Halloween Sugar Cookies

I mailed off my Halloween boxes to my kids today. I discovered this recipe last year and it was a big hit. I took some to work to our poor, starving intern working with me who highly appreciated them. But besides being cute, these cookies are deliciously addictive! I'm not even a sandwich cookie person myself but this recipe changed all that. (Can you believe that I easily pass up Oreos? Now, how many people do you know like that?) I bought sandwich cookie cutters at Williams-Sonoma last year and used the cookie recipe on the box which is surprisingly a great recipe. I dyed the dough orange for the Jack-o-lanterns and made the frosting yellow between the two cookies so it looks like light shining through the Jack-o-lantern. Too cute! My kids love them and so will anybody else you make them for. Such a treat.

Last year, I also made these skeleton sandwich cookies. You also get a witch and cat in the cookie cutter kit but since they are a little time consuming to make, I only got as far as the Jack-o-lantern and skeleton.

Making black buttercream frosting is a little weird, but effective for Halloween cookies, I guess.

Makes about 24 sandwich cookies or 48 sugar cookies

For Cookies

5 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
4 sticks unsalted butter
1-1/2 cups sugar
6 egg yolks
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

1. Have all ingredients at room temperature.

2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.

3. In a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat together the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes.

4. Add the egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition.

5. Beat in vanilla.

6. Add flour to mixture, 1 cup at a time, mixing on low speed.

7. This is where you need to add the food coloring if you plan to make the above orange Jack-o-lanterns. Mix yellow and red food coloring together to get the shade of orange you want and then add to dough. I usually dye half the dough and keep half the dough undyed.

8. Turn dough out onto a work surface and divide into 4 equal portions. Shape each portion into a ball, then flatten the balls into disks.

9. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, at least 4 hours or up to 2 days. Let the dough soften slightly at room temperature before continuing.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

10. Position a rack in the upper third of an oven. Line several cookie sheets with parchment paper.

11. Dip the Halloween cookie cutter in flour. Cut out an equal number of each shape, pressing an imprint on only half of the cutouts. Using a large metal spatula, transfer the cookies to the prepared pans. Gather up and re-roll the scraps and cut out more cookies. Repeat with the remaining dough disks.

12. Bake the cookies until they are golden on the edges, 15 minutes. Transfer the pans to wire racks and let the cookies cool completely on the pans.

Buttercream Frosting

8 Tbsp. unsalted butter
3 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
2 Tbsp. milk, plus more, if needed
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. salt
food coloring

1. In the bowl of electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat the butter on medium speed until light and creamy, 2 - 3 minutes.

2. Reduce the speed to low, and add the confectioners' sugar, the 2 Tbsp. milk, the vanilla and salt, and beat until smooth and combined, about 2 minutes.

3. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Increase the speed to medium and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes.

4. If the frosting is dry, add more milk, 1 Tbsp. at a time, until it is creamy but still holds peaks. Tint with food coloring as desired.

For sandwich cookies: Spread 2 tsp. buttercream frosting on top of the solid cookies. Top with an imprinted cookie and gently press together. (But don't press too hard or the cookie will crack) Decorate the tops of the sandwich cookies as desired. Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. (But believe me, they won't last that long!)

All ready to ship out.

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