Description
These festive Day of the Dead Cookies are soft almond-flavored sugar cookies shaped like skulls, decorated with a smooth white candy coating and colorful candies. Perfect for celebrating Día de los Muertos with a delicious treat that combines buttery texture with sweet, decorative toppings.
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
- Optional decorations: Jumbo sprinkles, peppermint candies, candy-coated sunflower kernels, Skittles, Twizzlers Rainbow Twists, and Good & Plenty candies
- Black paste food coloring
Instructions
- Cream Butter and Sugar: In a large bowl, cream the softened butter and confectioners’ sugar together until the mixture is light and fluffy, which should take about 3 to 4 minutes. After that, add the almond paste and beat until combined thoroughly.
- Add Wet Ingredients: Beat in the egg, followed by the 2% milk and vanilla extract until the batter is smooth and uniform.
- Combine Dry Ingredients and Chill Dough: In a separate bowl, mix the all-purpose flour and salt. Gradually add the flour mixture to the creamed wet ingredients, mixing well after each addition. Once mixed, cover the dough and refrigerate it for 1 hour to chill and firm up.
- Roll and Cut Cookies: On a lightly floured surface, roll out the chilled dough to a 1/4-inch thickness. Using a floured 5-inch skull-shaped cookie cutter, cut out the cookies. Place the cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets.
- Bake Cookies: Bake the cookies in a preheated oven at 375°F (190°C) for 7 to 9 minutes or until they are firm to the touch. After baking, let the cookies stand on the sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer them to wire racks to cool completely.
- Melt Candy Coating and Dip Cookies: In a large, shallow microwave-safe dish, melt the white candy coating melts according to the package instructions. Dip the top side of each cooled cookie into the melted coating, allowing any excess to drip off. Place the dipped cookies on waxed paper to set.
- Decorate Cookies: While the candy coating is still wet, add decorations such as jumbo sprinkles, peppermint candies, candy-coated sunflower kernels, Skittles, Twizzlers Rainbow Twists, and Good & Plenty candies as desired.
- Color Remaining Coating and Pipe Details: Tint any remaining white candy coating with black paste food coloring and use it to pipe on mouth details or other facial features for the skull cookies.
- Let Set: Allow the decorated cookies to stand at room temperature until the candy coating is fully set and hardened before serving or storing.
Notes
- Make sure the almond paste is well incorporated to avoid clumps in the cookie dough.
- Chilling the dough is important to make rolling and cutting easier and to help cookies maintain shape during baking.
- Use waxed paper for setting the dipped cookies to prevent sticking.
- Customize decorations based on available candies and preference to create unique designs.
- The cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 280
- Sugar: 20g
- Sodium: 130mg
- Fat: 16g
- Saturated Fat: 10g
- Unsaturated Fat: 5g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 30g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 3g
- Cholesterol: 45mg
