Creepy Cookies – Halloween Baking

Creepy cookies – Halloween Baking. Before we start I have a confession. For the purpose of artistic licence these Creepy Cookies are really biscuits masquerading as cookies because its such a great name. In the UK cookies are softer, chewier than biscuits and often contain pieces of chocolate, nuts or dried fruit. Biscuits are normally made from a firmer dough and baked to a crisper finish. In fact the origins of the word biscuit go as far back as Latin then medieval French and means twice cooked. The second bake or drying out helped preserve the biscuit from spoiling.

Creepy Cookie Dough

The recipe is a variety of Sable pastry a rich egg and butter enriched recipe from France. You can use sable pastry for making tart cases, Linzer biscuits and wonderful festive mince pies. The classic central European Christmas recipe Linzer torte is made from a sable pastry. It is filled with jam and topped with a pastry lattice. The word “sable” is French for sand which you will see perfectly describes the grainy texture when you make the biscuits. The end result is a fine crumbly texture.

Ghastly Ghosties and Scary Halloween Double Chocolate Cupcakes. Do you celebrate Halloween? Yes! Well, when I was little, we celebrated Bonfire night. Maybe a few naughty children in the village threw eggs or played other pranks on Mischief Night. However, no one really celebrated Halloween.

Oh, Mummies! Scary Rice Krispie Cakes. One of my favourite treats as a child was when my mum made a tray of sticky marshmallow rice Krispie cake. However, I’m not really a cake or sweet guy but I swear I could eat the whole thing. I always knew if we were going to make it because I would be sent to the small local village shop which sold slabs of toffee.

Cookies and biscuits differ from cakes and breads because they are made with a firmer dough. Cakes are made with a more liquid-based dough or batter made with more egg or milk which allow the bubbles to expand more and a lighter finish. These Halloween cookies are sandwiched together with simple whipped vanilla buttercream and I use soft mini marshmallows for the teeth

How to make Creepie Cookies

Creepy cookies or biscuits are a great addition to your Halloween baking recipes. You can really let your families creative talents shine. The recipe is a rich pastry that you can ice and decorate as you please with a slightly let down ( runny ) Royal icing, but if you want you can buy premade and ready coloured icing. You can find suitably shaped cutters not in most supermarkets or online or you can cut out a card template and using a small knife just cut around your shape.

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Creepy Cookies

You can buy Glucose for large supermarkets and specialist cake baking shops. You can save the discarded Vanilla pod and place it in some Caster sugar to infuse it with the vanilla.

Course Cakes and Biscuits

Cuisine American, English

Keyword Biscuits, Cookies, Family Cooking, Halloween

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Servings 8 people

Author Christian Gott

Equipment

• Halloween cookie cutters

Ingredients

For the Cookies

• 200 gram Plain Flour sifted
• 100 gram Jersey Butter at room temperature
• 100 gram Golden Caster Sugar
• 75 gram Ground Almonds
• 1 free-range Egg
• 1 Vanilla Pod opened and seeds removed
• 1 teaspoon Almond Essence

To Decorate

• 200 gram Icing Sugar sifted approximately
• 1 free-range Egg White
• 1 teaspoon Glucose
• ½ teaspoon fresh squeezed Lemon juice
• Food Colourings
• Edible Glitter
• Edible Cake Decorations

Instructions

For the Cookies

• Preheat your oven to 375 F / 190 C / Gas Mark 5 and line a baking tray with baking parchment. Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl until light and fluffy.
• Whisk the egg, vanilla seeds and almond essence together and beat a little at a time into the creamed butter and sugar, until thoroughly mixed. Fold in the flour until the mixture comes together as a dough.
• Sprinkle flour on to a work surface and carefully roll out the biscuit dough to about 1cm thick. Cut the biscuits using cutter shapes of your choice and carefully place onto the baking tray.
• To make into Christmas tree decorations, make a hole in the top of the biscuit. Place in the oven and bake for 8 – 10 minutes, or until pale golden-brown.
• Remove from the oven and leave to cool for a few minutes then transfer onto wire rack.

For the icing

• Place the icing sugar into a large mixing bowl and stir in the egg white, glucose, and lemon juice to make a smooth, thick but workable icing. Stir in the food colouring if you want to at this stage.
• You may need to add just a little more icing sugar or one or two drops of freshly boiled warm water to achieve the right consistency.
• Carefully pie or spread the icing onto the biscuits using a small knife and add the decorations. Put to one side and leave until the icing hardens.

Notes

Allergens in this recipe are;

 

 

 

Please see the Allergens Page