25 Halloween Cookie Recipes and Decorating Ideas

Halloween cookie recipes give us a perfectly good excuse to turn a batch of something delicious into spiders, ghosts, monsters, and whatever else wanders out of the candy aisle. This collection includes homemade cookies, no-bake decorating projects, and a few more detailed designs for when you feel like spending an afternoon with your piping bags. Whether you’re filling a party tray or planning a Halloween movie night, there’s plenty here to tempt you.

I firmly believe Halloween deserves its own cookie season. Christmas does not get to claim all the good baking opportunities! Give me a chocolate cookie covered in gummy worms or a sugar cookie staring back at me, and I’m happy. Some of these ideas are cute, some are creepy, and a few might have you questioning your decorating skills for a minute. Start with one that looks fun. We’re making cookies, not submitting a portfolio.

Choose Your Kind of Halloween Cookie

Before picking a recipe, think about how much time you want to spend baking and decorating.

For a quick project, try the no-bake spider cookies or candy corn cookie decorations. If you enjoy baking but don’t want to pipe tiny details, look at the sprinkle cookies, pumpkin peanut butter cookies, or chocolate cookies with candy eyes.

For a decorating afternoon, the skeletons, zombies, and iced cookies give you more room to play. Read the full instructions first, including chilling and icing-drying time. A cookie that bakes in ten minutes can still need a little patience before it’s ready for its Halloween close-up.

25 Halloween Cookies to Bake, Decorate, and Devour

1. Spider Web Sugar Cookies

My Spider Web Sugar Cookies start with homemade sugar cookies and get their Halloween personality from frosting webs and candy spiders. They’re a fun choice when you want to do a little decorating without creating a different character on every cookie.

2. Copycat Crumbl Dirt Cake Cookies

These Copycat Crumbl Dirt Cake Cookies bring chocolate cookies, chocolate frosting, crushed Oreos, and gummy worms together in one wonderfully messy-looking treat. The cookie crumbs do a lot of the decorating work, which is excellent news for anyone whose piping bag needs a day off.

3. Copycat Chips Ahoy Stranger Things Cookies

My Stranger Things Cookies have dark chocolate cookie dough wrapped around a red strawberry cream cheese filling. That surprise center makes them especially fun for a spooky watch party. Give yourself time to freeze the filling before assembling them.

4. Pumpkin Peanut Butter Cookies

For something cozy alongside the creepy cookies, try my Pumpkin Peanut Butter Cookies. Pumpkin and peanut butter bring a different flavor to the tray, and you don’t need an elaborate decorating session to make them feel right for fall.

5. Black and Orange Cookies

These Black and Orange Cookies from What Jew Wanna Eat give classic black-and-white cookies a Halloween makeover. The lemony, cake-like cookies have two contrasting icing colors, making them a festive option without any spooky faces or delicate decorations.

6. No-Bake Spider Cookies

Slap Dash Mom’s No-Bake Spider Cookies turn ready-made cookies into little spiders with filling, pretzel legs, and icing eyes. This is a handy decorating project when you want something playful without turning on the oven.

7. Hello Kitty Halloween Cookies

These Hello Kitty Halloween Cookies from Suz Daily combine a familiar character with detailed Halloween designs. Save this decorating project for when you have time to work with royal icing and let the layers dry. It’s an option for readers who enjoy the artistic side of cookie decorating.

8. 3-D Ghost Cookies

Butter with a Side of Bread’s 3-D Ghost Cookies use sugar cookies, marshmallows, and frosting to create ghosts that rise above the cookie base. The extra height makes them stand out on a platter, so give these little ghosts their own space instead of stacking them.

9. Hand-Iced Halloween Cookie Inspiration

This collection of Hand-Iced Halloween Cookies from A Helicopter Mom is useful for choosing decorating designs. The page includes a link to the creator’s cookie recipe, but treat this entry primarily as inspiration for your finished cookies.

10. Skeleton Gingerbread Cookies

Your gingerbread-person cutter gets an October assignment with these Skeleton Gingerbread Cookies from Our Best Bites. White icing bones transform the familiar shape into a Halloween treat, and the gingerbread gives your cookie tray a welcome bit of spice.

11. Candy Corn Decorated Cookies

These Candy Corn Cookies from Hey, EEP! use chocolate cookies as the base for vanilla frosting and rings of candy corn. You can start with homemade or store-bought cookies, making this more of an edible craft than a baking project.

12. Tombstone Cookies

Sunset’s Tombstone Cookies are made with cocoa nibs and finished with chocolate lettering. Serve them on their own or use them to decorate a graveyard dessert. Their simple shapes make a nice change from round cookies and elaborate cutouts.

13. Halloween M&M Cookie Mix in a Jar

Living Locurto’s Halloween M&M Cookies in a Jar are a gift idea for someone who would enjoy baking their own batch. Layer the dry ingredients in a jar and include the baking directions. This one belongs in your Halloween gifting plans as much as your recipe collection.

14. Vegan Halloween Shortbread Cookies

These Vegan Halloween Shortbread Cookies from Vegan Yack Attack pair shortbread with chocolate royal icing and Halloween stencil designs. They offer a plant-based option with plenty of decorating possibilities. Check your chosen decorations, too, if you’re keeping the whole batch vegan.

15. Pumpkin Spice Sugar Cookies

Adventures Made from Scratch’s Pumpkin Spice Sugar Cookies add pumpkin pie spice to cutout cookie dough. Use your favorite Halloween cutters and decorate with royal icing. These are a good fit when you want traditional decorated cookies with a little fall flavor.

16. Monster Mash Sugar Cookies

These Monster Mash Sugar Cookies from Hello Creative Family get their personality from purple dough, sprinkles, and candy eyes. You don’t have to make every monster match, which is part of the appeal. A slightly odd expression just adds character.

17. Zombie Cookies

Chelsweets’ Zombie Cookies start with soft cream cheese sugar cookies and get decorated with colorful buttercream faces. Choose these when you want frosting with some texture and plenty of room for funny expressions. These zombies seem much more interested in dessert than destruction.

18. Creepy Eyeball Cookies

Kimspired DIY’s Eyeball Cookies use refrigerated sugar cookie dough with cream cheese frosting and candy details. Junior Mints form the pupils, while red licorice adds the veins. They’re a shortcut bake with a wonderfully unsettling finish.

19. Peanut Butter Spider Cookies

These Peanut Butter Spider Cookies from If You Give a Blonde a Kitchen use miniature peanut butter cups for the spider bodies. Chocolate legs and candy eyes finish the look. If chocolate and peanut butter are your thing, these deserve a spot near the front of the platter.

20. Halloween Sprinkle and M&M Cookies

These Halloween Cookies from If You Give a Blonde a Kitchen get their festive look from M&M’s and sprinkles mixed into the dough. They’re a good choice when you want a chewy cookie without frosting, though you’ll still need to plan for the dough’s chilling time.

21. Witch Hat Cookies

Witch Hat Cookies from If You Give a Blonde a Kitchen combine peanut butter cookies, chocolate, and a colorful frosting detail. Chocolate kisses create the pointed hats, giving you a recognizable Halloween design without sculpting anything out of fondant.

22. Chocolate Marshmallow Spider Web Cookies

These Spider Web Cookies from The Marble Kitchen cover double chocolate cookies with stretchy marshmallow webs. The contrast makes the design stand out, and the webs can be delightfully irregular. A little sticky chaos is practically part of the theme.

23. Pumpkin Sugar Cookies with Spiced Buttercream

Sally’s Pumpkin Sugar Cookies include pumpkin puree in the dough and a spiced buttercream topping. They’re a good option for readers who want pumpkin flavor along with the pumpkin shape. Follow the recipe’s pumpkin-blotting instructions to help the cutouts hold their shape.

24. Black Cocoa Cookies with Butterscotch and Espresso

These Black Cocoa Cookies from The Pypers Kitchen combine dark cocoa, butterscotch chips, espresso powder, and colorful candy. Add candy eyes for a monster-inspired finish. They bring a different flavor combination to a tray full of frosted sugar cookies.

25. Chocolate Halloween Cookies

Whisking Wolf’s Chocolate Halloween Cookies combine chocolate cookie dough with Halloween M&M’s, sprinkles, and candy eyes. They’re a colorful option for chocolate lovers who want a festive cookie without rolling dough or cutting out shapes.

Tips for a Halloween Cookie Tray That Travels Well

Choose a few different flavors and decorating styles instead of making five batches that all need detailed icing. A chocolate cookie, a spiced cookie, and a decorated sugar cookie can give you plenty of variety.

• Cool before decorating. Warm cookies can soften frosting and melt chocolate details.
• Allow time for icing to set. A dry-looking surface doesn’t always mean a decorated cookie is ready to bag or stack.
• Protect raised decorations. Pack marshmallow ghosts, candy spiders, and thick buttercream designs in a single layer.
• Keep textures separate. Store crisp cookies apart from soft, moist cookies until you arrange the serving tray.
• Check each recipe’s storage needs. Filled cookies and cream cheese frostings may need different treatment from plain cookies.

My top tip: Decorate one cookie completely before committing to the whole batch. You’ll quickly see whether your icing is the right consistency, your candy pieces fit, and your grand decorating plan needs a tiny adjustment.

Halloween Cookie FAQs

What are the easiest Halloween cookies to make?

For an assembly-only project, try the no-bake spider cookies or candy corn decorated cookies. If you want to bake, sprinkle cookies let the mix-ins do most of the decorating work.

Can I make Halloween cookies ahead of time?

Many recipes let you prepare the dough or bake the cookie bases ahead. Follow the individual recipe’s directions, then schedule decorating around the icing’s setting time and any toppings that might soften during storage.

Do I need royal icing to decorate Halloween cookies?

No! Several ideas here use buttercream, melted chocolate, marshmallow webs, or candy decorations. Royal icing is useful for detailed designs that set firm, but it’s only one option.

Can I freeze decorated Halloween cookies?

It depends on the cookie and its decorations. When possible, freeze the undecorated cookies according to the recipe and add the finishing touches later. Candy details and colored icing don’t all handle freezing and thawing the same way.

More Halloween Treats to Make

Build out your party menu with my Halloween cupcake ideas, find a centerpiece in these Halloween cake ideas, or browse more Halloween desserts for something deliciously spooky.

Which cookie are you making first? I’m always interested in the chocolate ones, but I can absolutely be distracted by a cookie with a ridiculous little face. Tell me your favorite in the comments!