Description
These Spooky Spiced Halloween Cookies are perfect for celebrating the season with warm, aromatic spices and a festive pumpkin twist. Soft and chewy, these cookies feature cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg blended into a pumpkin-infused dough, shaped into fun Halloween-themed designs and optionally decorated with colorful royal icing or gel food coloring.
Ingredients
Scale
Dry Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Wet Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Tools and Optional
- Halloween-themed cookie cutters
- Optional: Orange and black royal icing or gel food coloring for decoration
Instructions
- Preheat Oven: Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and line your baking sheet with parchment paper to prepare for baking the cookies.
- Mix Dry Ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg. Set this mixture aside.
- Cream Butter and Sugars: In a large bowl, cream the softened butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together until the mixture is light and fluffy, which will ensure your cookies are tender.
- Add Wet Ingredients: Mix in the pumpkin puree, egg, and vanilla extract to the butter-sugar mixture, stirring well until everything is fully incorporated.
- Combine Ingredients: Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, stirring until you have a well-combined dough.
- Chill Dough: Shape the dough into a ball, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour to firm up, which helps with rolling and cutting shapes.
- Roll Out Dough: Once chilled, roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to about 1/4-inch thickness for the perfect cookie thickness.
- Cut Shapes: Use Halloween-themed cookie cutters to cut out your desired shapes and place them onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing them out evenly.
- Bake Cookies: Bake the cookies in your preheated oven for 10-12 minutes until the edges start to turn a light golden color.
- Cool Cookies: Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely, preventing breakage.
- Decorate: Once cooled, decorate your cookies with royal icing or gel food coloring if desired, adding a spooky festive touch perfect for Halloween.
Notes
- Ensure the butter is softened, not melted, to achieve the right texture in the dough.
- Refrigerating the dough is crucial for easier rolling and cutting of shapes.
- If you don’t have pumpkin puree, you can substitute with an equal amount of unsweetened applesauce, but it will alter the flavor slightly.
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- For vegan variation, replace the butter with a vegan butter substitute and the egg with a flaxseed egg.
