These Jack O’ Lantern Cookies are an easy way to make a simple sugar cookie recipe super festive. They're soft, chewy, topped with orange colored buttercream frosting, and decorated with candy corns to look like cute little Halloween pumpkins.

If you're looking for more Halloween cookie recipes, you can also try these Spooky Monster Cookies, Pumpkin Spice Snickerdoodles, Candy Bar Cookies, or these Halloween Monster Cookies.

Decorated Jack o Lantern cookies made with candy corn and orange frosting.

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Jack-O’-Lantern Sugar Cookies with Buttercream Frosting
Key Ingredients
How to Make Jack O’ Lantern Cookies
Recipe Variations
Storing and Freezing Instructions
Halloween Jack-O'-Lantern Cookies Recipe

Jack-O’-Lantern Sugar Cookies with Buttercream Frosting

We love making these cute little Jack-O’-Lantern Cookies all October long. Not only are they adorable and delicious, they are super easy to make and perfect for decorating with the kiddos. They love making each little Jack-O’-Lantern eyes and mouth. You can make both the buttercream frosting and these soft and chewy sugar cookies up to 3 days in advance, then decorate whenever you have the time.

This recipe uses plain sugar cookies, but you could certainly swap out Snickerdoodles, Pumpkin Spice Snickerdoodles, Lemon Cookies, Eggnog Cookies or basically any cookie that tastes good with frosting.

A stack of sugar cookies on a wire rack.

Key Ingredients

Butter - be sure that your butter is soft before making the dough. You can either leave it out overnight at room temperature, or place in a microwave-safe container and heat for about 10 seconds at a time just until soft.
Eggs - it’s best to pull your eggs out to room temperature at least 30 minutes before making your dough so that they don’t “shock” the butter.
Baking Powder - this helps the cookies to rise in the oven.
Baking Soda - this reacts with the baking powder to help the cookies rise.
Candy Corn - use these to decorate your baked and frosted cookies so that they look like Jack-O’-Lanterns.
Powdered Sugar - I always use powdered sugar for my frosting recipes because it doesn't get gritty and stays super smooth. If it seems like it has a lot of lumps, it’s best to sift through fine mesh first.
Food Coloring - you can use a combination of red and yellow, or a straight orange. If you are using something other than the regular McCormick’s food coloring that you find in the baking aisle, you may need to adjust the amount of drops. You can also use gel food coloring but you will need to eyeball the amount so add it in slowly.

Three photos showing a bowl with cookie dough, rolled cookie dough on a baking sheet and baked cookies on a baking sheet. How to make jack cookies.

How to Make Jack O’ Lantern Cookies

Make the sugar cookie dough. Cream the butter and sugar using the paddle attachment until light and fluffy, then slowly add the eggs, vanilla, and salt. In a separate large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients and add the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Mix on low until combined.
Optional - chill the dough. Cover dough with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 20 minutes to 2 hours.
Scoop cookies. Using an ice cream scoop or a spoon, form 2" balls and place on an ungreased baking sheet about 2" apart.
Bake. Bake in a preheated oven for 8-9 minutes, or until lightly golden on the edges.
Cool. Remove cookies from the oven and let them cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Make the buttercream frosting. In a large bowl, add the room temperature butter and beat until light and fluffy using a hand mixer, or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Add in the vanilla, powdered sugar and milk and mix on low until all ingredients are combined, then beat on medium until light and fluffy.
Mix in food coloring. Add in food coloring and mix again until well combined and there are no streaks of color remaining.
Decorate. Using an offset spatula or a knife, spread the frosting onto the cooled sugar cookies and add decorate with candy corns to create the desired Jack-O'-Lantern design.
Serve. Serve immediately or store in a single layer in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Enjoy!

Sugar cookies decorated for halloween with orange frosting and candy corns.

Recipe Variations

Here are a few more ways to make these cookies into easy Halloween treats for parties:

Add candy corn to the dough: if you want to keep these unfrosted, you can either add candy corns to the cookie dough and bake them, or press a few into each cookie just as they come out of the oven.
Use pumpkin cookie cutters: try and find pumpkin shaped cookie cutters. If you go this route, you’ll need to roll out the dough (on a lightly floured surface) to about ? inch thickness. Let it chill in the fridge for about 20 minutes before stamping out your shapes.
Use different candies: instead of candy corn, use chocolate chips or M&Ms to create the pumpkin faces.
Try with different cookie dough: these would work great with loads of other cookies as a base, including Pumpkin Spice Snickerdoodles, Lemon Cookies or even just plain Rolled Sugar Cookies.

A stack of cookies topped with orange frosting and candy corns to look like jack-o'-lanterns. Jack o lantern cookie recipe.

Storing and Freezing Instructions

Fridge: store in an airtight container in single layers separated by parchment paper in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Freezer: you can freeze both the baked cookies and the unbaked cookie dough, as well as the buttercream frosting. As long as the cookies are stored in an airtight container or freezer bags, they will last for up to 2 months. The buttercream can be stored in any airtight container or even freezer bags for up to 2 months, too.
Thawing Buttercream: pull frozen buttercream from the freezer and thaw either in the fridge overnight or at room temperature for a few hours. You’ll need to put it back into a stand mixer and whip until it is light and fluffy again, then use as normal.
To Bake Cookies from Frozen: you can pull frozen dough balls from the freezer and bake directly in a preheated oven, adding an extra couple of minutes to the baking time.

Halloween Jack-O'-Lantern Cookies Recipe

These Jack O’ Lantern Cookies are an easy way to make a simple sugar cookie recipe super festive. They are made with soft and chewy sugar cookies topped with orange colored buttercream frosting and decorated with candy corns to look like cute little Halloween Jack-O’-Lanterns.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 10

Total Time 20

Servings people

Calories 306kcal

Author The Carefree Kitchen

Ingredients

1 cup Butter room temperature
2 cup Sugar
2 large Eggs room temperature
2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
¾ teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
3 cups All-Purpose Flour

Orange Buttercream Frosting Recipe

½ cup Butter room temperature
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
4 cups Powdered Sugar
2 Tablespoons Milk
3 drops Red Food Coloring
6 drops Yellow Food Coloring

Cookie Decorations

1 bag Candy Corn

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the butter and sugar and cream together using the paddle attachment until light and fluffy, or about 3-5 minutes.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing on low speed and scraping between each addition. Then, add the vanilla and salt and mix just until combined.
In a separate large bowl, whisk together the baking powder, baking soda and flour. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix on low speed until combined.
Optional: cover dough with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 20 minutes to 2 hours.
Using an ice cream scoop or a spoon, form 2" balls and place on an ungreased baking sheet about 2" apart.
Bake in a preheated oven for 8-9 minutes, or until lightly golden on the edges.
Remove cookies from the oven and let them cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Buttercream Frosting

In a large bowl, add the room temperature butter and beat until light and fluffy using a hand mixer, or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment.
Add in the vanilla, powdered sugar and milk and mix on low until all ingredients are combined, then beat on medium until light and fluffy.
Add in food coloring and mix again until well combined and there are no streaks of color remaining.

Decorating

Using an offset spatula or a knife, spread the frosting onto the cooled sugar cookies and add decorate with candy corns to create the desired Jack-O'-Lantern design.
Serve immediately or store in a single layer in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Enjoy!

Nutrition

More Easy Halloween Desserts

Not only are these Jack-O'-Lantern Cookies adorable and delicious, they are super easy to make and perfect for decorating with the kiddos. Made with soft and chewy sugar cookies, they are covered with orange buttercream and decorated with candy corns.

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