Halloween Monster Cookies
This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read my disclosure.Fall is here and my 40-minute Halloween Monster Cookies are the perfect way to add some spooky flavor to your Halloween party. They have the perfect balance of soft and buttery texture with a sweet candy coating, and I make them with wheat flour, cream, coconut sugar, and sprinkles.
I love it when the weather cools down and the leaves start changing color. It gets me in the mood for baking up some delicious festive and fun treats with the kids. Whether it’s baking Santa pancakes or these Halloween monster cookies, we love celebrating the holidays in fun ways.
And these Halloween monster cookies are the best treat to get the spooky season festivities off with a bang! They’re super delicious and easy to make, just like these healthy chocolate chip cookies, and always bring a smile to everyone’s face.
👩🏽🍳 Why I Love This Recipe
These Halloween sugar cookies aren’t just yummy, they are something the whole family can get involved with! They are a great way to introduce your kids to the kitchen and baking. My children love to learn new things, especially when it involves food. Their little hands rolling the cookies and covering them with sprinkles and candy eyes are so adorable! I can assure you that there’s going to be a lot of giggles, smiles, and outright laughter when your kids help you make these spooky cookies.
The great thing with this sugar cookie recipe is that I can easily adapt it to suit different dietary needs, like gluten-free, vegan, or low-sugar, and whip up a big batch in less than an hour. I prepare 2 mixing bowls for my kids: one with dry ingredients and one with wet ingredients, and let them do the mixing. Then, they incorporate the mixtures and roll small dough balls. This is where the fun starts, dipping the balls in sprinkles and placing candy eyes to give the purple Halloween cookies a spooky face.
It’s so much fun for the kids, and it makes them feel good, gifting them to neighbors and friends, knowing that they made them! They’re soft and buttery with a sweet candy crunch, the perfect treat for a Halloween party and trick-or-treaters. Even my mom declares them the best sugar cookies she’s ever tried, and coming from her, that means a lot. All you need is a handful of simple ingredients and a pair of little hands to make a memorable afternoon baking these spooky Halloween cookies!
🥘 Ingredients
These are some of the primary ingredients I use to make these monster eye cookies, all of which can be found at the local grocery store.
Flour: I use whole wheat pastry flour for some added whole grains in these yummy cookies.
Butter: As with most baking recipes, I use unsalted butter for these spooky cookies.
Cream Cheese: Adding 2 oz of cream cheese is my trick to adding flavor and moisture to these sugar monster cookies.
Sugar: I use 3/4 of a cup of coconut sugar for a lower glycemic option and to keep these cookies healthy.
Vanilla Extract and Salt: I add just a little bit of vanilla and salt to boost the taste for the best Halloween monster cookie recipe ever!
Halloween Sprinkles and candy eyes: Sprinkles are perfect for Halloween cookies and for kids! I use these Natural Rainbow Sprinkles to avoid artificial food dyes and a mix of Halloween colored sprinkles and candy eyes to give these cookies a spooky look.
Purple Food Coloring: I use this Natural Food Coloring to avoid artificial colors and flavors for these scary cookies. This Halloween cookie recipe for kids is extra enticing because of the color!
Substitutions
Flour: If you want a gluten-free option, you can use your favorite gluten-free flour as a 1:1 substitute or my go-to Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten Free Baking Flour.
Sugar: For a sweeter cookie, you can go all the way up to 1 1/4 cups of sugar in this recipe. Honestly, though, they are perfectly balanced as they are without needing to add more sugar.
Butter: When I make these monster cookies vegan, I swap the regular butter for vegan butter or coconut oil..
Vanilla Extract: Instead of vanilla in this Halloween cookies recipe, when I want to give them a different flavor, I use other flavor extracts, like almond or coconut.
🔪 How To Make
Here is how to make my easy Halloween monster cookies recipe in a few simple steps.
Prep Dry Ingredients: First, I preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper, then mix the flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl.
Prep Butter Mixture: In a separate bowl, I beat together the butter, cream cheese, and sugar until light and fluffy.
Continue Prepping The Wet Ingredients: I add the vanilla, egg, and two to three drops of purple gel food coloring, beating until well combined.
Combine Wet And Dry Ingredients: Then, I slowly add the dry ingredients and mix until well combined. A spoon may be needed to mix in the last of the flour if the dough is too thick for a mixer.
Form Cookies: To make dough balls, I scoop heaped tablespoons of the dough and roll them into balls, dipping each one into the Halloween sprinkles, and leaving the bottom free of sprinkles.
Decorate Cookies: Finally, I place each rolled cookie on the prepared baking sheet and press the balls down slightly with the bottom of a cup, pressing candy eyeballs into the top of the cookies before placing the cookie sheet in the oven.
Bake Cookies: I bake in the preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes, until the bottom of the cookies begins to brown. Then, I remove them from the oven and allow them to cool on the baking sheet for five minutes before transferring the cookies to a wire cooling rack to cool completely before serving.
Serve: I enjoy these cookies fresh out of the oven!
💭 Expert Tips
My #1 Secret Tip for this Halloween monster cookies is to use room temperature butter, cream cheese, and eggs for baking. I always make sure to remove the dairy ingredients from the fridge so that they are mixed evenly into the dough.
Other Tips To Keep In Mind:
- Make them chewy: For a chewier cookie, I swap about 2 tablespoons of the coconut or granulated sugar for brown sugar. Brown sugar has molasses, which helps make cookies moist and even softer.
- Measure precisely: For best results with this eyeball cookies recipe, I make sure to spoon and level the flour into a measuring cup, versus using a measuring cup to scoop out the flour.
- Use helpful tools: I use a cookie scoop to portion out the dough to ensure even-sized cookies. Also, you can choose to use an electric mixer and a large mixing bowl, or mix the ingredients in a large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.
- Always preheat: For best results and to avoid the cookies ending up dried out and dense, I always make sure to preheat the oven before adding the cookies to it.
- Don’t overbake: We’re looking for crispy-edge cookies with a chewy, slightly gooey center for these monster cookies, so make sure not to overbake them.
- Form the cookies evenly: I make sure to get all the cookies the same size so they bake evenly. Also, I lightly press the dough balls down right before baking.
📖 Variations
There are lots of ways to customize these homemade Halloween cookies! Here are some of my favorite variations.
Candies: Fold a handful of Halloween-colored candies into the cookie dough before baking for Halloween candy monster cookies. Reese’s pieces, Halloween M&M’s, or candy corn are also great options.
Chocolate: For a chocolatey version, I fold mini chocolate chips into the dough. I either use dark chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, or white chocolate chips, or a combination of them all. For an even spookier version, I add half a cup of cocoa powder to the flour mixture.
Marshmallows: I stir in half a cup of mini marshmallows before forming the dough into balls. The monster sugar cookies will have a touch more sweetness and chewiness.
🍽 Serving Suggestions
These googly eye cookies are spooky, scary, and perfect to pair with other fall treats. Here are some of my favorite treats to pair with these spooky Halloween cookies.
Other Sweets: I love to serve these eyeball cookies for Halloween with a big bowl of tofu ice cream to scoop on top of them, or pair them with these cute little vegan vanilla pudding jars.
Drinks: These cookies are perfect for dunking into a cold glass of iced ube latte. The purple color matches the Halloween purple cookies, and kids and adults alike sip on these and dunk their cookies into them with pleasure. And for an adult treat, try this easy witches brew cocktail with vodka, cream soda, and matcha powder. It’s so delicious and one of my favorite fall cocktails. Plus, it can be made kid-friendly by removing the vodka.
🧊 Storage Directions
Refrigeration: I prefer storing cookies in an airtight container at room temperature, but they also keep for 1-2 weeks in the fridge.
Freezing: I freeze my Halloween monster sugar cookies in freezer bags or a container for up to 3 months. The dough can also be frozen for 4-6 months, wrapped in plastic wrap.
❓Recipe FAQs
DO I NEED TO USE BAKING SODA FOR THESE COOKIES?
Yes. I recommend using baking soda to make these delicious cookies if you want them to be soft and chewy, as baking soda is an essential leavening agent that gives baked goods a chewier texture and helps them rise during baking.
WHY DO MY COOKIES COME OUT HARD?
In my experience, overmixing or overcooking is to blame for hard cookies. To avoid this, I make sure to mix the dry and wet ingredients just enough to combine and take the cookies out of the oven after 10 minutes, making sure the oven is hot first before baking them.
WHY DO MY COOKIES STICK TO THE BAKING TRY?
If you find, after baking the cookies, that they don’t come out of the baking tray easily without breaking them, it is likely that the baking tray wasn’t prepped with parchment paper or greased. Greasing or using parchment paper is my number one tip to avoid this every time with any baked goods, no matter how good or non-stick the baking tray might be.ombining the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients.
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📋 Recipe Card
Halloween Monster Cookies
Fall is here and my 40-minute Halloween Monster Cookies are the perfect way to add some spooky flavor to your Halloween party. They have the perfect balance of soft and buttery texture with a sweet candy coating, and I make them with wheat flour, cream, coconut sugar, and sprinkles.
Servings: 30 cookies
Calories: 129kcal
Ingredients
- 3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ¾ tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 cup butter room temperature (2 sticks)
- 2 oz cream cheese softened
- ¾ cup coconut sugar Can use up to 1¼ cups for a sweeter cookie
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- natural Halloween sprinkles
- candy eyes
- natural purple food coloring (use natural food coloring and mix red + blue to get purple)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, beat together the butter, cream cheese, and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add the vanilla, egg, and two to three drops of purple gel food coloring. Beat until well combined.
- Slowly add the dry ingredients and mix until well combined. A spoon may be needed to mix in the last of the flour if the dough is too thick for a mixer.
- Scoop heaping tablespoons of dough from the bowl and roll into a ball. Dip the balls into the Halloween sprinkles, leaving the bottom free of sprinkles.
- Place each rolled cookie on the prepared baking sheet and press the balls down slightly with the bottom of a cup. Press candy eyes into the tops of the cookies.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes, until the bottom of the cookies are beginning to brown.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for five minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely before serving.
Notes
- My #1 Secret Tip for this Halloween monster cookies is to use room temperature butter, cream cheese, and eggs for baking. I always make sure to remove the dairy ingredients from the fridge so that they are mixed evenly into the dough.
- Make them chewy: For a chewier cookie, I swap about 2 tablespoons of the coconut or granulated sugar for brown sugar. Brown sugar has molasses, which helps make cookies moist and even softer.
- Measure precisely: For best results with this eyeball cookies recipe, I make sure to spoon and level the flour into a measuring cup, versus using a measuring cup to scoop out the flour.
- Use helpful tools: I use a cookie scoop to portion out the dough to ensure even-sized cookies. Also, you can choose to use an electric mixer and a large mixing bowl, or mix the ingredients in a large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.
- Always preheat: For best results and to avoid the cookies ending up dried out and dense, I always make sure to preheat the oven before adding the cookies to it.
- Don’t overbake: We’re looking for crispy-edge cookies with a chewy, slightly gooey center for these monster cookies, so make sure not to overbake them.
- Form the cookies evenly: I make sure to get all the cookies the same size so they bake evenly. Also, I lightly press the dough balls down right before baking.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 129kcal | Carbohydrates: 14.7g | Protein: 1.6g | Fat: 7.3g | Saturated Fat: 4.3g | Cholesterol: 24.8mg | Sodium: 68mg | Potassium: 6.9mg | Fiber: 1.6g | Sugar: 5.3g
The kids and I are tasked with making cookies for a Halloween party. These colorful, delicious cookies will be a huge hit.
Yes!! I’m sure everyone will love them!
What fun cookies to have for Halloween! The kids are going to love the eyes and the colorful sprinkles!
Thanks!! Enjoy!
These Halloween cookies are the perfect easy treat, and I love that they’re made with whole wheat flour and coconut sugar so they’re far superior to store bought cookies. Another great recipe from the Picky Eater Blog!
Thanks so much Eliza!!
These are gonna be made for our neighborhood party! The kiddos will love!
Yay!! I can’t wait to hear how they turn out!
Love these scary but cute cookies! Saving this to make for Halloween!
Yay!! I’m sure you’ll love these when you try them!
These Halloween monster cookies are so adorable and perfect for Halloween time. My kids love baking with sprinkles!
Aw thanks so much Emily!!
These colorful cookies will be kids’ favorites! I am setting up a day to bake with my nieces. 🙂
Yay! I can’t wait to hear how these turn out! 🙂
These are so much fun, and the perfect festive Halloween sweet treat! The kids will love them!
Definitely – I’m sure your kids will have so much fun making these cookies and especially eating them! 🙂
These are so fun! Perfect for Halloween!
Yes!! Thanks so much Sue!