Jack-o'-lantern Cookies

If you are a beginning cookie decorator looking for a simple design that makes use of multiple decorating techniques, Jack-o'-lantern cookies are for you!

There's some brush work, edible ink work and some segmented piping and it's all basic and easy to do.

To get started, bake mini pumpkin cookies and an equal number of larger base cookies and also have ready a black edible ink marker, a small "food only" brush, a batch of royal icing, gel colorings (I used orange, delphinium blue and moss green) and two pastry bags fitted with #2 tips.


Here's how to decorate them:

Start off by outlining and flooding the base cookies with white royal icing using one the pastry bags and a #2 tip.  Let the base cookies dry completely before moving onto the next step.

Once the base cookies are dry, mix up some blue royal icing and thin it to medium consistency. Drop about a teaspoon full onto the cookie and use your brush to spread it out evenly. It won't look perfectly smooth but that's the point, you want to add a textural look to the cookie.

After you have covered all of the base cookies, set them aside to dry. Reserve any leftover icing to use as "glue" when it's time to stick the cookies together.

Now it's time for the mini pumpkins, mix up a very small amount of medium consistency moss green royal icing.

Paint the stem of all of the pumpkins.

Mix up some medium consistency orange icing and place it a pastry bag fitted with a #2 tip. Following the curves of the cookie add orange to just the center segment. Do this to all of the pumpkins and let them dry for at least 20 minutes.

Add orange to the outside segments. This segmented piping adds so much texture and realism to the pumpkin. Let the icing dry completely before moving onto the next step.

Add a dollop of icing to back of the pumpkins and stick them onto the base cookies.

It will look like this.

Now for the fun part, get out your edible ink marker and turn the pumpkins into Jack-o'-lanterns.

Let the ink and the "cookie glue" dry completely before packaging.

Double Decker Ghost Cookies

These double decker ghost cookies are a favorite of mine. They were quick to make and I think they're super cute too.

I cut the ghosts using a mini-cutter from a Halloween set that my mom gave me more than 15-years ago. No worries though, mini-cutter sets are still easy to find in stores today and online. Two stores where I've had good luck finding the sets are Michael's and Cost Plus World Market.

When making double decker cookies, my one tip is to cut the top cookies about half of the thickness of the base cookies— This just keeps the cookie from looking too bulky. The ghosts are 1/8-inch thick and the base cookies are 1/4-inch thick.

Here's how I made them:

Outline and flood base cookies and set them aside to dry completely.

Outline and flood ghost cookies with white icing and while the icing is still wet, drop on the eyes and mouth using black medium consistency icing and a #2 tip. Let the ghosts dry completely before moving onto the next step.

Once the base cookies and ghost cookies are dry, adhere them together using piping consistency royal icing as glue. A little goes a long way, so don't add too much or it will squish out and ruin the look. Use an edible ink marker to write "Boo!" and pipe a border.

Wait for the royal icing "glue" and border dry completely before packaging.