Halloween Skeleton Cookies

I bake these creepy skeleton cookies every year for Halloween, but they work also for Day of the Dead. You can use any cut-out-cookie recipe as the base. I usually cut out 2 different-shaped figures using my gingerbread men cookie cutters.

• Preparation Time: 45 mins
• Cooking Time: 8 mins
• Total Time: 53 mins
• Calories: 131 Calories

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 ½ cups white sugar
• 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
• 1 (1.5 ounce) tube black decorating gel
• 2 teaspoons light corn syrup, or more as needed
• 1 ½ teaspoons almond flavoring
• 2 teaspoons milk, plus more as needed

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Step 2

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.

Step 3

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.

Step 4

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.

Step 5

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.

Step 6

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.

Step 7

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.

Step 8

Use black decorating gel to draw eyes, a nose, and a mouth on the skull and let cookies dry again, about 1 hour.