Halloween Sugar Cookies

My mother made sugar cookies three times a year: on Halloween, Valentine’s Day, and at Christmas. My favorites were always the pumpkin shaped Halloween Sugar Cookies. We would spend hours decorating each pumpkin to look like an elaborately carved jack-o-lantern. This year, I didn’t have a crew to decorate with, so I embellished them simply, with pumpkins and candy corn. Halloween Sugar Cookies were a big hit at the Halloween party we attended Saturday night. The secret to these sugar cookies’ popularity? While the cookies themselves are simple (Mom always used the Fannie Farmer recipe for sugar cookies) the almond buttercream frosting they get topped with is her own special twist. You’ll see. Leave them undecorated and bring them to the party with some fun toppings. People love decorating Halloween Sugar Cookies as jack-o-lantern pirates, queens, doctors, etc.

¼ pound butter
¾ cup sugar, plus more for rolling them out
1 egg
½ teaspoon vanilla
¼ teaspoon almond extract
1 ¼ cups flour, plus more for rolling them out
⅛ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking powder

American buttercream frosting:
½ teaspoon almond extract and food coloring
1 stick butter
4 + cups powdered sugar
milk to adjust the consistency

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg, vanilla and almond extract. Beat well. Add salt and baking powder. Mix well. Add the flour in two additions. You may add a tablespoon of milk if you think it’s too dry. Press into a disk, wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Roll out the dough on a sugar and flour mix. Stamp out the pumpkin shapes. Place them on a lined baking sheet (this protects them from being over cooked on the bottom). Bake 8-10 minutes. For a softer cookie, roll them thicker. For a crisp cookie, roll thin. Let cool. Make the buttercream. Decorate with candy, gel pens, frosting, anything edible! Serve with milk, costumes and of course, a skull plate.