Our family doesn't really celebrate Halloween. Living overseas, its not a holiday that has transferred hardly at ALL. We don't live on a compound of Americans. We don't have a community group we're a part of that even tries to put on fall carnivals in place of traditional trick or treating. Its just not a holiday we've had to think about. The extent of our "Halloween"(I should maybe just say fall) celebrating each year involves watching Its the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and decorating sugar cookies like a jack-o-lantern. If we're really lucky, we find a round pumpkin to carve. Usually there are just these oblong ones around. My mom made these cookies with me and my sisters nearly every Halloween when we were little, so its a little more about sentiment for me than anything else! If you don't have a pumpkin cookie cutter, you could just use a circle--I have done that before, too. I'm sorry I don't have a sugar cookie recipe on this site yet. I don't really have a solid favorite. The icing recipe below is really easy for kids to help mix up and makes just enough for about 2 dozen cookies if you aren't TOO liberal with it! Nothing fancy about it but works great for this kind (read: kid-friendly) of cookie decorating.
Jack-o-Lantern Cookies
1 recipe of sugar cookie dough
1 recipe of simple frosting (see below or your favorite)
Food Coloring
Raisins
Chocolate chips or chunks
Roll out sugar cookie dough and cut out with a pumpkin cutter or a round cutter/glass/can. Bake according to cookie directions. Color frosting orange. Once cookies are cooled, smear with a little frosting and use raisins and chocolate chips to make a jack-o-lantern face.
Quick and Easy Frosting
2 Tbs shortening or butter (softened)
1/4 tsp salt (use 1/8 tsp if butter is salted)
1 tsp vanilla (almond extract is also nice)
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbs milk
Mix shortening, salt, vanilla, and 1/2 cup sugar. Add milk and rest of sugar until smooth and reaches desired consistency. Add sugar to thicken and milk to thin. Makes just enough for 24 sugar cookies.
Let the kids have fun! You'll notice a lot of these look nothing like a face! But they sure know which ones are theirs and that's important!
Jack-o-Lantern Cookies
1 recipe of sugar cookie dough
1 recipe of simple frosting (see below or your favorite)
Food Coloring
Raisins
Chocolate chips or chunks
Roll out sugar cookie dough and cut out with a pumpkin cutter or a round cutter/glass/can. Bake according to cookie directions. Color frosting orange. Once cookies are cooled, smear with a little frosting and use raisins and chocolate chips to make a jack-o-lantern face.
Quick and Easy Frosting
2 Tbs shortening or butter (softened)
1/4 tsp salt (use 1/8 tsp if butter is salted)
1 tsp vanilla (almond extract is also nice)
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbs milk
Mix shortening, salt, vanilla, and 1/2 cup sugar. Add milk and rest of sugar until smooth and reaches desired consistency. Add sugar to thicken and milk to thin. Makes just enough for 24 sugar cookies.
Let the kids have fun! You'll notice a lot of these look nothing like a face! But they sure know which ones are theirs and that's important!
Our Halloween tradition is also to watch It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! Fun! We also make caramel (boiled sweetened condensed milk) and have apple slices. I was thinking about trying candy corn this year, but I kind of want to do pumpkin cookies now! :)
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