ZOMBIE ATTACK & MUMMY MAYHEM HALLOWEEN COOKIES

COOKIE BASE RECIPE

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

150 g (5½ oz) plain flour, plus extra for dusting

100 g (3½ oz) lightly salted firm butter, diced

50 g (1¾ oz) icing sugar

1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla

bean paste

1. Put the flour and butter in a food processor and blend until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Briefly blend in the icing sugar.

2. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and blend again until the mixture comes together to make a smooth dough.

3. Alternatively, to make the dough by hand, place the flour and butter in a bowl and mix with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs, then add the remaining ingredients and knead into a smooth dough.

4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently to incorporate any stray crumbs. Wrap in clingfilm and chill for at least 1 hour before rolling.

5. Roll out the cookie dough on a lightly floured surface to about 5 mm (¼ in) thick. If the dough is too firm to roll, leave it to stand at room temperature for 20–30 minutes. The firmer the dough when you roll it, the less likely it will lose its shape during baking.

6. Cut out shapes using your chosen cutter. Dusting the cookie cutter with flour will help make a clean, non-sticky cut. The remaining dough can then be gathered up, lightly kneaded and re-rolled to make extra shapes.

7. Place the shapes on a lightly greased baking sheet, spacing them slightly apart to allow for spreading. Bake in a preheated oven at 190°C (375°F) , Gas Mark 5 for 12–15 minutes. Plain cookies will be done when they start turning golden around the edges. Chocolate cookies (see below) will look baked, but will not darken much.

8. Remove the cookies from the oven and leave on the baking sheet for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. The high sugar content of the cookies means they will be slightly soft when they come out of the oven and will crisp up as they cool.

This dough recipe generally makes enough for about six cookies, depending on the cookie-cutter size. The quantity can easily be doubled to make a larger batch.

ROYAL ICING RECIPE

If you wish to use your own homemade royal icing, make sure you use good-quality egg whites. It will keep well in the fridge for several days, provided the surface is tightly covered with cling film.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

1 egg white

200 g (7 oz) icing sugar

WHAT TO DO

1. Put the egg white in a bowl and beat lightly to break it up. Add half the icing sugar and beat until smooth.

2. Gradually work in the remaining icing sugar until the icing has a soft, smooth consistency that just holds its shape.

3. Depending on what consistency icing you need, add more water (a few drops at a time) or more icing sugar.

ZOMBIE ATTACK COOKIES

This spooky take on a gingerbread man is especially useful for when you’ve accidentally broken some of the cookies (or if you just couldn’t resist taking a bite… Hey, it happens to the best of us). Just add a bit of red icing to the edge and ta-da! No one will ever know. This design is great for those who prefer their cookies with a bit less icing – it’s also super quick and easy to do, but still looks great.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

Red detail icing

White detail icing

Black detail icing

WHAT TO DO

1. Begin by snapping off the leg, head or arm of your gingerbread man (be as brutal as you like!) and pipe a thin line of red detail icing along the broken edge.

2. For the stitches, use a cocktail stick to carve a line across the gingerbread man, being careful not to go too deep or you’ll snap it.

3. Then use the white detail icing to pipe small lines or crosses across the carved line to create stitches.

4. Finish your zombie off by piping on its eyes. Pipe one larger than the other to achieve that unsettling zombie stare.

MUMMY MAYHEM COOKIES

Everyone’s favourite movie monster just got a whole load cuter – and more delicious. This design uses fondant icing, so if you go slightly wrong, just roll it back up and start again. These guys are pretty friendly looking, but if that doesn’t quite cut it for you, and you want to make them a little more terrifying, use red or yellow icing for the eyes and add the odd blood-stained bandage here and there.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

White flood icing

White fondant icing

White detail icing

Black detail icing

WHAT TO DO

1. Using the white flood icing, outline the cookie, then fill it in (leaving a gap for the eyes) and leave to dry completely.

2. While you are waiting for your cookie to dry, roll the fondant out to around 3–4 mm (⅛ in) thick and cut it into strips.

3. Brush a little water onto the strips of fondant to help them stick, then lay them across the iced cookie to create the bandages.

4. Finally, pipe on eyes using the white detail icing, before adding a small dot of black detail icing for each pupil.

These recipes are from Clever Cookie Cutter by Jen Rich