Halloween cookies are a must-have part of the holiday season. Sure, everyone knows that Halloween candy is an essential, but let’s not overlook the cookie. They’re delicious, they’re fun to make, and they’re edible art! What’s not to love!?
And while we’re on the subject, let’s just talk about the awesomeness that is Halloween. A holiday really just for dressing up, partying and eating treats? Yes, please! But it didn’t start that way. It was actually a seasonal tradition in the pagan religion. History.com tells us that Halloween has origins that date back 2000 years when the Celts held an ancient festival called Samhain. It was a New Year’s Eve, of sorts, as the Celts celebrated their new year on November 1.
Halloween marked the end of the harvest season for the Celts, and the beginning of the cold harsh winter. Since they didn’t have a lot of seasonal accommodations we do today, that meant a lot of inevitable deaths looming. The Celts believed that the eve before their new year was when a lot of the dead returned to Earth. As part of the festivities, they lit bonfires to invite warmth in the winter months.
They also wore costumes to ward off evil spirits. Traditionally the costumes were made of animal heads and skins. Before you judge, they didn’t have much to choose from. I’m sure it was at least a day’s travel to the near Spirit Halloween store. So the tradition of costumes did begin as a way to scare off spirits. Not sure when or where we turned them into excuses to put our kiddos in cute little Disney dresses. Cause that isn’t scaring anyone.
Whatever costume you don this year, these festive cookies may or may not scare the guests of your Halloween party, but they’ll definitely make an impression.
–Wendy Rush, 96.3KKLZ Las Vegas
1. Toothy Monsters
Grab your favorite flavor of cookie and slather some chocolate frosting between two of them. Cut a marshmallow into slices for the eyes (use more frosting for the pupil) and cut some of those slices like a pizza for the pointy teeth.
2. Mummy Macaroons
Another easy and adorable option. Buy premade macaroons (or make your own) in a white color and pipe white frosting on the top. No need to make it neat. Put candy eyes on while the frosting is still wet and you’re done!
3. Arachnocookia
Peanut Butter cookies topped with chocolate spiders. The best spider is made with a chocolate-covered peanut butter ball. But anything round can be dipped in chocolate to work. A bit of vanilla icing and a toothpick-dipped chocolate dot make up the eyes. Then just pipe out frosting to create the legs.
4. Bloody Witch Fingers
These are so fun and a lot easier than they look! Roll out sugar cookie dough into finger-length pieces. Cut lines on each one before baking to create the knuckles and put an almond sliver on the top end for the finger nail. For extra ickiness, stick the almond on with red jam and use the rest on the other end. It looks like blood. So icky but oh so tasty.
5. Yummy Gummy Monster
Another fun and easy monster cookie. This time the sliced marshmellow is stood upright on a chocolate chip cookie. Use white frosting to glue it on. Inverted chocolate chips make for easy pupils. And red frosting is piping on the top and bottom cookie, just on the edge, to look like gums. Then just use mini marshmallows for teeth. Quick and easy. Great one for the kids to do.
6. Brain Cookies
This cookie has marzipan for brains! No seriously…it does. Just use a ball of it for the main part of the brain and make tiny snakes to curl up for the top part. You can use it on any cookie but a simple sandwich cookie works best.
7. Pumpkin Cookies
Use a cookie dough that bakes up puffy, cut some lines in them before baking, and use a cinnamon stick as a trunk. Easy and stylish enough for your upscale party.
