HOLIDAYS
HOLIDAYS
Halloween is just around the corner and we know that it's the holiday to eat lots of sweets. If you're a lover of cookies like us, we have a special Halloween treat recipe for you.
This Halloween, make some delicious Halloween Shortbread Cookies that your children, friends, and guests will love! Follow our recipes below for the Shortbread Cookies, the Royal Icing and our simple Decoration Tips to create spooky Halloween Cookies that will haunt and delight all your guests.
Happy Baking!
Recipes Courtesy of Amy Berman, Executive Pastry Chef & Co-Owner of Vanilla Bake Shop.
Halloween Shortbread Cookies: Shortbread Cookie Recipe
Shortbread cookies - a perfect base for a delicious and easy to decorate Halloween treat!
Ingredients
- 2 ¾ c. All Purpose Flour
- ¼ c. Cornstarch
- ½ tsp. Baking Powder
- 1 ½ c. Softened Unsalted Butter
- ¾ c. Powder Sugar
- 2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
- tubes of icing
Steps
- In electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the softened butter with powder sugar on medium speed till combine. Add the vanilla extract.
- Sift together the flour, cornstarch and baking powder and slowly add to butter sugar mixture on low speed in thirds, till the mixture comes together in a ball.
- Note: do not over mix. Dough will become tough.
- Chill the dough covered with plastic for 30 min. Dust a smooth surface lightly with flour, and roll your shortbread dough out with a rolling pin till its about ¼" thick.
- Using your favorite Halloween cookie cutters, cut out your desired shapes and place on parchment covered cookie sheet pans.
- Chill cookies for 10 min before baking, to avoid spreading.
- Bake at 325 degree's for 10-15 minutes or until lightly golden brown.
- When cookies have cooled, decorate with colored icings.
Halloween Shortbread Cookies: Royal Icing
Ingredients
- 1 c. Pasteurized Egg Whites
- 5 c. Sifted Powder Sugar
- 1 tsp. Lemon Juice
Steps
- In an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on medium speed until soft peaks form.
- Slowly add the sifted powder sugar to the egg whites on medium speed. Scrape down bowl as needed. Add lemon juice.
- Tip: For thicker royal icing, add more powder sugar. It should be able to hold its shape when piped, similar in consistency to thick toothpaste.
- Beat on medium-high speed for 5-8 minutes until mixture thickens, and becomes stiff. Scrape down bowl, and cover with plastic to avoid a skin from forming when not using.
- Add food coloring to your royal icings, and have your colors ready to go before you start decorating.
- Keep un-used royal icing in refrigerator for up to 5 days covered in an airtight container.
- Tip: Bring to room temperature before using again.
Decorating Halloween Cookies
What You'll Need:
- Thick and Thin Royal Icing in Black, White, Orange, Green, Yellow
- 5- 12" pastry bags
- 5-#3 Piping Tips
- Toothpicks
- Undecorated Baked Cookies
- Pipe a line of thick royal icing around the edge of your cookie with a pastry bag fitted with #3 piping tip. This will act as the barrier to keep the thinner icing within the lines, and avoid overflow. You do not want any gaps.
- Allow to dry for a couple minutes.
- You are going to fill this space in with thinner royal icing, which is called “Flooding”. Flooding is a technique used to frost cookies to create a smooth glossy finish.
- Getting the right consistency is key. To make the royal icing thicker, add more sifted powder sugar. To make it thinner add drops of water or lemon juice a little at a time to get the desired thickness. A little goes a long way, so measure carefully.
- Tip: For the perfect consistency of thin royal icing, test it by drawing a toothpick through it. The icing should take about 5 seconds to come back together.
- Once your barrier is piped, and dry, you can fill it in with the thinner royal icing. You can a toothpick or the end of your tip to fill out the entire surface of the cookie.
- Keep the color the same as the color you want the cookie to be. For instance, if it’s a spooky Halloween bat, use thick black royal icing for the barrier, and thinner black royal icing as the filler.
- Allow your cookies to dry before adding finishing touches such as eyes, mouth, or “Happy Halloween”.
- Allow your cookies to dry for several hours before packaging up.
- Remember to be creative and have fun!
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