Sugar Skull Cookies
by Jennifer ParraMake these super easy Sugar Skull Cookies for your Day of the Dead celebrations. With this 5 ingredient cookie dough, all you’ll need is the special cookie cutter by Fred and you’ll have beautiful Day of the Dead inspired cookies!
Sugar Skull Cookies
Rated 5 stars by 1 users
Category
Day of the Dead
Servings
Approximately 2 dozen
Prep Time
30 minutes
Cook Time
18 minutes
Author:
Jennifer Parra
These super easy cookies are always a hit during Day of the Dead, a beautiful Mexican tradition that celebrates life. Sugar skulls are left as offerings on Day of the Dead altars. Names of the departed are often written on the decorated sugar skulls in their memory. These cookies are great for decorating with colorful icings to more accurately reflect Mexican sugar skulls. The Mexican Vanilla Extract in this recipe makes the flavor extra delicious. Try our Mexican Vanilla Extract by Lola’s Cocina.
Note: Tools needed include Sugar Skull Cookie Cutters by Fred. Find them here.
Ingredients
2 sticks Butter, Unsalted
2/3 cup Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon, Ground
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1/4 teaspoon Mexican Vanilla Extract
1/2 teaspoon Salt
2 cups All-Purpose Flour
Directions
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and leave butter out at room temperature to soften a bit.
Combine butter and sugar in mixer bowl and cream together using the mixer paddle. Or use a mixing bowl and hand mixer.
Add cinnamon, vanilla, and salt and mix until well combined, periodically pausing the mixing and scraping down the sides.
With the mixer on low, add the flour one cup at a time. Scrape down the sides in between mixing to combine the ingredients well. The dough should be pliable but not too soft. If it seems too soft, just place it in the refrigerator until you get a good consistency.
On a floured surface, place a heaping handful of dough on the floured surface and sprinkle it with flour on top of the dough so it won’t stick to the rolling pin. Roll the dough out to about 3/8 to 1/4 inch thickness.
Using the cookie cutter, cut out the skull shape and place on parchment lined baking sheet.
Using the front side of the cutter, stamp the skull shapes by placing on top of the cut out dough and pressing down for about 3 seconds. The consistency needs to be firm in order to fully remove the cookie with stamped design. If the dough seems too soft or it’s sticking to the stamp, place the cut out dough on baking sheet in the refrigerator for at least 5 minutes before stamping.
Once all cookies are stamped on baking sheet, place in oven and cook for 16-18 minutes, turning halfway through. The color should be even and can be just slightly golden around the edges. Oven temperatures vary and thickness of cookies can either increase or decrease cooking time, so just be sure to check cookies after about 12 minutes to make sure they’re not burning.
Once cooked, remove from oven and let the cookies cool a bit then transfer them to a cooking rack.
