Halloween Monster Cookies
Halloween Monster Cookies are easy to make with cake mix and neon food coloring. They’re topped with candy eyeballs for a spooky-cute halloween treat that tastes like a sugar cookie. Perfect Halloween party food!
Halloween Cookies
Looking for a festive treat for your Halloween party? These bright colored crinkle cookies are super easy and fun to make!
Spooky, yet cute, these monster eye cookies start with a cake mix that’s divided and colored with neon food coloring.
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They’re baked to perfection and then topped with candy eyeballs for an “eye”-catching halloween party food. (See what I did there?)
Those candy eyeballs are so fun! You can use them in my Spider Cookies and Ghost Pretzels as well.
Ingredients
You will need just a handful of ingredients to make these easy Halloween cookies:
- White Cake Mix – just the dry mix (do not use ingredients/instructions listed on box)
- All-Purpose Flour
- Large Eggs
- Oil – Canola or Vegetable (or softened Butter)
- Neon Food Coloring
- Powdered Sugar
- Candy Eyeballs – two sizes for variety
How to Make Halloween Monster Cookies
- In a large bowl, mix together the cake mix, flour, eggs, and oil until smooth. (Easiest to use an electric hand mixer for this.)
- Divide dough into separate bowls for different colors. Add food coloring to each bowl and mix until the dough is one uniform color.
Scoop and Coat with Powdered Sugar
- Use a #50 scoop (about the size of a heaping Tablespoon) to spoon dough into a ball.
- Drop dough into a bowl of powdered sugar. Flip the dough over to coat it completely.
Bake and Top with Candy Eyeballs
- Place coated cookie dough balls on a parchment or silicone lined baking sheet 2-3 inches apart. (NOTE: These cookies spread a lot and will flatten some before they even go in the oven.)
- Bake at 350˚F for 10-11 minutes until edges are just starting to brown and the tops are matte, not shiny.
- IMMEDIATELY press candy eyeballs into cookies while still warm. (NOTE: Cookies will be thin.) Allow cookies to rest on the pan for a few minutes. Then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!
The whole family will love making these cookies! Such a fun and festive Halloween recipe!
Q&A
CAN I USE BUTTER INSTEAD OF OIL? Yes. You can use butter instead of oil in these cake mix cookies. I would use softened butter instead of melted butter though.
WHAT TYPE OF FOOD COLORING DO I USE? I used Betty Crocker Neon Gel Food Coloring for these cookies. I generally prefer gel over liquid drops, but use what you have. Use about a pea size amount of gel or 3-5 drops of liquid food coloring. NOTE: If the dough gets really soft from mixing in the color, refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes to firm it up.
CAN I MAKE THESE HALLOWEEN COOKIES AHEAD OF TIME? You can make these monster eye cookies ahead of time, just note that if/depending on how you stack them, the eyeballs may fall off. I would keep them flat on a tray and place parchment paper between any layers. Then wrap the pan well with plastic wrap to keep them fresh.
Baking Tips
HOW TO MAKE COOKIES THICKER – While you can bake these Halloween monster cookies immediately after mixing, the dough is quite soft, which also produces a thinner cookie. You can chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before scooping and baking. Or you can add an additional 1/4 cup of flour to the dough (1/2 cup total). The additional flour will help with handling as well, if you find the dough to be too sticky.
CANDY EYEBALLS – Make sure you wait to add the candy eyeballs until AFTER baking, or they may melt and burn. I also like to buy two sizes of candy eyeballs. Large and regular (not mini) to give variety to the cookies. You can put them close together or far apart. Have fun with them!
More Halloween Food Ideas
- Ghost Pretzels
- Spider Cookies
- Cobweb Oreo Dessert Pizza
- Broomstick Breadsticks
- Hot Dog Mummies
- Mummy Pizza
- Halloween Bread (bloody intestines)
Halloween Monster Cookies
Ingredients
- 15.25 oz (432 g) box white cake mix
- ¼ cup (30) all-purpose flour
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup (118 ml) oil, (canola or vegetable)
- ⅓ cup (40 g) powdered sugar
- candy eyeballs, (two sizes)
Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line cookie trays with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- In a large bowl, mix together the cake mix, flour, eggs, and oil until smooth. (Easiest to use an electric hand mixer for this.)
- Divide dough into separate bowls for different colors. Add food coloring to each bowl and mix until the dough is one uniform color.
- Use a #50 scoop (about the size of a heaping Tablespoon) to spoon dough into a ball.
- Drop dough into a bowl of powdered sugar. Flip the dough over to coat it completely.
- Place coated cookie dough balls on a parchment or silicone lined baking sheet 2-3 inches apart. (NOTE: These cookies spread a lot and will flatten some before they even go in the oven.)
- Bake at 350˚F for 10-11 minutes until edges are just starting to brown and the tops are matte, not shiny.
- IMMEDIATELY press candy eyeballs into cookies while still warm. (NOTE: Cookies will be thin.) Allow cookies to rest on the pan for a few minutes. Then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!
Notes
- CAN I USE BUTTER INSTEAD OF OIL? Yes. You can use butter instead of oil in these cake mix cookies. I would use softened butter instead of melted butter though.
- WHAT TYPE OF FOOD COLORING DO I USE? I used Betty Crocker Neon Gel Food Coloring for these cookies. I generally prefer gel over liquid drops, but use what you have. Use about a pea size amount of gel or 3-5 drops of liquid food coloring. NOTE: If the dough gets really soft from mixing in the color, refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes to firm it up.
- HOW TO MAKE COOKIES THICKER – While you can bake these Halloween monster cookies immediately after mixing, the dough is quite soft, which also produces a thinner cookie. You can chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before scooping and baking. Or you can add an additional 1/4 cup of flour to the dough (1/2 cup total). The additional flour will help with handling as well, if you find the dough to be too sticky.
- CAN I MAKE THESE HALLOWEEN COOKIES AHEAD OF TIME? You can make these monster eye cookies ahead of time, just note that if/depending on how you stack them, the eyeballs may fall off. I would keep them flat on a tray and place parchment paper between any layers. Then wrap the pan well with plastic wrap to keep them fresh.
Nutrition
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