Shatteringly crisp Spooky Lemon-Vanilla Shortbread Cookies are decorated for Halloween time with colored icing, sprinkles and candy decorations. Scarier for older kids, more friendly-spooky for younger kids, and everyone gets a little shiver.
This post and recipe was created for #HalloweenTreatsWeek! I was sent samples by some of the sponsor companies but as always opinions are 100% mine.
Halloween demands we pull out all the stops. That means cookies get baked and decorated to within an inch of their lives. It takes a bit of time, but oh, is it worth it when you see the looks on people’s faces. They’re creeped out, you might get a shudder or two, or if you’re lucky, a squeal. I live for squeals.
Let’s make a simple Lemon-Vanilla Shortbread, and Halloween it up — Spooky Shortbread Cookies for the win!
How to make Spooky Shortbread Cookies
1. As with all recipes, assemble your ingredients. I am using the following ingredients from our generous sponsors:
- Twice as Strong Vanilla Extract from Adams Extract
- Powdered Sugar from Dixie Crystals
- A lemon from my backyard tree!
2. Assemble your decorating ingredients, too! I got out a variety of Halloweenie icings and sprinkles, including these from today’s sponsors:
- Black and Orange Decorator Icing, seasonal Halloween sprinkles from Wilton
- Black bat, orange pumpkin, Monster Mash sprinkles mix, and Apple Cider colored sugar mix from Sweets & Treats, a wonderful supplier of sprinkles, candy decorations, fun straws, etc.
2A. And don’t forget the creepy candy decorations! I used these from our sponsors:
- Gummy Eyeballs from Treat Street / CandyFetti (available at Smart & Final)
- Bloody fingers from Wilton. These elicited shudders from a neighbor. #Winning!
- Assortment of candy eyes from Wilton. Pro tip: You can never, ever have too many candy eyes. Get lots!
3. Make the dough. I like this dough because it has flecks of visible lemon zest in it. Refrigerate briefly.
4. Roll it out (I used waxed paper on top so the rolling pin wouldn’t stick to the dough). Or pat it out with your hands; don’t overthink it.
5. Cut the cookies out using either a knife (free hand, my favorite), or cookie cutters if you prefer. I knew I wanted to put fingers on some of them, so I attempted to cut cookie shapes a bit bigger than the fingers.
5A. And when it comes to head shapes, very few monsters have round heads, in my humble opinion. Cut them any way you like! Very often the more odd shapes will spark decorating creativity once they’re baked.
6. Bake and cool. I let mine get a little bit way too brown because shortbread are not supposed to brown, but you know what? Who cares? They’re still great! If you have a baking mishap, just shake it off. My family, bless their hearts, told me they preferred brown shortbread. ♥
7. Decorate any way you like. I use a small offset spatula to spread decorator icing, and then settle the sprinkles and candy decorations into the icing, like glue.
Happy Halloween!
“When witches go riding, and black cats are seen, the moon laughs and whispers ‘tis near Halloween.’ ”
But first, let’s make some Spooky Lemon-Vanilla Shortbread Cookies!
Shatteringly crisp Spooky Lemon-Vanilla Shortbread Cookies are decorated for Halloween time with colored icing, sprinkles and candy decorations. Scarier for older kids, more friendly-spooky for younger kids, and everyone gets a little shiver.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar (I used Dixie Crystals powdered sugar)
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 3 tablespoons light-flavored olive oil (or grapeseed or canola oil)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract (I used Adams Extract Twice As Strong Vanilla Flavor)
- 4.5 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 cup)
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1-3 teaspoons grated lemon rind (I use 3 teaspoons/1 tablespoon!)
- Topping: decorator icing in white, black and orange; variety of Halloween sprinkles and candy decorations
Directions
- Turn oven on to 325F degrees.
- Place sugar, butter, oil, salt and vanilla extract in a medium bowl; mix until combined. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, cornstarch and lemon rind in a small bowl; stir with a whisk.
- Add flour mixture to butter mixture, and mix until combined. Knead dough lightly a couple of times just until smooth, and then wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.
- Roll or pat dough out on a board, and cut shapes with a knife or cookie cutters. Place shapes on a cookie sheet lined with a silicone mat or parchment paper. Bake until until just set and edges are golden. Recipe makes 12 (bake for 30 minutes) to 20 (bake for 15-20 minutes). (How many cookies you get depends on how thickly or thinly you pat or roll out the dough.)
- Remove cookies to a wire rack and cool completely before frosting with icing and decorating with sprinkles and Halloween candy items. Have fun!
- Makes 12-20 cookies, depending on how thickly you roll out the dough.
Notes
Recipe source: Dorothy Reinhold | Shockingly Delicious
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Disclaimer: These posts and recipes are part of the week-long event, #HalloweenTreatsWeek but all opinions are 100% mine! We would like to Thank our amazing sponsors: Dixie Crystals [3], Adam’s Extract [4], Wilton [5], Sweets and Treats Shop, [6] Treat Street USA [7] and Litehouse [8]! These wonderful sponsors provided the prize packs for our giveaways and also sent samples and products to the #HalloweenTreatsWeek bloggers to use in their recipes.