Spooky Halloween Cutout Cookies Recipes

Steps:

• In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and blended. Beat in egg and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt; gradually beat into creamed mixture. Shape dough into 2 portions. Shape each into a disk; wrap and refrigerate 1 hour or until firm enough to roll., Preheat oven to 350°. On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion of dough to 1/4-in. thickness. Cut with floured 2-1/2-in. Halloween-shaped cookie cutters. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake 8-10 minutes or until edges are light brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely., In a large bowl, beat confectioners' sugar, shortening and enough water to reach spreading consistency. Tint frosting and decorate as desired. Let stand until set.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375°F (350°F for dark or nonstick pans). In large bowl, beat all ingredients with electric mixer on medium speed about 1 minute or until thoroughly mixed.
• Divide dough in half. On lightly floured surface, roll each half of dough 1/4 inch thick using cloth-covered rolling pin. With 2 1/2-inch cookie cutters, cut into desired shapes. Cut designs in cookies with sharp knife if desired. On ungreased cookie sheets, place shapes.
• Bake 6 to 8 minutes or just until set (centers will be soft). Cool 1 minute. Immediately make hole in tops of some cookies, using end of plastic straw; trim any cut edges with sharp knife to straighten. Remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks. Cool completely.
• Tie ribbon or yarn through holes to hang. Hang ornaments on tree branches anchored in a pot or on Halloween tree (available at craft stores). Decorate remaining cookies as desired, and store covered.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. Let cookie dough stand at room temperature 5 minutes to soften. In a small bowl, beat cookie dough and flour until combined., On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/8-in. thickness. Cut with a floured 4-1/2-in. Christmas tree-shaped cookie cutter, a 3-in. candy cane-shaped cookie cutter and a 3-in. star-shaped cookie cutter. Cut each star in half. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets., Bake 6-8 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool completely., For witches: Tint a portion of vanilla frosting green. Frost the bottom two-thirds of a tree cookie green; frost the top third with chocolate frosting., For witches' hats, microwave chocolate wafers for a few seconds to slightly soften as needed. Use a serrated knife to cut a triangle out of one wafer. Cut another wafer in half, forming two hat brims. Place a triangle over chocolate frosting; add a brim., Add Shredded Wheat for hair. Add facial features with baking bits, chocolate chips and cut up pieces of Fruit Roll-Ups., For snakes: Frost candy cane cookies as desired. Cut Fruit Roll-Ups into triangles; attach to cookies. Add facial features., For bats: Frost halved star cookies with chocolate frosting. For ears, microwave chocolate wafers for a few seconds to slightly soften as needed. Use a serrated knife to cut small triangles; attach to cookies. Add facial features as desired.