Return to top
featured in… The Huffington Post CookingLight Reader's Digest Women's Health BuzzFeed Glamour Whole Foods Oprah Winfrey Network CNN Food Network Healthline Shape

Hello! I’m Anjali. I’m a board certified health coach, author, wife, mom and food lover from the SF Bay area (now living in Seattle, WA!); with a passion for delicious food and a desire to make healthy eating easy, tasty and fun! Learn more about me here and stay for a while!

Anjali Shah

Halloween Monster Cookies (Fun & Festive!)

This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read my disclosure.

Fall is just around the corner, and these Halloween Monster Cookies are the perfect way to add some spooky flavor to your life. They are creepy but adorable, all at the same time!

purple halloween monster cookies with googley eyes stacked on a black cutting board

Sometimes I get in the mood for a festive and fun treat. These cute Halloween monster cookies are just delicious! They are fun and bring a smile to pretty much everyone’s faces. Even if you aren’t a huge Halloween fan, they are a sweet treat that is a blast to make and eat. 

These Halloween sugar cookies aren’t just yummy! They are a great way to introduce your kids to the kitchen and baking. Children love to learn new things, especially when it involves food. I can assure you that there is going to be a lot of giggles, smiles, and laughter when the kids help you make these cookies. 

Tools and Equipment You’ll Need

purple halloween monster cookies with googley eyes stacked on a black cutting board

Recipe Ingredients and Notes

  • Flour: I used whole wheat pastry flour for some added whole grains. If you want a gluten free option, you can try gluten free flour or Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten Free Baking Flour
  • Butter: For a vegan option, use vegan butter or coconut oil
  • Sugar: I used 3/4 of a cup of coconut sugar for a lower glycemic option, but if you want a sweeter cookie you can go all the way up to 1.25 cups of sugar in this recipe
  • Halloween Sprinkles: Make sure to use these Natural Rainbow Sprinkles to avoid artificial food dyes
  • Purple Food Coloring: I used this Natural Food Coloring to avoid artificial colors & flavors

Step by Step Instructions

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.

flour for cookies in a bowl

Step 2: In a separate bowl, beat together the butter, cream cheese, and sugar until light and fluffy.

butter and sugar mixed in a bowl

Step 3: Add the vanilla, egg, and two to three drops of purple gel food coloring. Beat until well combined.

eggs and vanilla added to butter mixture in a bowl

Step 4: 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.

purple food coloring added to wet ingredients, flour combined with wet ingredients

Step 5: 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.

cookie dough balls rolled in sprinkles

Step 6: 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.

eyes added to purple cookie dough balls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper

Step 7: 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.

finished monster cookies out of the oven

Kid-Friendly Halloween Sugar Cookies

Cookies in general are always kid friendly, but kids and adults of all ages will go wild for these adorable Monster Cookies! Not only are they the cutest cookies ever, but they are also really tasty too. Perfect for Halloween parties, gifts for neighbors, or even kids get-togethers. Kids won’t be able to resist the purple-colored cookies and the sprinkles. 

Recipe FAQs

Can I Make These Cookies A Different Theme?

Yes, absolutely! You can swap out different sprinkles and food coloring to fit the theme you are looking for. Whether you are wanting to make sugar cookies for a birthday party, Christmas, Valentine’s day or even an anniversary dinner, you can adjust this recipe. So have fun with this recipe and make some adjustments to them to fit your needs. You could go with pink, red, and white for Valentine’s Day or purple, teal, and blue for some adorable mermaid cookies. The list goes on and on!

How Do I Make The Cookies Soft?

The most important thing to do when baking these Halloween Monster Cookies to ensure they turn out soft is to not overbake them and not overmix the batter. Both of these issues can cause dense and hard cookies. 

Let’s start with the batter: When combining the ingredients before to only mix them long enough that everything is just incorporated. If you mix them more than that, then air bubbles will develop, and as they bake, they will pop and lead to a dry, dense cookie. 

When it comes to baking, it’s a good idea to test your oven temperature every once in a while. Sometimes it can get off, and you would need to make adjustments to make sure you don’t cook your cookies in a too-hot-oven. I typically bake a batch of these Halloween sugar cookies for 10-12 minutes and not a minute longer. Once the cookie has begun to set around the edges and they barely turn golden brown, you can take them out of the oven. They will finish cooking on the baking sheet, and you’ll end up with soft, chewy cookies. 

How Long Do Homemade Sugar Cookies Last?

After the cookies have cooled, keep them in an airtight storage container. They will last at least 1 week and maybe even a little longer. They can be stored at room temperature or can even be frozen if you can’t get them all eaten that quickly.

purple halloween monster cookies with googley eyes stacked on a black cutting board

Top Tips For Making Halloween Monster Cookies

  • Make sure to preheat the oven before adding the cookies to it. If you don’t, the cookies will start baking as the oven warms up, but not at the correct rate. They will end up dried out and dense. 
  • Never overbake the cookies, or they won’t taste as good. 
  • Try to get all the cookies to be the same size, so they bake evenly. Also, lightly press the dough balls down right before baking. 
  • Room temperature butter, cream cheese, and eggs are essential so that they are mixed evenly into the dough
  • For a chewier cookie, switch out about 2 tablespoons of the coconut or granulated sugar for brown sugar. Brown sugar has molasses which helps make cookies moist and even softer.
  • Make sure to spoon and level your flour into your measuring cup, versus using your measuring cup to scoop out the flour.
  • To make these gluten-free, use oat flour or Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1:1 Baking Flour

Check Out These Other Tasty Dessert Recipes!

purple halloween monster cookies with googley eyes stacked on a black cutting board

If you have tried this Halloween Sugar Cookies or any other recipe on my blog, then please rate it and let me know how it turned out in the comments below! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM, and PINTEREST to see more delicious, healthy, family friendly food!

purple halloween monster cookies with googley eyes stacked on a black cutting board
Print Recipe
5 from 5 votes

Halloween Monster Cookies

Fall is just around the corner, and these Halloween Monster Cookies are the perfect way to add some spooky flavor to your life. They are creepy but adorable, all at the same time. 
Prep Time30 mins
Cook Time10 mins
Total Time40 mins
Course: Baking, Dessert
Cuisine: American
Servings: 30 cookies
Calories: 129kcal
Author: Anjali Shah

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees 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

Top Tips For Making Halloween Monster Cookies
  • Make sure to preheat the oven before adding the cookies to it. If you don’t, the cookies will start baking as the oven warms up, but not at the correct rate. They will end up dried out and dense. 
  • Never overbake the cookies, or they won’t taste as good. 
  • Try to get all the cookies to be the same size, so they bake evenly. Also, lightly press the dough balls down right before baking. 
  • Room temperature butter, cream cheese, and eggs are essential so that they are mixed evenly into the dough
  • For a chewier cookie, switch out about 2 tablespoons of the coconut or granulated sugar for brown sugar. Brown sugar has molasses which helps make cookies moist and even softer.
  • Make sure to spoon and level your flour into your measuring cup, versus using your measuring cup to scoop out the flour.
  • To make these gluten-free, use oat flour or Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1:1 Baking Flour

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

Posted In…

Plant Based Desserts ·

Indulge your sweet tooth with some of my delicious, lightened-up treats! From vegan vanilla pudding to gluten-free brownies to microwave peanut butter fudge, there’s something for everyone!

All of these desserts are healthier than their traditional counterparts, and many have gluten free and/or vegan alternatives. But the most important part is that they are all so tasty, so satisfying, and are total crowd pleasers!

Be sure to try other reader favorites like this healthy hot chocolate, our healthy edible vegan cookie dough, and these peanut butter bliss balls!

10 responses to “Halloween Monster Cookies (Fun & Festive!)”

  1. These Halloween monster cookies are so adorable and perfect for Halloween time. My kids love baking with sprinkles!5 stars

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Recipe Rating




Subscribe to newsletter

Copyright 2023 The Picky Eater®, LLC. All rights reserved.