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I love sugar cookies these Ghost Cookies are perfect for Halloween and a great way to enjoy one of my all time favorite cookies recipes!
The best ghost sugar cookies are perfect for Halloween!
Who is ready for Halloween? Today I wanted to show you how to make these Ghost Sugar cookies. These are perfect for a Halloween party or just because.
They are great for a kid friendly Halloween treat. If you haven’t yet, make sure you read my post on how to make the cutest pumpkin sugar cookies. Both of these cookie recipes are perfect for Halloween this year!
Ingredients for the best ghost cookies!
You are going to be surprised by how easy these cookies are to make and they taste WAY better than the store bought ones!
Here are the ingredients needed to make the cookies:
- Flour
- Baking Powder
- Salt
- Unsalted Butter
- Sugar
- Eggs
Here are the ingredients need to make the royal icing:
- Egg Whites
- Powder Sugar
- Cream of Tartar
- Black, purple, green, & yellow gold gel food coloring
You will need a ghost Cookie cutter to make this recipe. Amazon has several cute Ghost Sugar cookie cutters here.
How to make ghost cookies
First beat butter and sugar with a stand up mixer or hand held mixer until the combination is smooth not grainy to the touch in a mixing bowl.
Then add in all 4 eggs at one time. Continue to mix. Next add in the vanilla. Continue mixing.
After that sift the four, baking powder, and salt together. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture.
Continue mixing to make sure all ingredients are thoroughly blended.
Make the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap completely covering the entire dough ball. Put the dough in the refrigerator for about 6 hours or overnight. Check to see if the dough is firm.
Then preheat oven to 325 degrees. Next pull the cookie dough out of the refrigerator and sit it out on the counter to soften up a bit.
Lightly flour a wood cutting board, rub flour on the rolling pin, and work some flour into
the batter. (if needed)
Roll the dough out on the cutting board and using then ghost shaped cookie cutter begin to make your cookies.
Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a metal spatula move the cut cookies to the parchment lined cookie sheet.
Bake at 325 degrees for 8 minutes. Check to see if the cookies are thoroughly baked.
Take the ghost cookies off of the cookie sheet and put on a wire rack to cool completely (about 10 minutes).
How to icing these Ghost sugar cookies:
First mix together the royal icing ingredients, separate into bowls and dye each bowl a color of your choice to make these beautiful ghost cookies. I used white, black, orange, green and purple but any colors would look great!
I placed the cookies on waxed paper so I could move them around easily and any excess icing would not make a mess.
Then outline each of the ghost  cookies in white icing by placing the white icing in a piping paper with a #3 piping tip then fill in the  cookies in with the white thinner icing***.  Allow the outlining  to dry for about 30 seconds before filling in the cookie.
Squeeze the majority of the icing into a bowl then add 1 tsp of water to this and mix it in. – — -Leave a small amount of the icing in the frosting bag for later use on the cookies. Allow the cookies to dry for a few hours.
With the completion of outlining and filling in each ghost cookie in white begin adding the extra touches to the ghost.
Next add the eyes and nose in black icing by making small dots. Allow 30 seconds for the eyes and nose to dry.
Allow the completion cookie to dry before serving.
Print this Easy Ghost Cookies Recipe:
Ghost Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- Cookie Ingredients:
- 5 cups flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups soft unsalted butter
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 4 eggs
- Royal Icing Ingredients:
- 2 egg whites
- 1 cup powder sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
- Black purple, green, & yellow gold gel food coloring
Instructions
- Cookie Directions:
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Cream the soft butter with the sugar until the combination is smooth not grainy to the touch in a mixing bowl.
- Add all 4 eggs at one time. Continue to mix.
- Add the vanilla. Continue mixing.
- Sift the four, baking powder, and salt together.
- Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture.
- Continue mixing to make sure all ingredients are thoroughly blended.
- Make the dough into a ball, wrap it in cling wrap completely covering the entire dough ball.
- Put in the refrigerator for about 6 hours or overnight. Check to see if the dough is firm.
- Pull the cookie dough out of the refrigerator and sit it out to soften up a bit.
- Put flour out on the wood cutting board, rub flour on the rolling pin, and work some flour into
- the batter. (if needed)
- Roll the dough out on the cutting board and using then ghost cookie cutter begin to make your cookies.
- Line the cookie sheet with parchment paper. Using a metal spatula move the cut cookies to the parchment lined cookie sheet.
- Bake at 325 degrees for 8 minutes. Check to see if the cookies are thoroughly baked.
- Take the ghost cookies off of the cookie sheet and put on a wire rack to cool completely.
- (About 10 minutes).
- Icing Directions:
- Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl mixing on medium speed for 4 minutes. (except your food coloring). If icing is  not stiff enough add ¼ C powder sugar.
- Spoon 4 TBSP of icing into the first bowl, add several drops of green gel food coloring. Mix  well.
- Spoon 4 TBSP of icing into the second bowl, add several drops of black gel food coloring.Mix well.
- Spoon 4 TBSP of icing into the third bowl, add several drops of golden yellow gel food coloring. Mixing well.
- Spoon 4 TBSP of icing into a fourth bowl, add several drops of purple gel food coloring. Mixing well.
- Spoon the remaining icing into a fifth bowl, keep that icing white.
- Spoon each of the icings into separate frosting bags with #5 tips.
- How to Decorate the Cookies:
- Outline each of the ghost  cookies in white icing then fill in the  cookies in with the white* thinner  icing.  Allow the outlining  to dry for about 30 seconds before filling in the cookie.
- Squeeze the majority of the icing into a bowl then add 1 tsp of water to this and mix it in. -Leave a small amount of the icing in the frosting bag for later use on the cookies. Allow the cookies to dry for a few hours.
- With the completion of outlining and filling in each ghost cookie in white begin adding the extra touches to the ghost.
- Add five green dots to the head of the ghost. Allow 30 seconds for the green to dry before adding more icing.
- Next add the eyes and nose in black icing by making small dots. Allow 30 seconds for the eyes and nose to dry.
- On to the hands add two golden yellow dots on each hand. Allow 30 seconds for the golden yellow dots on the hands to dry.
- The last addition is to add eight purple dots going from larger to smaller dots from the edge of the bottom of the ghost up the side of the ghost.
- Allow the completion cookie between 2-3 hours to dry.
Nutrition Facts
What are good substitutions for this Ghost Cookie Recipe?
- Icing – Use your favorite type of icing for this cookie recipe. I love the royal icing as it’s dries evenly and looks beautiful on these cookies, but buttercream frosting would look great too. Also, these cookies would be delicious just topped with melted white chocolate!
- Decorations – Get the kids involved to decorate these cookies. They can use mini chocolate chips for the eyes and sprinkles to add their finishing touches to this recipe.
- Shapes – Make your favorite Halloween design. I love getting a pack of cookie cutters so we have a couple of different options to make!
If you enjoy these fun cookies, try these other Easy Halloween Desserts!
- Mummies and Monster Rice Krispie Treats
- Mummy White Chocolate Truffles
- Jack-O-Latern Chocolate Covered Oreos
- How to Make Ghost Cupcakes
- How to Make and Decorate Ghost Sugar Cookies
- Halloween Spider Cookies
- Halloween Puppy Chow
- Candy Corn Cookies Recipe
- Monster Rice Krispie Treats
- Witches Hat Cookies
