Do you celebrate Halloween?
My friend M loves Halloween. Other than free slurpee day, I think it’s his favourite day of the year. His enthusiasm for the season, the day, the tricks and the treats… makes even cynical Melbournians like me wish they could join in on the fun too.
Watching him make a beard entirely out of yarn for his wizard costume last year has nothing to do with it…
We’ve only recently started dressing up and trick or treating here in Melbourne. And as cute as all the costumes are, it’s really not the same.
Sure our autumn is cozy too, full of boots and jumpers and scarves, falling leaves and spiced hot chocolates. But the aesthetic just hits a little different.
And even though I’m not really a Halloween convert, I’ll admit, I’ve had these cookies from Half-Baked Harvest bookmarked for a couple of years now. All that was missing was the jack-o-lantern cookie cutter.
But honestly, they can be made just as well, if not spookier and misshapen without a cookie cutter, so don’t let that stop you like it did me, because believe me, these are good. You can also check out my really quick video on how I put these cookies together over on my insta.
So, in honour of my Halloween-loving friend, skip the trick or treating this year, stay in and have fun making these jack-o-lantern inspired cookies.
Chocolate-Stuffed Jack-O-Lantern Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 sticks, 1 ½ cups salted butter, softened
- 1 ¼ cups light brown sugar, packed
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 4 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ginger
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 12 ounces chocolate, melted
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
- 3 tablespoons cinnamon sugar
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix until evenly combined.3 sticks, 1 ¼ cups light brown sugar, 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract, 2 eggs
- Add the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt, beat until combined and the dough forms a ball.4 ½ cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ginger, ¼ teaspoon nutmeg, ½ teaspoon salt
- Generously flour your work surface. Divide the dough in half and flatten each half into a disk.
- Roll out half of the dough to ¼ inch thickness, making sure to use enough flour or the dough could stick.
- Cut out the cookies using a pumpkin cookie cutter. Carefully transfer the cookies to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Cut eyes and a mouth in half the cookies using a pairing knife or cookie cutter.
- Cover the baking sheet and place the sheet in the freezer, about 15-20 minutes or until firm.
- Roll out the leftover scraps, and repeat with the remaining disk of dough.
- Preheat oven to 180°C degrees. Bake the cookies on the middle rack of the oven for 8-12 minutes (for soft cookies) or until just lightly golden brown. Do not over bake.
- Cool on the baking sheet five minutes and then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
- Add the butter to medium pot. Stirring often, allow the butter to slightly brown until it smells toasted, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool 5 minutes. Brush the butter over the top half of the cookies and then sprinkle the cookies with cinnamon sugar.2 tablespoons salted butter, 3 tablespoons cinnamon sugar
- To assemble the cookies, spread the melted chocolate over the half of the cookies with no face. Place the top pumpkin faced cookies over the chocolate and gently pressing to adhere.12 ounces chocolate
- Cookies can be served immediately or let the chocolate firm up and store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
