Halloween chocolate sugar cookies

Instead of decorating the usual sugar cookies for Halloween–what about starting with a chocolate dough? I used this recipe to make my Harry Potter sorting hat cookies, but the intense chocolatey, workable dough is perfect for any kind of cookie cut-outs. I used my Halloween linzer cookie maker to craft my cookies.

I’ve been packing these in my kids’ lunch bags all week.

Here’s the recipe:

Chocolate butter cookie dough

*Adapted from King Arthur Flour’s Baking Companion Cookbook

Yield: Depends;)

Prep time: 30 minutes + baking, fridge time

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cocoa (*see note below)

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 butter at room temperature (not margarine)

1/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 Tablespoon water

1/2 Tablespoon honey or agave

1/2 teaspoon almond extract (optional)

Vanilla frosting

Directions

1. Cream the butter and sugars together.
2. Add the egg, water, honey and extract (if using) to the butter mixture. Blend well.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. *Note: to get the dark color try using Hershey’s special dark cocoa at the grocers or order dark cocoa powder from King Arthur Flour.
4. Gently mix the dry ingredients gently into the batter just until incorporated.
5. Place dough on waxed paper, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 4 hours or until solid.
6. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line your cookie pans with parchment paper.
7. Working with 1/3 of the dough at a time and leaving the rest refrigerated, roll out the dough, using flour (or cocoa) and a rolling pin, to 1/8″ thick.
8. Bake the cookies for 7 minutes and then check on them. You don’t want to overcook them!
9. Remove the pan and allow the cookies to cool ON the pan.
10. Decorate with frosting, sprinkles…

Your turn–making any Halloween sweet or meals this weekend?