Description
Celebrate Dia de los Muertos with these festive Day of the Dead Cookies featuring a tender almond-flavored sugar cookie base dipped in white candy coating and decorated with colorful candies and black piped details to create charming sugar skull designs.
Ingredients
Scale
Cookie Dough
- 1-1/4 cups butter, softened
- 1-3/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 2 ounces almond paste
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1/4 cup 2% milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Decoration
- 2 packages (12 ounces each) white candy coating melts
- Black paste food coloring
- Optional decorations: Jumbo sprinkles, peppermint candies, candy-coated sunflower kernels, Skittles, Twizzlers Rainbow Twists, Good & Plenty candies
Instructions
- Prepare the Dough: In a large bowl, cream the softened butter and confectioners’ sugar together until the mixture becomes light and fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the almond paste and continue to beat until combined. Incorporate the egg, milk, and vanilla extract, mixing thoroughly.
- Add Dry Ingredients and Chill: In a separate bowl, combine the all-purpose flour and salt. Gradually add this dry mixture to the creamed wet ingredients, mixing well after each addition to form a firm dough. Cover the dough and refrigerate it for 1 hour to allow it to chill and become easier to handle.
- Roll and Cut Dough: On a lightly floured surface, roll out the chilled dough to a thickness of 1/4 inch. Use a floured 5-inch skull-shaped cookie cutter to cut out cookies. Place the cookies about 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets, ready for baking.
- Bake the Cookies: Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Bake the cookies for 7 to 9 minutes, or until they are firm to the touch and lightly set. Allow them to stand on the baking sheet for 2 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.
- Melt Candy Coating: In a large, shallow, microwave-safe dish, melt the white candy coating melts following the package’s microwave directions, stirring as necessary to achieve a smooth consistency.
- Dip and Decorate Cookies: Dip the top side of each cooled cookie into the melted white candy coating, letting any excess drip off. Place the dipped cookies on waxed paper to set. Add optional colorful decorations like jumbo sprinkles or candies while the coating is still wet for festive details.
- Color and Pipe Details: Tint some of the remaining white candy coating with black paste food coloring to create a black icing. Use this for piping mouths and other facial details onto the cookies. Allow all decoration to set fully before serving or packaging.
Notes
- Ensure the almond paste is well softened to blend smoothly into the dough for best texture.
- Chilling the dough is essential to make rolling and cutting easier and to prevent spreading during baking.
- If you don’t have a skull-shaped cookie cutter, you can use other Halloween-themed cutters or carefully shape the dough by hand.
- Use waxed paper to prevent sticking when setting the candy coating decorations.
- Store the decorated cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 260
- Sugar: 16g
- Sodium: 110mg
- Fat: 14g
- Saturated Fat: 8g
- Unsaturated Fat: 5g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 30g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 3g
- Cholesterol: 35mg
