Description
Delightfully soft and creamy ghost-shaped cookies perfect for Halloween or any spooky occasion. These soft-batch cream cheese cookies are tender and buttery, topped with smooth vanilla buttercream frosting and decorated with festive sanding sugar and adorable facial details.
Ingredients
Scale
Soft-Batch Cream Cheese Cookies
- 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature (170g)
- 1/2 cup or 4 oz. full fat cream cheese, room temperature (113g)
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar (300g)
- 1 large egg, room temperature (56g)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste (8g)
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (375g)
- 1 Tbsp cornstarch (8g)
- 1/2 tsp baking powder (2g)
- 1/2 tsp fine salt (3g)
Buttercream Frosting for Cookies
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature (226g)
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste (12g)
- 1/4 tsp fine salt (2g)
- 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar (454g or 1 lb. box)
- 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream, room temperature (60g)
Decorations
- 1 cup coarse sanding sugar
- Black, 4mm round sprinkles (optional)
- Black strand sprinkles
- Pink gel food coloring
Instructions
- Prepare the Cookie Dough: In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat 3/4 cup butter and 1/2 cup cream cheese on medium speed until smooth. Add 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar and mix on medium-high until lighter in color. Add 1 egg and 2 tsp vanilla extract; mix until incorporated.
- Mix Dry Ingredients: In a separate bowl, whisk together 3 cups flour, 1 Tbsp cornstarch, 1/2 tsp baking powder, and 1/2 tsp salt.
- Combine Ingredients: Add dry mixture to butter mixture in two additions, mixing on low speed until just combined. Scrape sides with spatula after each addition. Dough will be sticky.
- Chill Dough: Divide dough in half, wrap in plastic wrap, flatten into rectangles about 1/2 inch thick. Chill in fridge for 2 hours, freezer for 30 minutes, or overnight in fridge. If overnight, let sit for 10 minutes before rolling.
- Preheat Oven and Prepare Baking Sheets: Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C) about 30 minutes before baking. Line two baking sheets with silicone mats or parchment paper.
- Roll and Cut Dough: Remove one dough portion from fridge/freezer, unwrap onto floured plastic wrap. Dust dough and rolling pin with flour. Roll to 1/3 inch thickness. Cut out 2 1/2-inch ghost shapes using cookie cutter or knife.
- Chill Cut Cookies: Brush excess flour off cookies. Place on baking sheet about 1 inch apart. Chill cookies for 15 minutes in fridge or 5 minutes in freezer to keep shape.
- Bake Cookies: Bake one sheet at a time on top rack for 12-14 minutes. Watch closely and remove before edges brown.
- Cool Cookies: Let cookies cool on pan 15 minutes, then transfer to wire rack. While cooling, knead scraps, rewrap, and chill to reuse.
- Repeat Baking: Repeat rolling, cutting, chilling, and baking with second dough portion and scraps until all dough is used.
- Prepare Buttercream Frosting: Beat 1 cup butter on medium for 30 seconds until smooth. Mix in 1 Tbsp vanilla and 1/4 tsp salt on low speed. Gradually add 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar and 1/4 cup heavy cream, scraping bowl as needed. Adjust consistency by adding cream or sugar.
- Color Frosting: Scoop 1/4 cup frosting, color with pink gel, and fill small piping bag fitted with small round tip (Wilton 5). Fill larger piping bag with remaining frosting and fit with medium round tip (Wilton 10).
- Decorate Cookies: Pour 1 cup white sanding sugar in bowl. Pipe frosting on a cookie, gently press into sugar to coat evenly. Use black round sprinkles or mini chocolate chips for eyes, black strand sprinkles for mouth. Pipe pink cheeks with pink frosting. Repeat for remaining cookies.
Notes
- This recipe yields about 36, 2 1/2-inch ghost cookies, though yield and bake time vary based on cutter size.
- Recipe can be halved for fewer cookies; use half an egg if halving.
- Store frosted cookies airtight up to 2 days at room temperature, 5 days refrigerated, or 1 month frozen.
- Chill cookies thoroughly before stacking with parchment between to prevent sticking.
- Cookie dough can be frozen up to 1 month; thaw in fridge overnight before rolling and baking.
- Baked unfrosted cookies freeze well for up to 1 month; decorate after thawing at room temperature.
- Do not overwork dough to avoid tough cookies; chill dough to prevent spreading and promote soft texture.
- Roll dough evenly to 1/3 inch thickness for uniform baking.
- Avoid overbaking; remove cookies before edges brown for softness.
- Get creative with decorations using fondant or alternative sprinkles if desired.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 190
- Sugar: 18g
- Sodium: 85mg
- Fat: 10g
- Saturated Fat: 6g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3.5g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 23g
- Fiber: 0.5g
- Protein: 2g
- Cholesterol: 35mg
