I simply can’t let a holiday pass by without making decorated sugar cookies, especially in the case of Halloween! There are just too many possibilities and fun designs. I really loved the cookies I made last year but I also had lots of new ideas. I ended up making a couple old favorites as well as some new designs.
The mummies are definitely my favorite of this year. They were so easy to do and I loved the end result. (I used a Wilton #45 tip to make the bandages.)
Of course, the spiderwebs were the popular favorite last year so I had to make them again. Ben still thinks they look like something I bought at the store and stuck on the cookie, so this year I made him watch me so he could see that it is, in fact, made of royal icing. See this step-by-step photo guide on making your own spiderwebs.
I couldn’t resist doing a black cat cookie since my wonderful cat Zoe is a black cat. (I already have more black cat ideas for next Halloween. I really do have a problem.)
The tombstones are a good example of being resourceful with your cookie cutters. I didn’t want to purchase new cutters for this Halloween(and also didn’t have time), so I went through my collection to see what I could use. I found one that is supposed to be a gift tag with a pretty scalloped edge and used that as a starting point. Then I just cut off the edge to get the mound at the top of the tombstone. I did most of these with cracks in the stone but I also did one with a cobweb. I like them both ways.
The pumpkins were easy and added a pop of color to the overall cookie display. Plus Andrew had a ton of fun watching me sprinkle the orange sugar on, and then “coloring” with the leftover icing bags on a paper towel 🙂
Hopefully these provide some fun cookie inspiration if you are searching for ideas. My go-to sugar cookie recipe is here, and my step-by-step royal icing tutorial gives the basics on decorating cookies. Enjoy!
Annie's Eats 
This is great! So much inspiration! Love your style!
Annie, these are picture perfect. I don’t know where you get the time….I feel so inadequate. I love your blog…I visit every morning with my cup of coffee 🙂
I always love your cookies! The mummy and pumpkins are adorable – I’m going to try them both soon!
These are amazing! I’d never find the time to spend time on making cookies like these although I’d love to.
Absolute works of art! Too gorgeous to eat!! (but of course I would if I had some 🙂
I have a batch of your cookie dough sitting the fridge and only needed to find decorating ideas. Score! They look great! 🙂
You are son talented! I love them all…but my favorite is the mummy!
You’re amazing. Those cookies are beautiful!
Annie – Where do you find the time? I’m sure that since you’ve been doing this a while, it goes much faster but I’m wondering….how long does it take you to make these? Do you spread the project out over time or just block yourself a few hours to get it all done? I’m dying to know!! Thanks 🙂
Lisa, if you read my tutorial you’ll understand the timing of royal icing better. It simply isn’t possible to do in a few hours because you have to let the base coat of icing dry for such a long time (about 8 hours). That said, with enough practice they really don’t take long. I started these around 7 pm one evening and they were finished by 10:30 am the next day. I let them dry overnight, and then finished after my Sunday morning grocery shopping.
Cuuuuute! I love these little guys!
Beautiful job. The spider webs are my fav.
You are just such an expert at these! Just perfect!
These are gorgeous!
Very cute!
i’m always so impressed with your cookie decorating skills! these cookies look fabulous! my favorites are the pumpkins – just darling!
Those mummies! They’re the cutest mummies we’ve ever seen! You are a talented cookie decorator lady…you’ve inspired us!
I love your website and all of your recipe ideas. I have even made a couple of things for special occasions. What I want to know is who eats all of these sweets? I would love to try some more of the baking recipes, but need to know who I should get to help me eat them!
Friends, family, coworkers, etc.
Wow those are some neat looking sugar cookies!
You should sell them! So pretty and I can only imagine how tasty they are!
They’re all amazing, but I love the mummies the best. Great blog as always, Annie!
Great work! Love the mummies and the spider webs, super cool!
Love it! The mummies are super cute!
They’re beautiful! Thank you for the link!
Gorgeous, once again! I could just eat those mummies up, they are so cute!
Oh.
My.
Goodness.
Wanna send some to me for my Halloween party this Friday?? ;o)
These are just incredible, Annie, especially the spiderwebs and mummies. Andrew is one lucky little guy to have a mom so talented! Great job on all of these cookies, and thanks for sharing!
I love the mummies. I’m going to make Halloween cookies for a party on Saturday, and I want to do the mummies. How do you get your white icing so white? I can’t find anything to make it so bright like yours.
It’s just regular royal icing (powdered sugar, meringue powder and water). It always looks white for me.
I love the colors of the green and purple spiderweb cookies! Purple has really integrated into Halloween now-a-days. And, I love the orange glitter on the pumpkins! Cute stuff!
Annie, I’m going to be trying my hand at royal icing for the first time next week, decorating pirate cookies for my daughter’s 4th birthday. I’m wondering how far in advance of the party I can decorate the cookies and have them still taste fresh…*what is the shelf-life of a cookie after it’s been decorated*? {I’m going to be using royal icing with meringue powder, in case that makes a difference vs icing recipes with egg whites.}
Do you leave them at room temp in an airtight container or a Ziploc bag? {I’m going to be using them in cookie bags for favors.}
They keep well decorated for at least a week. I either leave in a large ziploc or go ahead and package them in the favor bags. As long as they are tied tight, it’s fine either way.
I looooooove these and always enjoy your Halloween posts! I’ve been wanting to make halloween sugar cookies and even thought today would be the day, but for some reason I have a lack of motivation! Maybe because Ben’s birthday is always the same week so I’m busy making/baking for him! 🙂 Thanks for sharing such fun recipes, girl!
I especially love your spiderwebs and mummies!
Those cookies look amazing. You are so talented!
I knew that something that sounded as basic as “sugar cookies” would be nothing short of gorgeous in your expert hands! Just lovely!
Love them all!
That is some seriously professional cookie decorating! Nice work.
I can’t decide which design I like best- they’re all super cute. 🙂
Love the cookies. They are gorgeous. I need to get myself some good Wilton tips and go to town. Is there a set that you would suggest for a beginner? Thanks for all of the inspiration (and tasty recipes!) I love your blog! 🙂
I wouldn’t purchase a set, just buy them as you need them.
Annie…..LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your cookies!! I’ve finally conquered using the royal icing thanks to your tutorial! One question for you….how do you keep the colors on the spider web from bleeding? I’m assuming that you have to do all the colors at the same time in order to make the cobweb effect. Any tips to keep them from bleeding together? I’m planning on making the spiderwebs for my daughters harvest party!!
I’ve used multiple colors for flooding many times and have never had any problem with colors bleeding, so no special tips here.
These are gorgeous Annie! Great job. 🙂
These look so cute – and perfect!!! I’d buy them just to look at them! 😀
I made flooded Halloween cookies this week, too, but was too scared to use enough gel icing to make black. My cats and bats were gray!!! Did you add black to chocolate royal icing to avoid that bitter flavor? Or did you just use that Ameri— icing that everyone raves about, and add it to white royal icing? Can I get the same effect with Wilton???
I use black icing all the time, made with Wilton gel, and have never had any problem with the taste. I’ve never heard of chocolate royal icing.
These are gorgeous Annie! I attempted making royal icing for the first time today. I am having problems getting my icing black. I am using the Wilton gel in the tubes and have used 3 of them. The color is gray. Am I doing something wrong? Thank you kindly 🙂
You need icing gel colors, not the gel tubes (it comes in little pots). If you read my royal icing tutorial, it explains why this is important (potency of color and not totally messing up the consistency of your icing.)
Sorry Annie,
Totally disregard my post before this. I guess you learn from your mistakes…i bought the decorating gel, not the food coloring gel…woops!
Hi Annie,
For the mummies did you let some of the strips dry before adding on more? I made these mummies just now and I was having some problems with getting the bandages to look distinct from the others. I definitely did too many bandages too so it doesn’t look as good as yours. I made my icing to piping consistency and everything. They’re still super cute, just not as cute as yours!
No, I did the strips all at the same time. These were my favorite cookies because they were so quick to do. I think letting some dry would make it really complicated and I’m not sure it would be worth it. Maybe add a bit more powdered sugar to stiffen up the icing more (I didn’t do anything special to mine though.)
LOL! Too cute!
I, too, have problems with black royal icing, even with the Wilton gel coloring. Would you say that the amount of coloring you need to use for black is way beyond what you need for other bright colors? Thanks!
More than some colors, sure, but probably about the same as red. Different dyes have different potencies and remember with black, you’re essentially trying to wipe out all the white so it will take more.
We made these last night, and I let my daughter take them to school for her party today! She decorated herself (read: purple cats with lopsided smiles, orange and black swirled pumpkins, etc) so they’re not so adorable, but they tasted fabulous! Thanks for another great recipe.
PS: I made super-black icing with regular black food coloring.
I used regular Wilton black gel coloring for my frosting and stopped adding when it got to be a charcoal color, but it didn’t blacken very much after drying. Any advice? It also it very matte finish which is ok, but I like how your cookies look, really bright and vibrant!
I really appreciated the royal icing tutorial, I’ve used royal icing for flowers on cakes but not with this thin for flooding. I would have been lost without your step by step guide 🙂
No advice beyond what I have already told others. Just keep adding the black until it seems it isn’t affecting the shade of the icing anymore. Mine always dries black. My cookies all have a matte finish, that is how royal icing dries. The bright colors are just related to the colorings.
Your Halloween cookies look amazing and delicious!