Look, I’m not going to bore you with some long story about how my great-aunt Mildred made cookies in a haunted bakery during the Great Pumpkin Uprising of 1952. You’re here for Halloween cookies, so let’s get to it.
Halloween is the perfect time to get into the kitchen and make some spooky treats. Whether you’re bringing something to a party, making treats for trick-or-treaters, or just want an excuse to eat cookies shaped like eyeballs, this list has you covered. I’ve rounded up 13 Halloween cookie recipes that range from super easy to “yeah, I’m going to need a weekend for this one.”
Spooky Eyeball Cookies
Photo Via: Lolohomekitchen.com
Soft, chewy chocolate cookies with candy eyeballs pressed right into the dough before baking—no frosting, no complicated decorating, just stick the eyes on and go. You can add black food coloring to make them extra dark and spooky, but the cocoa powder does most of the work. They come together in about 25 minutes total, which is perfect when you need Halloween treats fast.
Black Cocoa Halloween Cookies
Photo Via: KingArthurBaking.com
Thin, crisp cookies that get their intense black color from black cocoa powder (not food coloring), and they taste like a sophisticated Oreo. Top them with an orange glaze that you can either brush on quick or pipe into jack-o’-lantern faces if you’re feeling ambitious. That deep, dark chocolate flavor is addictive, and they look legitimately spooky without being gross.
Frankenstein's Sandwich Cookies
Photo Via: therecipemingle.com
Chocolate sandwich cookies with bright green buttercream filling that look like Frankenstein’s face—complete with candy eyes, messy black frosted hair, and that classic stitched scar. The cookies are soft and chocolatey, the green buttercream is sweet and creamy, and they require a little decorating time but nothing too complicated. Even if your piping skills are shaky, they’ll still come out looking cute and spooky.
Halloween Chocolate Chip Cookies (Spider Version)
Photo Via: tarasmulticulturaltable.com
Take your standard chocolate chip cookie recipe and turn it spooky by adding spider decorations—some recipes mix in orange M&Ms or candy corn to make them more festive. If you’re not into weird flavors or complicated techniques, these are your jam. They don’t look obviously Halloween-y, so you can eat them well into November without feeling weird about it.
Halloween Peanut Butter Spider Cookies
Photo Via: easycookierecipes.com
Basically peanut butter blossoms but Halloweened up—soft, chewy peanut butter cookies topped with a mini Reese’s cup, piped chocolate legs, and candy eyes. The peanut butter and chocolate combo is always a winner, and the spider decorating is actually pretty fun. The chocolate legs can be a little finicky to pipe if your chocolate gets too thick, so keep it warm and work quickly.
Witch Finger Cookies
Photo Via: delish.com
Shortbread cookies shaped like gnarled fingers with almond “fingernails” and red jam “blood”—yeah, it’s a lot. The dough is usually tinted green (though you can skip that), and you use a knife to make knuckle creases and wrinkles. They look disturbingly realistic, so maybe don’t make them if you’re squeamish.
Slime-Filled Halloween Cookies
Photo Via: flavorfulhaven.com
Chocolate cookies with a bright green “slime” center that oozes out when you bite into it—the filling is usually either lime-flavored curd or green-dyed cheesecake that gets frozen before being stuffed into the cookie dough. The surprise factor is off the charts, and the chocolate-lime combo is actually really good. These take some planning because you need to freeze the filling, so not a “whip them up in 20 minutes” situation.
White Chocolate Candy Corn Cookies
Photo Via: kodiakcakes.com
Soft, chewy cookies with candy corn pieces and white chocolate chips mixed in—love it or hate it, candy corn is THE Halloween candy. The trick is chilling the dough before baking because candy corn gets melty, and you don’t want it puddling all over your cookie sheet. They’re sweet, colorful, and nostalgic in a good way, and even people who say they hate candy corn usually like these.
Halloween Pinwheel Sugar Cookies
Photo Via: flavorfullrecipes.com
Basic sugar cookie dough divided in half, colored (orange and black is classic), stacked, rolled up, and sliced to create a cool spiral pattern. They look way more complicated than they actually are, and the swirl makes them look like you really know what you’re doing. Use gel food coloring for vibrant colors, and don’t skip the chilling time or your spirals will turn into blobs.
Ghost Cookies
Photo Via: sainsburysmagazine.co.uk
Sugar cookies cut into ghost shapes and decorated with white royal icing and black details for faces—as classic as Halloween cookies get. You can go simple (white cookies with dot eyes and mouths) or get fancy with different icing consistencies. They’re not scary-gross, just cute-spooky, which makes them perfect for younger kids.
Halloween Crinkle Cookies
Photo Via: feastical.com
Chocolate cookies rolled in powdered sugar that crack and “crinkle” when they bake—for Halloween, make them extra dark with black cocoa powder or roll them in colored sugar (orange, purple). They’re fudgy in the middle, slightly crisp on the outside, and the crackly sugar coating makes them look really cool. Don’t skip chilling the dough because it needs to be cold for that signature crackle pattern.
Witch Hat Cookies
Photo Via: kitchendivas.com
The easiest cookies on this list, hands down—take a fudge-striped cookie (or Oreo), pipe a circle of frosting in the middle, stick a Hershey’s Kiss on top, and you’re done. They’re no-bake, take about 30 seconds per cookie to make, and kids can absolutely handle the assembly. Maximum results, minimum effort, and they look cute without requiring any actual baking skills.
Monster Cookies
Photo Via: recipesloop.com
Bright blue sugar cookies (yes, blue!) loaded with mini Oreos, mini Chips Ahoy, white chocolate chips, semi-sweet chocolate chips, and candy eyeballs—basically Cookie Monster in cookie form. They use a cookie mix shortcut, so they come together fast, and kids go absolutely nuts for the color and all the cookie chunks mixed in. Crispy edges, chewy centers, and they look way more impressive than the effort required.
Final Thoughts
There you have it—13 Halloween cookie recipes that cover everything from “I need something in 10 minutes” to “I’m going to spend all Saturday making these perfect.”
My advice? Pick one or two that sound good, make them, and don’t stress about perfection. Even slightly wonky Halloween cookies still taste awesome. And if you really want to impress people, make the black cocoa ones—they look professional even if you’re not.
Got a favorite Halloween cookie recipe I missed? Let me know in the comments. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some witch fingers to bake.
Happy Halloween, and happy baking!
