Halloween Cookies

Halloween Cookies

Halloween Cookies I made this year. I made several of most of these.

Skulls

Close-up of Skulls

Halloween is my favorite time of year after Christmas and I love baking and decorating Halloween Cookies. This year, I did new cookies such as Bride of Frankenstein, Spider Web, Witch Face, Pumpkin Candy Bucket, Ghost with Feet, Witch and Tombstone Wafer Designs, Eye Monster and Mummy.

Ghosts, Spider Webs, Mummy, Witch Silhouettes

Close-up of Ghosts, Spider Webs, Mummy, Witch Silhouettes

Ghosts, Spider Webs, Mummy, Witch Silhouettes

Ghosts, Spider Webs, Mummy, Witch Silhouettes

I baked up a batch of Vanilla Sugar Cookies and ended up with 5/12 dozen cookies as seen in this post and the previous Halloween posts. To make all these cookies, I split it up in two days.

Bats, Ravens, Ouija piece, Owls

Close-up of Bats, Ravens, Ouija piece, Owls

Witch Hats, Crescent Moons, Cauldrons, Witch Brooms, Cats

Witch Hats, Crescent Moons, Cauldrons, Witch Brooms, Cats

Witch Hats, Crescent Moon, Cauldrons, Witch Broom, Cats

 Cats

On the first day, I make the dough and bake the cookies and on the second day, I make a large batch of Royal Icing and make all the colors I need and decorate the cookies.

Tombstones: Ann M.T. Grave, Myra Maines, Anita Shovel, Doris Ajar, 2 RIP Wafer Paper Designs

Tombstones: Coffins with Bats, Ann M.T. Grave, Myra Maines, Anita Shovel, Doris Ajar, 2 RIP Wafer Paper Designs

Candy Corn, Jack O' Lanterns, Pumpkin Candy Buckets

I always let the cookies dry overnight before I put them in gift bags/tins. This step is crucial. See links below for the cookie and icing recipes.

Haunted House

Bride of Frankenstein and Frankenstein

Witch Hat, Witch Face, Witch Broom, Cauldron

Witch Face, Eyeball Monster, Dracula

For the Vanilla Sugar Cookie Recipe visit, Sweetopia:

http://sweetopia.net/2009/12/sugar-cookie-recipe/

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

For the Pumpkin Candy Bucket Tutorial visit, Sweet Sugarbelle:
http://www.sweetsugarbelle.com/2014/10/halloween-candy-bucket-cookies/

Enjoy!

-Sophia/Two Frys

Jack Skellington Cookies

Jack Skellington Cookies

Jack Skellington Cookies

Every October, my Jack Skellington coffee mug is used and doll proudly sits on my desk. This year, I bought a nice plaque from Walgreens as seen below. I love Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas movie and for Halloween,  I just have to make Jack Skellington cookies. Jack Skellington is the "Pumpkin King" of Halloween town and is one of my favorite animated characters.

Jack Skellington Cookies

I used Ghirardelli White Melting Wafers to make the Jack molds. To melt the candy wafers, place in a pastry bag that is knotted on top in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time until they melt. My candy wafers took about 1 1/2 minutes to melt. Snip the tip and fill your molds. Tap the molds on your counter top to pop any air bubbles. Freeze for 15 minutes and carefully release. I kept the jack skellington candies in the fridge until I needed them.

Close-up of Jack Skellington Cookies

Jack Skellington Cookies

I first decorated each cookie with Royal Icing and while it was wet, I pressed a Jack Skellington candy on top. I let the cookies dry overnight.

Jack Skellington Molds

Ghirardelli White Melting Wafers

Wafers in pastry bag

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

Enjoy!

-Sophia/Two Frys

Skeleton Cake

Skeleton Cake

Skeleton Cake

Skeleton Cake

Skeleton Cake just iced

I bought this Wilton Skeleton Cake pan a month ago at Party City and was excited to make this cake. I used Ina Garten's Devil's Food recipe as shared by Food52 (link below) splitting the batter for my Ouija Cupcakes. To color in the bones, I used Royal Icing. To prepare the pan, I recommend Wilton Bake Easy! Non-Stick Spray. I waited 20 minutes before flipping the cake onto a wire rack to cool. Once it was I placed it back in the pan to ice. I put the Royal Icing in a small squeeze bottle and did a border around each bone outline and then filled. Let the Royal Icing dry overnight.

Skeleton Cake cooled and ready to ice

Wilton Skeleton Cake Pan

For Ina Garten's Devil's Food Cake visit, Food52:
https://food52.com/recipes/62184-ina-garten-s-devil-s-food-cake

Enjoy!

-Sophia/Two Frys

Ghost Brownies

Ghost Brownies

Ghost Brownies

Use Mini Chocolate Chips to make the eyes and mouth

Just toasted in the broiler

I did not have a chance to make Ghost Brownies last year so I was happy to have enough time this year. For the brownies I used Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate Premium Brownie Mix and Ghost Peeps to top the brownies.

Ghost Peeps, the eyes and mouth fade when toasted

Brownies cooled and ready for the Peeps

To toast the marshmallows, I put them in the broiler after the brownies cooled completely for just 1 minute. Just keep an eye on them so they do not burn. Since the eyes and mouth fade when they are toasted, I used Mini Chocolate Chips to make eyes and a mouth. Wait until the Ghost Peeps have cooled all the way or the chocolate chips will melt.

Enjoy!

-Sophia/Two Frys

Ouija Cupcakes

Ouija Cupcakes

Ouija Cupcakes

Ouija Cupcakes

Ouija Cupcakes

I had scary experiences using a Ouija board in my teen years and will never use one again, but I was not afraid of making these Ouija Cupcakes for Halloween. It was actually fun putting them together. I used Ina Garten's Devil's Food recipe as shared by Food52 (link below) and the Buttercream recipe is from Wilton (also used in my Pumpkin Cupcakes and Brain Cupcakes). The Ouija designs are printed on wafer paper. To assemble the Ouija toppers, I used a toothpick and then dipped a brush into light corn syrup pressing two sides of the same design while gently adhering it into the top of a toothpick. I let the toppers dry for an hour and then inserted each one into the center of a cupcake. I put the cupcakes in the fridge to set for 2-3 hours. These look super cool and are great for Halloween.

Putting the Ouija toppers together

Ouija toppers are done

Close-up of one of the Ouija designs

For Ina Garten's Devil's Food Cake visit, Food52:
https://food52.com/recipes/62184-ina-garten-s-devil-s-food-cake

For the Buttercream Frosting visit, Wilton:
http://www.wilton.com/buttercream-frosting/WLRECIP-41.html

Enjoy!

-Sophia/Two Frys

Brain Cupcakes

Brain Cupcakes

Brain Cupcakes

Fred Nom Skull Baking Cups

Allen got me Fred Nom Skull Baking Cups for Christmas and I waited for Halloween baking time to make Brain Cupcakes. The wait was so worth it. To make the mauve pink color for the brain, I used Wilton Concentrated Gel Icing Color in Pink and Brown, adding a few drops of each color in the frosting until I reached the desired color. The frosting and cupcake recipes are the same as my previous post Pumpkin Cupcakes (links below). If you do not want to use Pumpkin for the cupcakes, Vanilla cupcakes with a few drops of either a little orange or pink color would work great. I was inspired by the blog Bren Did (link below) and her adorable brain cupcakes and the tutorial is great!

Baking cups sprayed and ready to fill

Allen's Brain Cupcake

I sprayed the inside of the baking cups with a little Wilton Bake Easy! Non-Stick Spray and filled each cup leaving 1/3 since the batter will rise when they bake in the oven. I kept the cupcakes in the baking cups and frosted the top of the cupcakes with a thin layer using an offset spatula. I filled a small squeeze bottle with a round tip to make the brain frosting. I started with two lines in the center and for the left and right side of the brain made 2 squiggles on each side. Let frosting set for 2-3 hours in the fridge and serve in the baking cup. Right before eating just gently squeeze out of the cup and the cupcake will release and you will see the skull head imprint.

For the Buttercream Frosting visit, Wilton:
http://www.wilton.com/buttercream-frosting/WLRECIP-41.html

For the Pumpkin Cupcakes visit, The Cake Blog:
http://thecakeblog.com/2011/11/pumpkin-cupcakes-recipe.html

For a great Brain Cupcake tutorial, visit Bren Did:
https://brendid.com/all-natural-zombie-brain-cupcakes/

Enjoy!

-Sophia/Two Frys

Pumpkin Cupcakes

Pumpkin Cupcakes

Pumpkin Cupcakes

Pumpkin Cupcakes

I love pumpkin everything. For Halloween, I wanted some Pumpkin Cupcakes with a pumpkin topper made from Wilton Candy Melts in Orange. I used half of the cupcakes for Brain Cupcakes which I will share in the following post. For the buttercream, I used Wilton Buttercream Frosting recipe and added 5 drops of AmeriColor Soft Gel Paste Food Color in Super Black. The Pumpkin Cupcakes recipe is from The Cake Blog and were not too sweet and so soft and moist. I added 1 extra teaspoon of pumpkin spice for extra pumpkin flavor.

Pumpkin Cupcakes

Pumpkin candy melts

To make the candy melts, place in a pastry bag that is knotted on top in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time until they melt. My candy melts took about 1 1/2 minutes to melt. Snip the tip and fill your molds. Tap the molds on your counter top to pop any air bubbles. Freeze for 15 minutes and carefully release. I kept the pumpkin candies in the fridge until I needed them.

Candy melts in pastry bag, pumpkin mold

Add melted candy into mold and just freeze for 15 minutes, easy peasy

For the Buttercream Frosting visit, Wilton:
http://www.wilton.com/buttercream-frosting/WLRECIP-41.html

For the Pumpkin Cupcakes visit, The Cake Blog:
http://thecakeblog.com/2011/11/pumpkin-cupcakes-recipe.html

Enjoy!

-Sophia/Two Frys