Halloween Snickerdoodle Cut Out Cookies

These are THE BEST snickerdoodle cut out cookies! They’re easy to make, only require a few ingredients, hold their shape while baking, and are easily decorated for whatever occasion! I dolled these up for halloween using my easy 1 consistency royal icing and super simple designs that anyone can do!

What’s in a Snickerdoodle Cookie?

A snickerdoodle is basically just a cinnamon sugar cookie. They’re usually thick, and soft, and absolutely addicting. These snickerdoodle cut out cookies are a twist on the classic that combines a snickerdoodle with a classic cut out sugar cookie. All the yummy cinnamon sugar flavor, but made for cutting into shapes and decorating.

Ingredients

• Salted Butter. I use salted butter in most of my baking recipes. Don’t be afraid of salt as it balances out the sweetness. My favorite is Kerrygold.
• Vanilla Bean Paste. You can swap this out for regular pure vanilla extract, but I love seeing the tiny flecks of vanilla throughout the cookies.
• Meringue Powder. You’ll need this for the royal icing. It’s what allows the icing to set hard so don’t skip it. There are royal icing recipes out there that use fresh egg whites, but I find that meringue powder is much easier. You can find it in most grocery stores in the baking aisle, or on amazon!

How to Make Snickerdoodle Cut Out Cookies

Make the Snickerdoodle Cookie Dough.

In the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar for 3 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl as needed to ensure the texture is consistent. Add the egg and vanilla bean paste. Mix for another 2-3 minutes.

Add the flour, salt, and cinnamon. Mix on medium speed for 3 minutes, or until the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl and looks like scooped ice cream. Divide the dough in half, roll it out onto flour dusted parchment paper to about 1/2″ thickness. Chill for 30 minutes to an hour. Chilling the dough here will make cutting out the shapes SO much easier.

Once chilled, cut out your desired shapes. I like to do a variety of shapes and sizes. Place the cookies on a parchment lined cookie sheet. They won’t spread in the oven, but leave a little space in between. Put cookies of similar size on the same cookie sheet. Sprinkle them with cinnamon sugar. Place the cookie sheets in the freezer for 10 minutes while you preheat the oven to 375. Getting the cookies extra cold right before baking will ensure they don’t budge and you get those nice sharp edges.

For large cookies (3-4 inches) bake at 375 for 8 minutes. For mini cookies (1-2 inches) bake at 375 for 4-5 minutes. The cookies shouldn’t brown at all in the oven and still look slightly wet in the center when you remove them from the oven. Let them cool on the hot cookie sheet for about 5 minutes, then move to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Make the Royal Icing

While the snickerdoodle cut out cookies cool, make the royal icing. In the bowl of your stand mixer add the meringue powder and lukewarm water. The water should just be warm to the touch, not hot. Use a whisk to combine the water and meringue powder. Continue to whisk until the meringue powder dissolves and the mixture looks like beer foam.

Add the powdered sugar and whip with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy. It should take about 3-4 minutes and be the consistency similar to pudding. Mix in the clear vanilla until combined. Then, decide what colors you want and divide the royal icing into bowls. Use gel food coloring to color the icing however you like. Then use water to thin out the icing to a 25-30 second icing. This means that when you pick some of the icing up with a spatula and drizzle it back into the bowl, it should take 25-30 seconds to dissolve, or blend back into the rest. This consistency will allow you to flood your cookies with it and also add some simple details.

Add the icing to tipless piping bags and decorate your cooled cookies. I like to outline around the entire cookie, then fill in the centers. You can use a scribe tool or a toothpick to help nudge the icing where you need it and pop any air bubbles. For these cookies I used a wet on wet technique meaning I added the details while the flood icing was still wet. The details will settle down into the flood icing and result in a flat design. *You can let the flood icing dry, and then do the details on top for a more 3D effect, but I would recommend thickening up the icing for the detail work if you’re going that route!

For the bats and black cats, I flooded the entire cookie black, then while the icing was still wet, dipped it into some black sugar sprinkles. Once you’ve finished decorating, let the royal icing dry for at least 4 hours, or overnight. Serve cookies immediately, place them in an airtight container for up to 4 days. You can also freeze completely decorated cookies for up to 3 months. Just thaw them at room temperature overnight before serving.

Tools

• Cookie Cutters. Mine are a mix of new ones and vintage ones I’ve thrifted. Any will do, or you can make your own templates with cardboard and cut them out with a paring knife.
• Offset Spatula. This makes it easy to transfer the cookies to and from the cookie sheets.
• Tipless Piping Bags. This is the secret to creating effortless designs on sugar cookies. I use these.
• Stand Mixer. I haven’t tested this recipe with a hand mixer and wouldn’t recommend it.

Print

If you loved this recipe for my Snickerdoodle Cut Out Cookies, be sure to leave a star rating and review below and tag @buuckfarmsbakery on Instagram and Tiktok. To save this recipe for later, click on the Pinterest icon on the recipe card above, or on any of the images throughout this post.

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