Whooooo Wants Some Spiced Halloween Cookies?

As I mentioned in this post, my kids had some friends over to decorate Halloween cookies. Thought I'd share the cookie recipe with you.

I was going to just make plain cookies, but I've been in a Fall Spice Sort Of Mood, so I came up with this recipe:

1/2 lb dark brown sugar

1 pound unsalted butter, room temp

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

2 lbs cake flour

4 tsp pumpkin pie spice

In one bowl, whisk together the cake flour and the pumpkin pie spice.  Set aside.

Cream together the sugar and the butter until fluffy.  Add the eggs, one at a time, combining thoroughly and scraping the bowl in between additions, and add the vanilla.  Add the flour mixture and blend until just combined.

Press the dough into a ball, flatten to a disk and wrap in plastic.  Refrigerate for an hour or so.

~~~

Now, I did instruct you (like most roll-out cookie recipes do) to form the dough into a ball, etc., but what did I do?  I - very rebelliously - or lazily - just dumped it into a plastic container and put that in the fridge.  I don't know what's come over me.  Next I'll be...oh...using a stand mixer to knead bread dough instead of doing it by hand!  Oh, wait, I already to that.  Never mind.

Where was I?

Oh, yes, the cookie dough.

Okay, when the dough has chilled for an hour, it's time to roll it out.  I took a chunk of the dough and set it out on my flour-dusted counter to warm up a bit before attempting to roll it out. 

Yeah.  That looks nice, doesn't it.

Well, eventually it warmed up enough to roll out (and I admit, I whacked it with the rolling pin to help things along), and after that I proceeded in typical rolled-out-cookie-dough fashion - I rolled the dough to about a quarter of an inch thick, cut out my cookies, chilled them about ten or fifteen minutes, and then baked them at 350 degrees F for...12-15 minutes.

I started with bats.  Lots of them.  My niece was going to come over and decorate, too, and she's a huge Batman fan.  So that's why I made lots of bats.  Hi Natalie!

I didn't take pictures of anything else as I rolled the dough out.  I didn't take a ton of pictures during the baking, or even the decorating.  I just let the kids have fun.  I didn't even take a turn until this morning.  So here are a few pictures of most of the cookie shapes, not just bats, 

 
but also plenty of pumpkins,

 
 
cats,

(it's blurry because it's a scardy cat and it was shaking with fear)

witches,

 
broomsticks (there were none left for me to decorate), ghosts,

 
and a few skulls and crescent moons.  Oh, and some owls.

The cookies smelled wonderful as they were baking, and continue to smell fantastic now that they're baked and decorated.  They're not lasting long, though. 

For icing, I made a simple royal icing - 6 T meringue powder, 2 lbs confectioners' sugar, and 12 T warm water.  I didn't make many colors, either - just black, orange, tan, and green.  And I left some of it white.

So anyway, like I said, I did my decorating this morning, using what was left of the frosting.  Julia was home, and she decorated a few more cookies as well. 

And, to give Alex equal time, here are some of the remaining cookies he decorated the other day:

And that's my cookie-making story.

What's yours?

Comments

[Belle and Ward]

I love the way you and your kids have decorated these cookies! We don't make a lot of cookies here, although I think we're probably going to have spiced pumpkin pie this weekend!

[Allison]

Jayne--These cookies are so adorable and they look scrumptious. If I had them around my house I'm pretty sure I'd be eating one right now.
I was thinking about your cookie-making marathon last December and wondering if you're planning the same for this year. You amazed me with all of those cookies, and I loved hearing about the family recipes that you're continuing to make.

[jomamma]

Your kids are little Picassos! I'm going to have to try this recipe. I love spice cake, I know I'll like these cookies.

[jayne]

Mmmmmm! That sounds really good; I love pumpkin pie!!

[jayne]

Hi Allison,

YES - I'll definitely be involved in another cookie marathon this year. I don't see that ever stopping, frankly. I've already stocked up on parchment paper (from King Arthur Flour - the half-sheet-pan size sheets - I love them) and after Halloween is done, it'll be time to start planning my baking strategy. It's fun and daunting at the same time. But mostly fun! I hope to include one or two new recipes this year, too, but I don't know what they will be yet.

[jayne]

I was thinking of trying them with an additional egg, or maybe some mashed up pumpkin or sweet potato, to make them a tiny bit more moist. They're fine as they are; I just like to experiment. Hope you like them!

[Allison]

I'm excited already! I love Christmas and reading about all of your cookie baking really gets me in the spirit.

[Heavenly Housewife]

That owl is just stunning!

[femmelasoleil.wordpress.com]

Wow, those cookies are so adorable. I just love the pictures and stories you post about your family. It makes me feel like home. My family lives out of town so it's just me, the boyfriend and our two cats. We have lots of friends, but don't get to entertain much since we live in a tiny apartment with a kitchen that has (I kid you not) only a 2x2 workable counterspace which is mostly taken up by my microwave.

We're going to go look at a house today. It's just on a whim (something my mom found online and sent me the link) but it's a little scary. Your post today helped get rid of some of my jitters.

I can't wait to read about your cookie making marathon! I don't think I'll make *quite* as many as you, but if I come across some good recipes I'll let you know!

[jayne]

I can totally relate to the tiny kitchen! When Bill and I were first renting together, we lived in a converted summer cottage that consisted of two rooms: Upstairs and Downstairs. Oh, and a bathroom. The whole house had indoor/outdoor carpeting, including the tiny kitchen, and our very limited counterspace was topped with this odd, bumpy-textured goldenrod-colored surface...I don't even know how to describe it. We actually had a washer and dryer in the house, too, and both doubled as kitchen work surfaces as needed. Good luck on your house hunting! I hope you find one with TONS of counter space!!!