Jack Skellington Cookies

Jack Skellington Cookies

Jack Skellington Cookies

Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas is one of my favorite films. I love Jack Skellington and finally after all these years, I made cookies to celebrate him for Halloween/Samhain. This was the first time I used fondant and it was a fun experience. I bought the Jack Skellington cutter on Etsy, and used Sweetopia's Vanilla Sugar Cookie recipe. I purchased the Jack Skellington doll and mug at Walgreens for $9.99. Recipe and directions follow below.

Close up of Jack Skellington Cookies

Vanilla Sugar Cookie 
Ingredients
2 cups Unsalted Butter, softened

2 cups Sugar

2 Extra Large Eggs

3 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract

5 cups King Arthur All Purpose Flour

1 teaspoon Coarse Salt

Jack Skellington Cookies

Directions
Sift flour and add salt. Combine with spatula. Put aside.

Cream butter and sugar in a hand held mixer or stand mixer with paddle attachment on low; 1-2 minutes.

Scrape sides of bowl with spatula and mix for a 10-15 seconds.

Add eggs one at a time, mix until incorporated. Scrape sides of bowl and mix for 5-10 seconds.

Add vanilla extract and mix on low until incorporated, about 20-25 seconds.

Slowly add flour mixture on low to combine. The dough is ready when it begins to clump around paddle attachment.

Jack Skellington Cookies

Roll dough into ball, cover with plastic wrap and chill in fridge for 1-2 hours.

Cut dough into 4 cuts, leaving unused dough covered with plastic wrap until ready to  use.

Preheat oven tp 350 degrees.

Use 2 sheets of parchment paper with dough in between and roll with rolling pin until desired thickness is reached.

Use a round cutter to cut shapes. I measured the size cutter by placing the Jack Skellington cutter over my Ateco round cutter and made sure it fit over it correctly leaving an inch or so of space.

Jack Skellington Cutter

Place onto cookies sheets lined with parchment paper and put in freezer for 5 minutes. The cookies hold their shape when you do this.

Bake 12-15 minutes or until the edges have slightly browned.

Wait 2-3 minutes before transferring cookies on cooling racks to complete cooling.

Decorate once cookies have cooled.

Royal Icing in Super Black

Royal Icing
Ingredients
4 Egg Whites

4 teaspoons Lemon Juice, freshly squeezed

6 cups Confectioners Sugar, sifted

Wilton Decorator Preferred Fondant in White Vanilla

Directions
In a medium size bowl, whisk together the egg whites and lemon juice.

Transfer to stand or hand held mixer with paddle attachment.

Slowly add sifted sugar and beat on low until smooth.

Cake Boss Rolling Pin and Wilton Decorator Preferred Fondant

If needed, you may add 1 teaspoon of water at a time until you reach the right consistency. Watch the Joy of Baking (link at the end) video for both Flooding Consistency and Piping Consistency Royal Icing. If you prefer a recipe using Meringue Powder, it is also available at this link. I only needed the Piping Consistency Royal Icing for this recipe.

Jack Skellington cutter imprinted onto Fondant

I separated the icing in 1 plastic container with lid and tinted with Americolor Soft Gel Paste Food Color in Super Black. To make the black, I added 4 drops and combined with a small spatula. Keep the container covered until you are ready to color. Royal Icing hardens fast so keep it covered when not in use.

I transferred the icing immediately into 3 small Squeeze Bottles using a funnel to prevent it from spilling. Keep the squeeze bottle tips covered. If the Royal Icing hardens due to exposure to air, spray a little bit of water and shake bottle well holding the tip with your finger. Test the icing consistency on a paper towel before decorating the cookie.

Jack Skellington Cookies ready for Royal Icing

Fondant
I bought Wilton Decorator Preferred Fondant in White Vanilla. I am typically not a fan of fondant at all, but to my surprise this Wilton product has a great taste. The fondant was very easy to work with. I sprinkled powdered sugar on my work surface/counter to prevent sticking. I sprinkled powdered sugar on my Cake Boss Fondant Rolling Pin and formed the fondant into a round ball and started kneading it until it was soft to roll out.

I rolled the fondant until desired thickness, and then dipped my Jack Skellington cutter in the powdered sugar and pressed into the fondant using both hands to make sure the imprint came out. Repeat this step until all the fondant Jack Skellington faces are done.

Use a dab of the royal icing and place in the center of the cookie and put the fondant over it. Just press gently to hold it in place. I found this easier than using royal icing in white and then black to decorate over it. I am not an artist and knew the face would not come out like I would want it to.

Close up of one Jack Skellington Cookies without Royal Icing

Take Black Royal Icing and do an outline of all the eyes and wait 10-15 minutes, and then fill in the eyes. I did the nose next and lastly the mouth on each cookie and repeated until I was done. The hardest part was the mouth, but I think I did a fine job for my first try.

I let the cookies dry for 4-5 hours.

For further information:
Please visit, Sweetopia for the Vanilla Sugar Cookie Recipe: http://sweetopia.net/2009/12/sugar-cookie-recipe/

Please visit, Joy of Baking for the Royal Icing Recipe and Video Tutorial:
http://www.joyofbaking.com/RoyalIcing.html

Enjoy!

Happy Halloween/Samhain.

-Sophia/Two Frys