightly golden on bottoms and edges, about 10 minutes.  Let cool on pans for about a minute and then transfer to racks to cool.

Glaze

In a bowl, mix two cups icing sugar with three tablespoons milk until smooth.  Tint with orange or black food colour paste. Brush or dip cookies with glaze and decorate with candies right away, before the glaze dries.

If you prefer to decorate cookies with icing, use this Royal Icing recipe.

Royal Icing

3 cups icing sugar

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

2 egg whites, beaten

In a bowl, sift together icing sugar and cream of tartar. Using a stand or electric mixer, beat in 2 beaten egg whites for about 5 minutes or until mixture is thick enough to hold its shape.  Add food colour paste if desired. Use piping to decorate cookies.