Halloween cut out cookies are a delightfully spooky treat for your next fall party. These soft cookies hold their shape beautifully when baked and are filled with plenty of mini chocolate chips.
Heather's summary
Flavor/texture: Soft, lightly sweetened chocolate chip cookies that hold their shape when baked. Like the perfect mix between a cut out cookie and classic chocolate chip cookie.
Chilling time: 1 hour
Yield: About 30 cookies
Similar to: Heart Shaped Chocolate Chip Cookies and Black Cat Cookies
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Ingredients and substitutions
- Wet ingredients - Unsalted butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract add flavor and moisture to the dough. Reducing or omitting these ingredients will create a dry, crumbly dough.
- Dry ingredients - All-purpose flour, salt, and baking powder. I've only tested this recipe using all-purpose flour, so I can't say for sure how other flours would turn out. Have a different type of flour on hand? Instead of wasting ingredients, search for a recipe that's written using the ingredients you have on hand.
- Chocolate chips - Mini chocolate chips work best in a rolled out dough. Standard chocolate chips are a bit too large for this style of cookie.
- Sprinkles - Jimmies in Halloween colors like orange, green, and purple work great. Sprinkles can also be omitted entirely if desired.
- Halloween cookie cutters - Look for medium sized (2-3 inch) cookie cutters with easily recognizable shapes. I used this set from Amazon: Halloween Cookie Cutters - 5 pieces, which includes a ghost, bat, scary cat, witch hat, and a pumpkin.
How to make Halloween cut out cookies
- Cream sugar and butter together. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until fluffy. Stir in mixed dry ingredients until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips and sprinkles until just combined.
- Shape dough into two round discs and wrap in wax paper. Refrigerate at least 1 hour. Roll cold dough on flour dusted surface to ¼" thickness. Use cookie cutters to cut out desired shapes.
- Place cut out cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Bake at 350F for 9-11 minutes or until cookies begin to lightly brown around the edges. Sit 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Heather's Top Tip
For accurate results every time, use a kitchen scale to measure flour by weight. If you don't have a kitchen scale, use the spoon and level method. Stir the flour (especially if it's been packed down in a bag/container), then gently spoon into the measuring cup, leveling off the top with a knife. Scooping with a measuring cup compacts flour into the cup and adds up to 25% extra to the recipe, resulting in dry, bland baked goods.
Tips and tricks
Chilling your dough - This is an important step that shouldn't be skipped. Chilled dough spreads less in the oven, ensuring that your cut out cookies hold their shape.
Dust with flour - Don't be afraid to dust everything with flour while you're rolling out your dough. Dust the counter top, your hands, your rolling pin, and your cookie cutters.
Allow pans to cool - Do not place dough onto a hot baking sheet. This will cause your cookies to spread before they even make it to the oven.
Dough getting warm? If your dough has been handled a lot and feels warm, it's likely to spread in the oven. After you've cut out your cookies and placed them on the baking sheet, refrigerate the entire sheet for 10 minutes. This re-chills the dough and helps them spread less in the oven.
Use parchment paper - Do not grease your pan. Adding a layer of grease causes cookies to spread in the oven. Instead, use parchment or a silicone baking mat.
Frequently asked questions
I used this set from Amazon: Halloween Cookie Cutters - 5 pieces, which includes a ghost, bat, scary cat, witch hat, and a pumpkin.
Yes. Allow your cookies to cool completely, then layer between sheets of wax or parchment paper and seal tightly in a freezer-safe container. Your cookies will keep for up to 3 months in the freezer.
You've greased your baking sheet instead of using parchment, your dough is too warm, or you've placed cookie dough on a hot baking sheet. To prevent spreading, place your prepared baking sheet with cookies in the refrigerator for 10 minutes before baking. Allow your sheets to cool between batches, and line your pan with parchment instead of using grease.
Too much flour will cause your dough to be dry, crumbly, and tough. If your dough is too dry, add 1-2 tablespoons of milk and mix to incorporate. The most accurate way to measure flour is with a kitchen scale (this is what I do and what I recommend to others). If you don't have a scale, spoon your flour into a measuring cup, then level off with a knife. When scooping directly from a bin with a measuring cup, this compacts the flour into the cup, adding up to 25% extra flour to your recipe.
If every recipe you've tried isn't turning out, it may be a matter of the ingredients you're using, the environment, or your technique. It's important to follow the recipe instructions and ingredients exactly without substitutions or variations. I find that most often when a reader has issues and they've "followed the recipe to a T", they're making ingredient substitutions, not realizing that affects the recipe. The ingredient list is made with a purpose and baking is an exact science. Substitutions can't be made without expecting a change in results.
Recommended
📖 Recipe
Halloween Cut Out Cookies
Ingredients
- ¾ cup (170 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (53 g) brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ¾ cups (330 g) all purpose flour, *measured properly
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (180 g) mini chocolate chips
- 2 tablespoons colorful jimmies sprinkles
Instructions
- In a large bowl with a hand mixer (or stand mixer), add butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar. Cream together until fluffy, about a minute. Add eggs and vanilla extract and beat until fluffy, about a minute.
- In a separate bowl, sift (or whisk) together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Add dry ingredients into butter mixture and mix until just combined. Add mini chocolate chips and sprinkles and mix until just incorporated.
- Shape dough into two round discs and wrap in wax paper. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, up to 24 hours.
- Preheat oven to 350℉ and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Remove one disc of dough at a time from the refrigerator.
- Dust counter top, rolling pin, and top of dough with flour. Roll dough out to ¼" thickness, dusting with additional flour as needed to prevent sticking. Using cookie cutters, cut into various shapes and place onto prepared baking sheet about 1 inch apart.
- Bake cookies for about 9-11 minutes, or until cookies just begin to lightly brown around edges. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes on baking sheet before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Equipment Recommendations
Notes
- * How to measure flour properly: Use a kitchen scale to measure flour for accurate results every time. If you don't have a kitchen scale, use the spoon and level method. Stir the flour (especially if it's been packed down in a bag/container), then gently spoon into the measuring cup, leveling off the top with a knife. Scooping with a measuring cup compacts flour into the cup and adds up to 25% extra to the recipe, resulting in dry, bland cookies that don't spread properly.
- Reusing leftover dough: Dough scraps can be reformed and rerolled once before additional refrigeration is needed. Warm dough will spread more in the oven and cookies may lose their shape.
- Cookies spreading in the oven? After cutting out your cookies, place entire baking sheet in the refrigerator for 10 minutes before baking. This helps the cookies spread less.
- Do not grease your baking sheet: Additional grease can cause cookies to spread more when baking.
- Freezing: Leftover dough and leftover baked cookies (that have been cooled completely) can be frozen in a tightly sealed freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.
- Tips: Be sure to check out my 10 tips for baking cookies, based on reader comments and questions!
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