Easy Eggless Halloween Soft Sugar Cookies
These Easy Eggless Halloween Soft Sugar Cookies are perfect to delight your children and get in the spooky Halloween spirit all at once. They are rich, buttery, and easy to make.
Servings 24 cookies
Calories 143kcal
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups (280 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons (20 g) cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons (8 g) baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup (174 g) unsalted butter
- ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- 3 oz (85 g) cream cheese, softened
- 2 teaspoons (10 ml) pure vanilla extract
- 3 – 4 drops of orange soft gel paste food color (or any other color you prefer)
- ½ cup Halloween sprinkles
- Candy eyeballs (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (180° C). Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set it aside. The number of batches will depend on how large/small you want your cookies.
- Combine the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt in a medium-sized bowl and set aside.
- Cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until light in color and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add cream cheese and vanilla and mix until well combined.
- Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until the dough comes together and is combined.
- Add 3 – 4 drops of your chosen food coloring, is using, and mix until well incorporated. Do not overmix.
- Form cookie dough into balls, about 1 ½ tablespoon each. For evenly sized cookies, I like to use a small spring-loaded ice cream scoop to spoon out the dough.
- Roll cookie dough balls in Halloween sprinkles until completely covered. These cookies don't spread much, so I recommend slightly flattening cookies with your fingers. At this point, you can bake the cookies right away or refrigerate them for up to 3 days.
- Bake for 10 -12 minutes, until very lightly colored on top and around the edges. If desired, press 1 or 2 candy eyeballs into the freshly baked cookies. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Store cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days at room temperature.
Freeze: You can freeze this cookie dough for up to 3 months. Just roll them into balls, and freeze. When ready to use, allow to thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then bake as directed. If you want to bake the frozen cookie dough, just let them over the counter until you preheat the oven, then place the balls on a baking sheet and bake for a couple of extra minutes longer than the recipe directs.
Gluten-Free: Substitute all-purpose flour for 1-to-1 Gluten-Free flour mix. My favorite brands are Cup4Cup and King Arthur. Just be sure to stir the batter longer than normal to help give the baked goods proper structure. Also, gluten-free batters/doughs need to rest. So let your batter rest for about 30 minutes so the flour has time to hydrate and soften before baking it.
Dairy-Free: Use your favorite plant-based, dairy-free, or vegan butter and cream cheese. My favorite dairy-free butter brands for baking are Miyoko’s Creamery Organic Vegan Butter and Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks.
Recipe Tips:
- Make sure the butter is softened but not too soft.
- Measure the ingredients properly! A kitchen scale is always the best option, in my opinion, but if you don’t have a kitchen scale, be sure to use a measuring cup made for dry ingredients (NOT a liquid measuring cup) and a liquid measuring cup for liquid ingredients. Also, do NOT dip a measuring cup directly into the flour bin, or you can compact it and get up to 25% more flour; instead, use a spoon to scoop the flour into the measuring cup and then use a knife (straight-edged) to level the flour across the measuring cup.
- Don’t over-mix your cookie dough, or you will end up with a dense cookie.
- If you have time, chill the dough balls for 30 minutes before baking; this gives the dough a chance to firm up a little and allows them to bake much better.
- For evenly sized cookies (better for baking), use a small spring-loaded ice cream scoop to spoon out the dough.
- Bake the cookies until they are JUST golden (set) around the outside. The cookies might still look a little raw in the center, but once they cool, they will be perfect. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for just around 2 -3 minutes. If you leave the cookies on the baking sheets for too long, they will continue cooking, and they will be hard.
Nutrition
Calories: 143kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 19mg | Sodium: 96mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 9g