Last year, children wouldn’t touch my Halloween-themed witch finger shortbread cookies and ghost cupcakes. They were just too scary! With Halloween right around the corner, I’m determined not to make the same mistake again. I can’t think of anything as innocent sounding as sugar cookies, but this time I made them with the appropriate level of spookiness: I shaped them as little pumpkins.
I made the cookie dough with both butter and oil in addition to fromage blanc (you could use sour cream). This made the cookies oh-so-moist and chewy with a sparkly crust (I sprinkled them with green and orange-tinted sanding sugar). Instead of making plain vanilla sugar cookies, I flavored the cookie dough with mint julep sugar from Bourbon Barrel. You could substitute your favorite flavorings.
1. Info for Halloween Cookies: Mint Sugar Cookie Recipe
- Cook Time: unavailable
- Total Time: unavailable
- Servings: 42
- Calories: unavailable
2. Ingredients for Halloween Cookies: Mint Sugar Cookie Recipe
- 1 egg, at room temperature
- 1-¼ cups mint julep sugar (see tips)
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon pure mint extract (optional)
- 2-¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon coarse salt
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 4 tablespoons fromage blanc, at room temperature
- 1/3 cup orange and green-colored sanding sugar, as needed
3. Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- In a bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Sift all the dry ingredients.
- In a mixing bowl, beat the egg with ½ cup mint sugar for about 5-6 minutes. The texture of the egg will be thicker. Add mint extract (if used).
- Cream the butter with the remaining mint sugar (whisk using a standmixer to get as much air as possible in the butter). Add the fromage blanc, olive oil, egg mixture, brown sugar and cream. Stir until well combined, then add the dry ingredients. Mix well.
- Place a silicone mat or a sheet of parchment paper on a baking sheet. Using a cookie scoop, form dough balls (about 2 tablespoons) and roll them in a little sanding sugar. Place the cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheet. Make sure to space the cookies about 2 inches apart so they don’t touch each other, as they will expand as they bake.
- Slightly flatten the cookie dough balls. Brush with a wet silicone brush, then sprinkle with additional sanding sugar. If you like, you can form a little stem to form pumpkin-shapes cookies.
- Bake for about 5 minutes at 375°F, then lower the heat to 350°F and bake for another 8 minutes (up to 10 minutes depending on how you like the consistency of the cookie). Rotate them half-way through so they cook evenly. Transfer the cookies to cooling racks. Allow to cool completely.
- Bon appétit!
