Halloween Cut Out Cookies

Halloween shaped cut out cookies on a cooling rack.

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.

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 9

Chilling Time 1

Total Time 1 29

Servings cookies

Author Heather

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.

Video

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!

Nutrition