Halloween Monster Cookies

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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 the perfect balance of creepy and adorable. Kids will love them, while adults will find them equally fun! Grab your supplies and start baking these easy halloween cookies!

Sometimes I get in the mood for a festive and fun treat, especially as the weather cools down and the leaves start changing color. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, and I love celebrating in fun ways. These cute Halloween monster cookies are super delicious and easy to make! The best part? They bring a smile to pretty much everyone’s face! 

Even if you aren’t a huge Halloween fan, they are a sweet treat that is a blast to make and eat. Plus, they’re perfect to serve at a Halloween party! I promise they will be a huge hit and the best way to celebrate spooky season.

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. Children love to learn new things, especially when it involves food. I can assure you that there’s going to be a lot of giggles, smiles, and outright laughter when the kids help you make these spooky cookies. 

👩🏽‍🍳 Why You’ll Love Halloween Monster Cookies

• Kid Friendly Halloween Cookies: These adorable Monster Cookies are such fun cookies to make with kids! Those little hands won’t be able to resist the purple monster cookies and the sprinkles. 
• Great For Parties: Not only are they the cutest cookies ever, but they are also really tasty. Perfect for Halloween parties, gifts for neighbors, boo-ing, or kids get-togethers. 
• Customizable: Easily make these halloween treats gluten-free, vegan, or low-sugar to meet various dietary needs.
• Easy To Make: You can whip up this easy halloween dessert quickly with just a few simple ingredients! Ultimately this is a simple sugar cookie recipe, with a fun twist.

🥘 Ingredients

These are some of the primary ingredients for these monster eye cookies, all of which can be found at the local grocery store! See the recipe card for the full list of ingredients and nutritional information.

• Flour: I used whole wheat pastry flour for some added whole grains in these yummy cookies.
• Butter: As with most baking recipes, use unsalted butter for these spooky cookies.
• Cream Cheese: You’ll get added flavor and moisture with the addition of cream cheese in these sugar monster cookies.
• Sugar: I used ¾ of a cup of coconut sugar for a lower glycemic option and to keep these as healthy halloween cookies.
• Vanilla Extract & Salt: Just a little bit of vanilla and salt will boost the taste for the best halloween monster cookie recipe ever!
• Halloween Sprinkles: Sprinkles are perfect for halloween cookies for kids! Make sure to use these Natural Rainbow Sprinkles to avoid artificial food dyes. Alternatively, use a mix of halloween colored sprinkles, candy eyes, or even fall sprinkles.
• Purple Food Coloring: I used this Natural Food Coloring to avoid artificial colors & flavors for these scary cookies. This halloween cookie recipe for kids is extra enticing because of the color!

🍲 Ingredient Substitutions

• Flour: If you want a gluten-free option, you can try gluten-free flour or Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten Free Baking Flour. 
• Sugar: For a sweeter cookie, you can go all the way up to 1 ¼ cups of sugar in this recipe.
• Butter: You can swap the regular butter for vegan butter or coconut oil for these monster cookies for halloween.
• Vanilla Extract: Instead of vanilla in this halloween cookies recipe, use your own favorite flavor extract. Almond extract works particularly well.

🔪 How To Make Halloween Monster Cookies

Are you ready to get into the Halloween spirit?! Here’s how to make this easy Halloween monster cookies recipe. For more detailed instructions and nutrition facts, see the recipe card below.

Prep Dry Ingredients: Preheat the 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.

Prep Butter Mixture: In a separate bowl, beat together the butter, cream cheese, and sugar until light and fluffy.

Continue Prepping The Wet Ingredients: Add the vanilla, egg, and two to three drops of purple gel food coloring. Beat until well combined.

Combine Wet And Dry Ingredients: 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: Scoop heaping tablespoons of dough from the bowl and roll the dough into a ball. Dip the balls into the Halloween sprinkles, leaving the bottom free of sprinkles.

Decorate Cookies: Place each rolled cookie on the prepared baking sheet and press the balls down slightly with the bottom of a cup. Press candy eyeballs into the top of the cookies before placing the cookie sheet in the oven.

Bake Cookies: Bake in the preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes, until the bottom of the cookies are beginning to brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for five minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely before serving.

Serve: Enjoy these cookies fresh out of the oven!

💭 Expert Tips

• Always preheat. 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. 
• Be precise with baking time. Never over bake the cookies, or they won’t taste as good. You want a subtly crispy edge with a chewy center! I’m not opposed to under baking just a tad though, for gooey monster cookies!
• Form the cookies evenly. 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. 
• Use the right temperature ingredients. Room-temperature butter, cream cheese, and eggs are essential so that they are mixed evenly into the dough. 
• Make them chewy. 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.
• Measure precisely. For best results with this eyeball cookies recipe, make sure to spoon and level your flour into your measuring cup versus using your measuring cup to scoop out the flour.
• Use helpful tools. It may be helpful to 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 you can mix the ingredients in a large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. 

📖 Variations

​There are lots of ways to customize these homemade Halloween cookies! 

• Candies: Fold Halloween-colored candies into the cookie dough before baking if you want halloween candy monster cookies. Reese’s pieces, halloween m&m’s, or candy corn are a great option, but you can choose any that you prefer in fun Halloween colors.
• Sprinkles: Use your own favorite color combination for these monster mash cookies. Switch these up for different holidays so you can make them any time of year. For fall halloween cookies, add in fall leaf sprinkles.
• Chocolate: Fold mini chocolate chips into the dough. Use dark chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, or white chocolate chips. Alternatively, make these black halloween monster cookies by using black cocoa powder. This is equally as spooky as the purple, with great flavor!
• Marshmallows: Stir in mini marshmallows before forming the dough into balls. The monster sugar cookies will have a touch more sweetness and chewiness!
• Nuts: For peanut butter lovers, add peanut butter chips or peanut butter. You can also mix in almond butter if you prefer, for a fun twist on these halloween cookies with eyes!

🍽 Serving Suggestions

These googly eye cookies are spooky, scary, and down right delicious. These sweet treats hardly need anything else to go with them, but here are a few ideas for pairing.

• Other Sweets: Serve these eyeball cookies for Halloween with a big bowl of tofu ice cream or vegan vanilla pudding. 
• Drinks: These are perfect for dunking into a cold glass of milk or chocolate milk (or dairy-free alternative) or an oat milk hot cocoa. It’s also a fantastic themed treat to go with this witches brew cocktail (or mocktail).

🙌 Dietary Adaptations

• Vegan Option: By replacing the butter with coconut oil or vegan butter, you can easily make these vegan halloween cookies.
• Gluten-Free Option: Make this fun recipe gluten-free by using the Bob’s Red Mill brand of gluten-free flour or using other alternatives like almond flour or oat flour. You can blend up your own old-fashioned oats or quick oats for flour!

🫙 Storage Directions

• To Refrigerate: I prefer storing cookies in an airtight container at room temperature, but you can also refrigerate them for 1-2 weeks. 
• To Freeze: Halloween monster sugar cookies can be frozen for up to 3 months. You can freeze the dough wrapped in plastic wrap.

❓Recipe FAQs

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📋 Recipe Card