Skull Cookies

Cute Skull Cookies - Halloween Linzer cookies cut into skull shapes, baked, filled with raspberry jam and then finished off with an easy M&M FLOWER!

We love creating fun treats for the day of the dead. Some of our favorites include Halloween Pizza Ideas, Halloween Sandwich, Mice or Chips and Salsa.

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Skull Cookies

My favorite time of the year!!! Halloween is truly one of my favorite holiday of all - The costumes, decorations, candy, tricks , treats......!  So much fun for kids of all ages. Aaand, I love sharing creative halloween recipes!

Also known as the day of the dead (or Día de Muertos or Día de los Muertos in Spiansh), it is the Mexican version of Halloween. Baking a colorful decorated sugar skull biscuits is a popular tradition on this day of celebration.

This recipe is much different than the traditional one, which uses a linzer biscuits cut into skull shapes instead of the classic rounds.

Why You'll Love This Recipe?

1. Adorable - We are totally in love with the way it looks with the pretty homemade flower with M&Ms. It is impressive to share with family and friends.
2. Amazing texture - Buttery, tender, crisp shortbread recipe that is mildly sweet and is perfect when eaten with the sweet jam.
3. Make ahead - The biscuits can be baked up to a week made ahead or frozen for up to two months, making it a great recipe for the holidays. Fill with jam on the day of serving.

WHAT IS A LINZER COOKIE?

A simpler version of Linzer torte, originating from Austria - Linzer cookies are made with a buttery dough that is made with ground almonds and flour combined.
It is a round sandwich biscuit, with a tiny circle cut out on the top one and then sandwiched with jam. They are so pretty, with their tops dusted with a thin white coating of powdered sugar and with the cut out, so you can see the color of the jam.

What are Halloween Skull Linzer Cookies?

The basic Linzer biscuits made without any nuts, cut into skull shapes with two circle cut outs for eyes and a mouth. The are sandwiched with raspberry jam that gives a bloody effect, keeping up with our Halloween theme. They are finished with a homemade M&M flower, for a touch of CUTENESS!!! 

CAN I MIX BY HAND?

Absolutely! If you do not have an electric mixer, the dough can be easily done with a wooden spoon - Mix room temperature butter, confectioners sugar and vanilla extract with a wooden spoon for 4-5 minutes, until it looks creamy and smooth. Add flour and salt and continue mixing, to form a dough.

CHILL and CHILL AGAIN

In order ensure the bicuits maintains its shape and does not spread, it is very important to have a firm, well chilled dough. We chill the dough in two stages. It is first chilled right after making the dough, roll and chill overnight until completely firm.

Then again, the dough is chilled after cutting the skull shapes. This step makes sure that the skulls maintains its shape and does not spread while baking (if it had any chance to soften during the cutting process

What's In These?

1. Basic shortbread dough - Butter, confectioners sugar, flour, salt and vanilla
2. Raspberry jam - for the bloody effect
3. M&M - Cut in half to make flowers
4. Melted chocolate - for glueing purposes

PRO TIPS FOR SUCCESS

• Assemble on the same day - The crispness will soften after being filled with jam. So, assemble on the same day or one day ahead of serving.
• Sugar - This recipes uses confectioners sugar instead of white granulated, which makes a super tender baked biscuit.
• Room temperature butter is very important for any baking recipe. Let butter stand at room temperature for several hours before making dough. 
• Parchment paper for rolling - The dough might stick if rolled on a floured counter. Rolling between two sheets of parchment ensures that the dough is rolled neat, without any addition of flour used for rolling. 
• Do not own a fluted round cookie cutter? Use a plain round instead.
• Jam - Use a dark red colored jam (we love the deep red raspberry jam or jelly) for a bloody red color.
• Double the batch - The recipe can be easily doubled or tripled to make more.

HOW TO MAKE

(We have included lots of step by step photos and video to guide you along the way)

The recipe is made in three stages::

1. Bake

Make dough : Cream butter, confectioners sugar and vanilla together and then mix in flour and salt. Form a disc, roll between two sheets of parchment paper into ¼ to ⅛ inch thickness and then chill overnight or up to a day.

Using the skull cutter, cut skull shapes : Make eyes and mouth for only half the biscuits, which will be the tops for sandwich. Punch holes for eyes (I used the back of a Wilton 2A round piping tip). You will need the size of eyes to be proportionate to the skull face. So, anything you have around the house will work .

Cut mouth using a round fluted cutter and press only one side of the cutter on the lower portion of face without going through the ends. It might be a bit tricky, but you will get the hang of it I have made an instructive video to guide you along the way).

2. Make M&M flowers

Cut M&Ms in half using a sharp knife. Squeeze a small circle of melted chocolate on parchment paper and then stick M&Ms according to photos and video. (I loved to use same color M&Ms for each flower, but you could mix colors if you wish to). Chill along with parchment in refrigerator to harden.

3. Assemble

Spread raspberry jam on the full ones and then place a cut out linzer on top and gently press. Place a small dollop of melted chocolate on one side of the face and then gently place a M&M flower on it. Let set for at least one hour before serving. 

HOW TO MAKE AHEAD?

These can be baked, cooled and stored in an air tight container for up to 4 days or frozen for up to a month (before decorating).  

M&M flowers can be made and stored in refrigerator for several days. 

HOW TO STORE?

Assembled linzer biscuits (with jam) can be stored at room temperature for up to 2 days. 

More Cookie recipes for the Holidays:

• Santa’s Whiskers Cookies
• Three ingredient Almond Butter Cookies
• Powdered Sugar Cookies with Pecans
• Thumbprint cookies with Almond Flour
• Gluten Free Lemon Cookies with Almond Flour

More Halloween Cookie Recipes to Try:

• Finger Cookies
• Bone Cookies for Humans
• Halloween Chocolate Bark

Continue to Content

Skull Cookies

Yield: 5 cookies

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

Cute Skull Cookies - Halloween Linzer cookies cut into skull shapes, baked, filled with raspberry jam and then finished off with an easy M&M FLOWER!

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Ingredients

Linzer Cookies

• ½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick), room temperature
• ¼ cup + 1 tablespoon confectioners sugar
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup + ¼ cup all purpose flour
• 2 pinches salt

Additional ingredients

• Raspberry jam, as required
• 5 tablespoons chocolate chips, divided
• 15 M&M candies

Items used

• Skull cookie cutter
• ¾-inch fluted round cookie cutter or plain round
• Wilton 2A piping tip

Instructions

Make Linzer cookies

1. Add butter, confectioners sugar and vanilla extract into a medium bowl. Beat with a hand held electric beater, until creamy ( 1 to 2 minutes). Refer notes to make cookie dough without an electric beater.Add all purpose flour and salt, continue beating on the lowest setting, until it begins to clump together (refer pictures and video).

2. Gather the dough together and form a flat disc. Roll between two sheets of parchment paper to ¼ to ⅛ inch thickness ( Too thick – will make lesser number of cookies and too thin – will make very thin cookies that might break easily). 

3. Place cookie dough (along with parchment) on a baking sheet and refrigerate overnight. 

About two hours before making cookies -

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Remove cookie dough from refrigerator and cut skull shapes using skull cookie cutter and carefully transfer to the prepared baking sheet leaving at least ¾-inch distance in between. 

2. Make eyes and mouth only for half the cookies – Using the back end of the piping tip or any round cutter, make two holes for eyes.   -Using the fluted round cookie cutter, press and cut only one side of the cookie cutter on the lower portion of face without going through the edges. A bit tricky, but you will get the hang of it (refer video).

3. Refrigerate again for at least 2 hours or up to a day. 

Bake cookies

1. Pre heat oven to 350° F. Bake cookies for 23 to 26 minutes or until golden in color.

2. Place baking pan on a wire rack to cool completely. (cookies can be made until this step and stored at room temperature for up to 4 days or frozen up to a month).

Make M&M flowers

1. Using a sharp knife, break M&Ms in half. Line a small baking sheet with parchment paper ( this helps to easily transfer the set M&M flowers onto the cookies).

2. Place 3 tablespoons chocolate chips in a microwavable bowl and microwave for about one minute, until completely melted (stirring once after 30 seconds).

3. Transfer melted chocolate into a small zip lock bag, seal and make a small cut at the corner to squeeze out the chocolate. Make a small, thick circle on the parchment and place 6 M&M halves to make a flower (refer pictures and video). You can move it around carefully to make them aligned and pretty (I used same colored M&Ms for each flower). Repeat to make more flowers. 

4. Place baking sheet in refrigerator to set. (M&M flowers can be made up to a day in advance). 

Assemble cookies

1. Spread a layer of raspberry jam on the surface of the full cookie and place the cut-out cookie on top and gently sandwich them together.

2. Place remaining 2 tablespoons chocolate chips in a microwavable bowl and microwave for about one minute, until completely melted (stirring once after 30 seconds). Transfer melted chocolate into a small zip lock bag, seal and make a small cut at the corner to squeeze out the chocolate. 

3. Squeeze out a small dollop on side of the skull cookie, above the eye and place a M&M flower on top and press gently to adhere. Let cookie sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes for chocolate to set. 

4. The filled cookies will soften when stored. If you want the cookies to stay crisp, assemble the day of serving. 

Notes

The crisp cookies will soften after being filled with jam. So, assemble cookies on the same day or one day ahead of serving.

Chill and CHILL – In order ensure the cookies maintains its shape and does not spread, it is very important to have a firm, well chilled dough. We chill the dough in two stages. First is right after making the dough, roll and chill overnight until completely firm. Then again, the dough is chilled after cutting the skull shapes. This gives an extra assurance that the dough is firm, if it had any chance to soften while the cutting process.

Parchment paper for rolling – Since it is a buttery shortbread cookie dough, it will stick if rolled on a floured counter. Rolling between two sheets of parchment ensures that the dough is rolled neat, without any addition of flour used for rolling. 

Do not own a fluted round cookie cutter? Use and plain round cookie cutter. 

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 5 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 712Total Fat: 52gSaturated Fat: 32gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 16gCholesterol: 69mgSodium: 146mgCarbohydrates: 120gFiber: 5gSugar: 102gProtein: 8g

I am not a certified dietician or nutritionist. The information is a product of online calculator such as Nutrifox.com, although Kitchen at Hoskins attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates and not be construed as a guarantee. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the nutritional information in any recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their fact algorithms. Under no circumstances will Kitchen at Hoskins be responsible for any loss or damage resulting for your reliance on the nutritional information. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator. You are solely responsible for all decisions pertaining to your health and ensuring that any nutritional information provided is accurate.

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