Jack-o’-Lantern Sugar Cookies Recipe

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour

These Jack-o’-Lantern Sugar Cookies are a delightful treat for Halloween. With their festive pumpkin shapes and colorful icing, they are perfect for parties or as a fun baking activity with kids.

This recipe is straightforward and yields deliciously sweet cookies that can be decorated to your liking. Enjoy making these Halloween cookies with family and friends!

Festive Jack-o’-Lantern Sugar Cookies

This recipe features soft and chewy sugar cookies shaped like jack-o’-lanterns, decorated with vibrant orange icing and chocolate details. The preparation takes about 1 hour, including baking and cooling time, and makes approximately 24 cookies.

Ingredients

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
1/4 teaspoon salt
Orange and green icing for decoration
Chocolate chips or edible markers for facial features

Instructions

Preheat the Oven: Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C).
Mix Dry Ingredients: In a bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
Cream Butter and Sugar: In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract (if using).
Combine Mixtures: Gradually blend the dry ingredients into the butter mixture until fully incorporated.
Shape Cookies: Roll the dough into balls and flatten them slightly. Use a pumpkin-shaped cookie cutter to cut out the cookies.
Bake: Place the cookies on ungreased baking sheets and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until golden. Allow to cool on wire racks.
Decorate: Once cooled, use orange icing to cover the cookies and green icing for the stems. Add chocolate chips or use edible markers to create jack-o’-lantern faces.