1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
FROSTING:
3-3/4 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup shortening
4 to 6 tablespoons water
Optional: Yellow, orange, green and black paste food coloring
1. 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.
2. 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 to 10 minutes or until edges are light brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely.
3. 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.
TOTAL TIME: Prep: 1 hour + chilling Bake: 10 min./batch + cooling
YIELD: 2 dozen
Halloween sugar cookies are a fun (and delicious!) way to get into the spooky spirit. From cats and bats to witches' hats, there are so many great Halloween cutouts to bake and decorate.
Nutrition Facts
1 cookie: 182 calories, 6g fat (3g saturated fat), 18mg cholesterol, 103mg sodium, 31g carbohydrate (25g sugars, 0 fiber), 1g protein.