Every year for Halloween, I make these eerie skeleton cookies, but they also work for Day of the Dead. Any recipe for cut-out cookies can be used as the foundation. Using my gingerbread men cookie cutters, I typically create 2 different-shaped figurines.
| Prep Time: | 45 mins |
| Cook Time: | 8 mins |
| Additional Time: | 6 hrs 20 mins |
| Total Time: | 7 hrs 13 mins |
| Servings: | 40 |
| Yield: | 40 cookies |
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups white sugar
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 2 eggs
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ½ teaspoons almond flavoring
- 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 2 teaspoons milk, plus more as needed
- 2 teaspoons light corn syrup, or more as needed
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 (1.5 ounce) tube black decorating gel
Instructions
- Cream sugar and butter in a bowl with an electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs, 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract, and almond flavoring and mix well.
- Stir flour, baking powder, and salt together in a second bowl. Add flour mixture to the creamed butter mixture and mix to combine. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 hours or overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Dust a work surface with 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar and roll out dough into a 1/4-inch-thick circle. Cut out figure shapes with a gingerbread man cookie cutter and arrange cut-out cookies on prepared baking sheets.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from baking sheets carefully and transfer to wire racks. Cool completely, about 20 minutes.
- Stir 1 cup confectioners’ sugar and milk together in a small bowl until smooth. Beat in corn syrup and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract until icing is smooth and glossy. Add more corn syrup if icing is too thick.
- Spoon icing into a piping bag with a small plain tip. Draw a filled-out circle inside the head for the skull and a skeleton on the body, including 3 horizontal lines for the ribs. Let cookies stand until icing dries completely, about 2 hour, best overnight.
- Use black decorating gel to draw eyes, a nose, and a mouth on the skull and let cookies dry again, about 1 hour.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 131 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 20 g |
| Cholesterol | 20 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 0 g |
| Protein | 2 g |
| Saturated Fat | 3 g |
| Sodium | 95 mg |
| Sugars | 12 g |
| Fat | 5 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
these are great and what a clever idea to reuse the gingerbread man cutter