These Halloween Monster Sprinkle Cookies are simply fun and festive classic sugar cookies all dressed up for Halloween. This easy Halloween cookie recipe can be made from scratch in less than 30 minutes, complete with a coating of colored sprinkles and edible eyeballs–no rolling pin or cookie cutters needed.
Easy-To-Make Halloween Cookies
There is no other finger food as party-pleasing as the classic sugar cookie, with its soft and chewy texture and colorful covering of sprinkles. So, for a holiday that is centered around serving sweet treats to your favorite ghosts and goblins, this Halloween Monster Sprinkle Cookies recipe bakes the best, not-so-scary, melt-in-your-mouth monsters that are so easy to make. And while many recipes require endless steps of rolling and refrigeration, this one is quick and to the point; it creates a deliciously festive cookie with a fun Halloween feel.
Unless baking is your business, who has time to decorate with royal icing in elaborate detail? There is nothing complicated about this cookie recipe–it’s a simple scoop of dough, rolled in sprinkles, pressed, and then baked. These homemade treats are thick and moist in the middle with a colorful crunch all around; it’s my favorite cooked confection that tastes better than candy!
Customize your cookies to coordinate with any celebration–make them cute and silly, creepy and spooky, or even eerie when embellished with edible eyes! Baking these cookies with your kids will be almost as much fun for them as eating them!
Why We Love This Monster Sprinkle Cookies Recipe
- Easy to make Halloween cookie in under 30 minutes.
- Classic sugar cookie recipe made from scratch with simple ingredients.
- Deliciously soft and chewy with a colorful coating of sprinkles.
- A fun recipe to make and decorate with kids.
- Perfect for a Halloween party, birthday party, bake sale, or other event.
- Double the recipe if you need a larger batch to feed a group of costumed kids.
- Customizable to match all the seasons, holidays, and special occasions.
Ingredients / Shopping List
- Granulated white sugar: You can substitute this for brown sugar, but the color of the cookie will be darker.
- Salted butter (softened): Feel free to switch this out for unsalted butter, but make sure to add an extra pinch of salt to cut through the sweetness.
- Egg: If you want to try something different, you can use two tablespoons of sweetened condensed milk instead of the egg. However, your cookies will turn out a little flatter and greasier, but also sweeter.
- Plain Greek yogurt: Sour cream can be used instead.
- Vanilla extract
- Green food coloring (optional): If you want to make orange or purple halloween cookies, or all three, use some other food colorings as well.
- All-purpose flour
- Baking soda
- Halloween sprinkles, optional garnish
- Candy eyeballs, optional garnish
Substitutions and Additions
- Sprinkles: Feel free to decorate your cookies with jimmies (the long, thin sprinkles) in Halloween colors like green, purple, and orange. You can also use a Halloween blend found in the seasonal section at most grocery stores. Nonpareils (tiny round sprinkles) are another option, which tend to keep their crunchy texture after baking.
- Make Your Own Monster: Chocolate chips make great monster horns, ears, or fangs, and M&Ms can look like warts or spots. Candy eyeballs, candy lips, and black licorice laces can also create fun monster faces. Even candy you may already have around the house, such as mini marshmallows, Reece’s Pieces, or candy corn can make a mean monster!
- Custom Cookies: The beauty of holiday cookies is that they are very versatile for all sorts of occasions! Just change out the food coloring and sprinkles, and you can create custom cookies for any theme:
- Birthday party: Make white cookies with rainbow sprinkles.
- Christmas: Use red and green colors.
- Thanksgiving or Easter: Use pastel colors.
- 4th of July: Use a combination of red, white and blue colors.
Recommended Tools to Make this Recipe
- Mixer
- Mixing bowls and tools
- Measuring tools
- Cookies sheet
- Parchment paper
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How to Make Halloween Monster Sprinkle Cookies
These Monster Sprinkle Cookies are fun and festive classic sugar cookies all dressed up for Halloween. This easy dessert recipe can be made from scratch in less than 30 minutes, complete with a coating of colored sprinkles and edible eyeballs–no rolling pin or cookie cutters needed.
- Beat the sugar and butter together with a mixer until creamy and fluffy.
- Mix in the egg, Greek yogurt, and vanilla extract.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda and then pour it into the first bowl. Beat together until just combined.
- Add green food coloring (optional).
- Place cookie dough in the refrigerator for 10 minutes (optional).
Pro Tip: Chilling the dough will make it easier to work with, however it is not required. - Scoop cookie dough and roll into balls.
Pro Tip: I used a 2-inch cookie scoop. Use a cookie scoop or a tablespoon measure to make sure all of your cookies are the same size. - Roll each dough ball into a bowl of sprinkles until coated and place on parchment lined baking sheet.
Pro Tip: You can choose to leave the bottom of the dough uncoated to save sprinkles if you prefer. I like to use parchment paper or a silicone baking mat instead of greasing a cookie sheet. Grease or butter on a cookie sheet will cause your cookies to spread more than they should. - Once coated with sprinkles, slightly flatten each cookie and decorate with candy eyeballs.
- Bake in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 10-12 minutes or until the cookies set in the middle.
Pro-Tip: Avoid over-baking your cookies. These cookies are supposed to be moist and chewy and the middle should be soft and puffy when you remove them from the oven. If you over-bake them, they will get too hard. - Cool, plate, serve, and enjoy!
Storage Tips
- To Store: Store these cookies at room temperature for 5-6 days.
- To Freeze: Simply place the cookies in a single layer in a resealable bag, then freeze for a few months. When you’re ready to eat your cookies, take the from the freezer and let them thaw at room temperature.
Frequently Asked Questions
Colored sugar, crystal sprinkles, or jimmies will work great with this recipe. Nonpareils add a bit of a crunch, fine sugar sprinkles will add a faint crunch and jimmies will be soft.
I do not recommend using melted butter in this recipe because it will completely change the texture of your cookies!
Add sprinkles to your cookie dough right before they go into the oven. Adding sprinkles to “wet” batter is the only way to get them to stick without an additional “glue” like frosting.
Other Easy Halloween Recipes
- Graveyard Chocolate Cheesecake Dip
- Halloween Cake Pops
- Frankenstein Rice Krispie Treats
- Easy Halloween Spider Cookies
- Halloween Puppy Chow Chex Mix
- Halloween Chex Mix
- Halloween Marshmallows
- Mummy Hot Dogs
Monster Sprinkle Cookies
Ingredients
- ¾ cup granulated white sugar
- ½ cup (1 stick) salted butter softened
- 1 egg
- 2 tbsp plain Greek yogurt
- 1½ tsp vanilla extract
- Green food coloring optional
- 2¼ cups all-purpose flour spooned and leveled
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- Halloween sprinkles optional garnish
- Candy eyeballs optional garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and prepare a baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper.
- Beat the granulated white sugar and salted butter together with a mixer until creamy and fluffy.
- Mix in the egg, plain Greek yogurt, vanilla extract, and desired amount of green food coloring, optional.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the all-purpose flour and baking soda together. Pour the flour mixture into the first bowl and beat everything together until just combined.
- Place dough into the refrigerator for 10 minutes to make the dough easier to work with, optional.
- Pour Halloween sprinkles into a bowl.
- Scoop a spoonful of cookie dough and roll them into balls (I used a 2-inch cookie scoop for this step).
- Roll the cookie dough balls into the sprinkles until coated (You can choose to leave the bottom of the dough uncoated to save sprinkles if you prefer).
- Place the cookie dough back on the sheet pan and flatten the dough just slightly. Decorate with candy eyeballs.
- Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes or until the cookies set in the middle.
- Allow to cool for 10 minutes before plating and serving.
Jenn’s Notes
- To Store: Store these cookies at room temperature for 5-6 days.
- To Freeze: Simply place the cookies in a single layer in a resealable bag, then freeze for a few months. When you’re ready to eat your cookies, take the from the freezer and let them thaw at room temperature.
- Use a cookie scoop or a tablespoon measure to make sure all of your cookies are the same size.
- I like to use parchment paper or a silicone baking mat instead of greasing a cookie sheet. Grease or butter on a cookie sheet will cause your cookies to spread more than they should.
- Avoid over-baking your cookies. These cookies are supposed to be moist and chewy and the middle should be soft and puffy when you remove them from the oven. If you over-bake them, they will get too hard.
Can you use sour cream instead of the yogurt?
Hi Heather! I have not tested that substitution to advise.
My cookies came out cute and soft but taste very dry 😕 I’m sure the kids will still love them.