Brought to you by Winter’s Kitchen, get ready to add a spooky twist to your baking this Halloween with these Halloween-themed cookies! Perfect for kids, parties, or just treating yourself, these cookies are fun to decorate and delicious to eat, with a mix of chocolate, sprinkles, and edible eyes that are sure to bring a little festive magic to your kitchen.

Spooky Halloween Cookies

Serves 8-10

Preparation time – 20 minutes

Chilling time – 30 minutes

Baking time – 10 minutes

Ingredients

125g Unsalted butter (room temperature)

100g Light brown sugar

75g Granulated sugar

1 Large egg

Pinch of salt

Dash of vanilla essence

220g Plain flour

50g Dr Oetker Dark Cocoa Powder (you can substitute this for regular cocoa powder. See instructions below)

1tsp Baking powder

1tsp Bicarbonate of soda

300g White chocolate chips

Halloween chocolates, sprinkles and/or edible eyes (you can buy these in Brackley Tesco)

Black gel food colouring (optional)

Step 1
Heat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas mark 6.

Step 2
Using a stand or hand mixer, cream together the unsalted butter and sugars. Using room temperature butter will make this process quicker. If using refrigerated butter, soften it first by creaming it alone before mixing in the sugars.

Step 3
Add your egg to the bowl and mix until fully combined. Add a pinch of salt and a splash of vanilla essence to bring out the flavour of the cookies. At this point, add black food colouring gel if you want your cookies to be black. Use a gel colouring for a stronger colour and add as much as you like.

Step 4
Sieve the flour and cocoa powder into your mix in small amounts. Using Dr Oetker Fine Dark Cocoa Powder or another Dutch cocoa powder will give a darker colour to the cookie mix than regular cocoa powders. Substituting this should not affect the flavour of the cookies. Add the baking powder and bicarbonate of soda and ensure the mixture is fully combined.

Step 5
Add your white chocolate chips and any choice of Halloween chocolates or sprinkles, and mix again.

Step 6
Divide your cookie dough into small balls. Roll them in your hands to form a round shape and place on a baking tray. At this point, you can press extra Halloween chocolates, sprinkles, or edible eyes into the top of the dough balls before baking. This can also be done when they are fresh out of the oven. Cover the baking tray with clingfilm and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Step 7
Line one or two baking trays with greaseproof paper and evenly space out your dough, ensuring they will not touch when they spread in the oven. Place in the oven and cook for roughly 10 minutes. Check your cookies at around 8 minutes to see if they are nearly ready, as depending on your oven, they may not need the full 10 minutes.

Step 8
Once baked, place the cookies on a wire cooling rack to cool.