Somehow, it’s already the third week of October! I don’t know how it happened, but I don’t like it! I need way more October in my life. But since I’ve got to make hay while the sun still (usually) shines, let’s continue on in the Fall 2019 series with a new cookie design! This little trick-or-treating ghost is the best of both worlds- it’s Halloween-y enough for teens and grown ups to enjoy, but cute enough that you can give it to the little kids in your life, too!
Sometimes, when people look at a cookie like this, they say Oh no, that’s too much work/detail, I can’t do something like that! But I promise, when you break it down into fun-size (see that Halloween pun right there?!) bites, it’s all very manageable and possible for any motivated decorator to do this design. This is one that you can fancy up even more than I did, or omit a few details instead and it will still come out looking awesome. There’s a pretty big list of tools you’ll want to create this cookie, but most of them are things you’ll use again and again in your baking/decorating adventures.
Materials Needed For Trick-or-Treat Ghost Cookies
- Sugar cookies, cut into ghost shapes, baked and cooled (find my ghost shape here!). My favorite recipe is at the bottom of this post and also broken down in a dedicated tutorial here.
- Royal Icing, in colors/consistencies listed below. Find my icing recipe at the bottom of the post, or check out my newbie royal icing tutorial here!
– White icing, in both flooding and piping consistencies
– Orange icing, in medium consistency (between piping and flooding)
– Black icing, in piping consistency
-Teal, yellow, and purple icing, each in small amounts and at medium consistency. - Airbrush for creating ghostly blue edges and pink cheeks (available here).
- Food grade fine-tip markers for detail work (find the same ones that I use here on Amazon).
- Etching needle to help with detail work (find a great cookie tool kit here on Amazon).
- Countertop fan to aid in drying times (optional but recommended).
A Word About Airbrushing Cookies
You’ll notice I’ve made use of my trusty airbrush for the cheek blush and blue edges. I can’t recommend an airbrush enough to anyone serious about decorating sugar cookies, it’ll open up a whole world of design choices for you. You can click here to learn all about airbrushing and how it’s much less intimidating than you might have thought! If you haven’t gotten an airbrush yet, you can substitute some of your pink royal icing.
Well, are you ready to get started? Let’s get our spooky on!
Begin by baking your batch of cookies and allowing them to cool fully. According to the box, these cookies should face the other way up, but I like having the thicker part at the bottom so I have room for my candy bucket later. Using your white flooding icing, flood the entire ghost shape, getting as close to the edges of the cookie as possible without going over. Give the cookies about an hour for the icing to firm up.
Right into airbrushing! I used the Hawaiin Blue color, which comes in the kit I recommend. You can use whatever color you like, but I think that the blue contributes to a more ‘friendly’ feel to this little guy. Airbrush in a quick motion around the edge of the cookie, and place the cookies back under the fan to dry. Clean your airbrush pen and leave the compressor set up, because you will be using it again soon!
TIP: Keep your airbrush point about 12 inches from the cookie to get a more nebulous, less defined shape that looks more ghostly.
Now it’s time to make the pumpkin candy bucket. Using your orange royal icing at medium consistency, pipe your desired bucket shape. I went with the classic pumpkin, but you can make yours bigger, thinner, or even a bag instead! Use your etching needle to create any pointy edges you need by pulling from the center of the orange shape outwards. I did this to make the edges of my bucket.
While you wait for your candy buckets to dry, you can work on some other areas. Using your black royal icing, pipe two large circles for eyes just above where the cheeks puff out. I make my eyes about the size of pencil erasers. If your eyes end up with points from the icing tip, tap them down gently with a small silicone spatula like the one in the cookie tools kit I recommended in the ‘Materials’ section.
Back to your airbrush! There’s no need to wait before this next step, either. Fill the airbrush well with the ‘Deep Pink’ color, and airbrush two spots at the puffiest part of each ghost’s face. You can practice getting your finger pressure right on a piece of computer paper before you start- and I recommend you do! I always do this to avoid wasting cookies by blowing way too much paint on them during this step. Build up some finger ‘muscle memory’ using paper and then begin on the cookies themselves.
The hardest part is over, I promise. Now it’s time to make the candies that go into the bucket. Using your three candy colors, create shapes to fill the bucket. You can do more than three but I found it started to get crowded quickly. I went with a simple circle, a long tube, and a wrapped candy. To create that wrapped candy shape, make something resembling a Goldfish cracker that’s pointed downward into the bucket. It’ll look perfect later, when you go back and add some more detail!
Next, grab your black fine tipped food marker. Draw an arching shape over the bucket for a handle. I like to go back and forth once to create a really dark, solid line. You can also create a small smile between your blushing cheeks at this time. (I forgot to make my mouths and did this step later when I was taking photos, so the smile doesn’t show up until the end in this post. Hey, I’m human too!)
We’re almost done! Our ghost needs arms now, to hold onto that candy bucket. Skip the white piping icing and grab the flooding consistency instead. We don’t want any sharp angles or edges on the ghost, so it’s better to work with flowing icing and to push it where we need it. Create shapes that begin under the puffy cheek indent and angle inward 90 degrees, stopping just where the bucket handle meets the orange bucket. This shape will soften as the icing spreads out. Use your etching tool to shape each arm, making the shape thinner as it gets closer to the bucket. Now it’s time to let your cookies rest for about an hour under the fan so that all your hard work can, well, harden.
When you’re ready to proceed, find your black food marker again. It’s time to make the jack o’lantern faces on the buckets. You can make these faces however you choose, but I went with the standard grinning face for instructional purposes. Be gentle with your marker to avoid punching into any icing that might not be completely solid. It’s better to go back over your face a second time than press hard and make an error that you can’t fix!
So close to the finish now! It’s finally time for that white piping icing. Using a #1 tip, pipe an outline of the entire cookie, staying as close to the edge as possible. Once you’re done with that, keep your white icing in hand and friendly up the ghost eyes a bit by adding some white detail to each of them. I like to make the central dot a bit larger and add a second, smaller dot off the side. Why do I always make eyes like this? It’s a mystery, but it’s working for me!
Finally, let’s add some detail to those candies. If you made the same colors as me, you should pull out your blue, green, and red markers. Use the blue marker to create a spiral shape on the purple dot. Now it’s a lollipop! Use the green marker to make lines on the tube to create a candy bar. And then make dots on the circle part of the yellow candy, and three lines on the ‘tail’ to create a wrapped treat! Take a deep breath and pat yourself on the back. You’re done!
Well, how did your ghosts turn out? I hope that they’re scary good! Wicked scary, even! Make sure to chat with me in the comments below if you have any thoughts or questions. Until next time, stay warm, stay spooky, and happy baking!
Foolproof Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 1 egg
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- In bowl, mix together 3 cups of the flour and baking power. Set aside.
- In separate bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add in the extracts and the egg and beat until combined.
- Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Dough will be crumbly.
- Press dough together with hands, and roll out on a well-floured surface. Cut shapes and place on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper.
- Refrigerate baking sheet for at least 10 minutes.
- Bake for 9-11 minutes, remove when cookie edges are just barely golden. Allow several minutes to cool on sheet before moving cookies to a rack.
Royal Icing
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup water
- 3 Tbsp meringue powder
- 4 cups confectioner's (powdered) sugar sifted
- 1/2 tsp Karo syrup (optional)
- 1/8 tsp clear flavored extract (optional)
Instructions
- Combine water and meringue powder in a bowl and beat with mixer until frothy.
- Sift powdered sugar into the same bowl and mix to combine
- Add syrup and extract if desired
- Beat the icing for 4-5 minutes until it is glossy and holds a peak if the beater is turned upside down
Medium Consistency
- Continue to add water ½ Tbsp at a time until at desired consistency (icing should disappear into itself in about 5 seconds after being dripped back into the mixing bowl).
Flooding Consistency
- Continue to add water ½ Tbsp at a time until at desired consistency (icing should disappear into itself in about 3 seconds after being dripped back into the mixing bowl).
