Whether you’re hosting a spooktastic Halloween party or just want to thrill the little monsters after school on an October evening, these sugar cookies are guaranteed to be a bloody good time. Featuring a quick and easy dough that requires no chilling, these festive cookies are wonderfully kid-friendly and an absolute blast to decorate. Edible horror has never looked or tasted so good.
This Halloween season, the goal was to make vampire bite cookies. So yeah, that totally failed. And miserably, might I add. The actual vampire bites were completely lackluster. Two holes in the middle of a cookie, filled with red icing, for no apparent reason. So, to save face, I simply drizzled the cookies with even more red icing to resemble blood splatter. And voila, blood splatter sugar cookie Halloween perfection. A simple, easy-to-make cookie recipe, made with on-hand pantry and fridge ingredients. But also, a fun kid-friendly recipe. What’s not to love?
Ingredients:
Cookies:
- 1 Cup Unsalted Butter, Softened
- 1 1/3 Cups Granulated Sugar
- 1 Whole Egg
- 1 Egg Yolk
- 1 Tablespoon Vanilla
- 2 3/4 Cups All-Purpose Flour
- 2 Teaspoons Cornstarch
- 3/4 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1/3 Cup Granulated Sugar
Icing:
- 2 Cups Powdered Sugar
- 2 Tablespoons + 2 Teaspoons Cold Water
- Red Gel Food Coloring
Directions:
Cookies:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Cream the butter and 1 1/3 cups sugar together on medium speed for 3 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl down as needed.
- Add the whole egg, egg yolk, and vanilla. Mix on medium speed for 2 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl down as needed.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda together until well combined.
- On low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Mix until just combined. Do not overmix the dough.
- Pour the 1/3 cup of sugar into a small bowl. Use a tablespoon or cookie scoop to measure out dough. Using the palms of your hands, roll the dough into balls, then roll each ball of dough in the small bowl of sugar to coat. Place the cookies onto a Silpat or parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, or until the cookies are set and the tops start to crack.
- After 5 minutes, transfer the cookies to a wire rack and let them cool completely before icing.
Icing:
- Sift the powdered sugar into a medium-sized bowl.
- Add the water and whisk until well combined.
- Add a few drops of food coloring at a time until the icing becomes bloody red. Whisk the icing in between each addition of red food coloring.
- Pour the icing into a small resealable bag. Snip the tiniest bit off one corner of the bag. Drizzle or drip the icing over each cookie to resemble blood splatter.
Suggestions:
- Do not overmix the cookie dough.
- Place 12 cookies on each cookie sheet to allow room for even baking.
- I used red gel food coloring for this recipe. Add a few drops at a time. If you add too much food coloring, the icing will become watery.
- Store the cookies in an airtight container, between layers of wax paper or parchment paper.
- This recipe will yield 3 dozen cookies.
Improvements:
- Add 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract to the cookie dough.
- For the icing, replace 1 teaspoon of water with 1 teaspoon of vanilla.
- Add lemon or orange zest to the cookie dough.
- CLICK HERE to check out all of our past cookie recipes.
Ingredients:
- 1 Cup Unsalted Butter, Softened
- 1 1/3 Cups Granulated Sugar
- 1 Whole Egg
- 1 Egg Yolk
- 1 Tablespoon Vanilla
- 2 3/4 Cups All-Purpose Flour
- 2 Teaspoons Cornstarch
- 3/4 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1/3 Cup Granulated Sugar
- 2 Cups Powdered Sugar
- 2 Tablespoons + 2 Teaspoons Cold Water
- Red Gel Food Coloring
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Cream the butter and 1 1/3 cups sugar together on medium speed for 3 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl down as needed.
- Add the whole egg, egg yolk, and vanilla. Mix on medium speed for 2 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl down as needed.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda together until well combined.
- On low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Mix until just combined. Do not overmix the dough.
- Pour the 1/3 cup of sugar into a small bowl. Use a tablespoon or cookie scoop to measure out dough. Using the palms of your hands, roll the dough into balls, then roll each ball of dough in the small bowl of sugar to coat. Place the cookies onto a Silpat or parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, or until the cookies are set and the tops start to crack.
- After 5 minutes, transfer the cookies to a wire rack and let them cool completely before icing.
- Sift the powdered sugar into a medium-sized bowl.
- Add the water and whisk until well combined.
- Add a few drops of food coloring at a time until the icing becomes bloody red. Whisk the icing in between each addition of red food coloring.
- Pour the icing into a small resealable bag. Snip the tiniest bit off one corner of the bag. Drizzle or drip the icing over each cookie to resemble blood splatter.
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