Ghost Cookies Food

HALLOWEEN BISCUITS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 and line a baking sheet with baking parchment.
• Put the butter in a bowl and beat with electric beaters until soft and creamy. Beat in the sugar, then the egg and vanilla, and finally the flour to make a dough. If the dough feels a bit sticky add a little more flour and knead it in. Wrap in cling film and put in the fridge for half an hour.
• Heavily flour a surface and cut the pastry in half. Roll out one half to 5mm thickness. Using a cookie cutter in the shape of a ghost (or any spooky shaped cutter you like), cut out 12 ghost shapes, which will make 4 cookies. Put the cut shapes on a baking tray lined with baking paper and put back in the fridge. Repeat with the second half of the pastry. Swap into the fridge, taking the chilled ghost biscuits out.
• Using a smaller cutter or a knife, cut a ghost-shaped hole in the middle of 4 of the biscuits on the tray, this is the space to store the surprise centre! Put these biscuits into the oven to bake for 10-12 mins, until pale but cooked through. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Repeat with the other tray.
• Once all the biscuits have cooled completely, they are ready to be assembled. Mix the icing sugar with 3 tbsp of water and mix well. It should be quite thick so add a little more icing sugar if the mixture is too runny. Take a biscuit without the centre missing, and spread or pipe a little icing around the edge. Press a biscuit with a centre missing on top, then sprinkle popping candy into the pocket that you have created ( or rainbow sprinkles as an alternative, if you're serving to very young children). Spread icing on the edge of the second biscuit and press another whole biscuit on top. Set aside to firm up. Make sure you leave them for a while so they don't slide when you are finishing the decoration.
• Once the biscuits feel firm and the icing has set, use the sugar paste to decorate them as you please, rolling it out, cutting it to shape and topping the biscuits. You may have to use a little of the icing to glue it down. Decorate with icing pens if you like.

PEANUT BUTTER COOKIE GHOSTS

Steps:

• Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
• Melt the melting wafers in a bowl over a pan of simmering water, also known as a double boiler, 3 to 5 minutes.
• Keep the bowl of melted candy on the double boiler and, using a fork, lower a cookie into it and immerse it completely to coat it all over. Lift the coated cookie out and hold it over the bowl to allow the excess to drip off.
• Transfer to the parchment paper and place two chocolate chips on the coated cookie for eyes.
• Repeat with the remaining cookies and set aside until the coating has solidified, about 15 minutes.

GHOST SHORTBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°. In a large bowl, beat butter, confectioners' sugar and cornstarch until blended. Gradually beat in flour. If desired, divide dough in half; tint one portion orange and the other blue. On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion of dough to 1/4-in. thickness. Cut with a floured 2-in. tulip-shaped cookie cutter., Place 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Bake 7-9 minutes or until bottoms are light brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely., In a small bowl, combine confectioners' sugar, butter and milk; beat until smooth. Pipe eyes onto each ghost; top with chocolate chips. Let stand until set.

SUGAR COOKIE GHOSTS

Steps:

• Cream the butter and sugar. Add the egg and beat until fluffy. Blend in the vanilla. Sift in the flour, baking powder, and salt, mixing until just combined. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. On a floured surface, roll half of the dough to 1/8-inch thick. Use a ghost cookie cutter, or you can use a small knife to cut the dough into freeform ghost shapes, as shown. Gather and reroll scraps. Continue with remaining dough. Place the cookies on a greased baking sheet and bake for about 8 minutes, until just turning golden. Do not allow cookies to brown.
• When the cookies are completely cool, cover them with white royal icing and press chocolate chips into the icing to make eyes (and a mouth if desired). Let the icing dry before stacking the cookies.
• With beaters or a standing mixer, whip the egg white and lemon juice until frothy. At medium speed, beat in the confectioners' sugar, a little at a time, until the mixture is thick but still liquid enough to beat. Then beat on high until the mixture is thick and glossy, about 3 minutes. Cover the surface with plastic wrap while waiting to use it. Royal icing will set to a firm, glossy finish when applied to a cookie. The icing can be stored, tightly covered, in the refrigerator for up to a week.