Decorating with Buttercream Cookie Frosting

I always have preferred buttercream cookies to royal icing ones – I’ve made my cut out cookies with frosting for over 20 years and always used buttercream. While I love watching royal icing videos and think they’re so pretty – they’re just too complicated for me. I’m not a frosting perfectionist – while I love the look of them I can never seem to make them look the way I see the cookies in my head. Buttercream never does that to me!

A basic cookie icing is so simple with just a few ingredients – and you can frost with it in so many ways. Use different tips and food coloring to create the sugar cookies of your dreams – without worrying about drying time, flooding consistency, or overflow. Christmas cookies goals unlocked!

I promise this recipe not only tastes amazing but it’s something anyone can do. If I can do it, so can you. It’s the best sugar cookie frosting!

Tools I love for decorating cookies

Sometimes I just use a butter knife to frost cookies, but other times I want to be more fancy and use piping tips and food coloring.

• Piping Bags: I always use plastic disposable piping bags. The 12-inch size is perfect.
• Piping Tips: While I have a piping tip kit, I usually use just a handful of other tips. My favorites are a 1M tip, tip number 1-5, and some of the small star tips.
• Couplers: Adding a coupler to a pastry bag allows you to easily switch out the tip and use the same color on another design.
• Food Coloring: Gel food coloring is the best to use because it doesn’t thin your frosting like liquid food colors and they give nice vibrant colors (like, actual red and black).
• Bag Clips: These aren’t required but I like them because it helps keep the frosting from drying out.

Easy Chocolate Bark Recipe

This candy bark is truly so simple. Not only does it have easy ingredients, but it only takes 15 minutes to make. It is the perfect recipe to give the kids an activity to do that they will also love. 

You can make this with whatever candy you have. If it is after Halloween–use any extra candy that you would like to get rid of! Chocolate candy bar bark made with leftover Halloween candy would be the perfect gift for Christmas! It really is so versatile!

How to make Candy Bar Bark

• Place chocolate melts in a microwave safe bowl. Melt in 30 second increments on 50% power, stirring between each, until melted and smooth.
• Spread melted chocolate onto a small cookie sheet that’s been lined with wax paper. Don’t spread it too thin; you’ll want to make an approximately 7×5-inch rectangle.
• Cut mini candy bars in half and sprinkle them, along with any M&Ms or other candy of choice over the melted chocolate layer. Press lightly to adhere.
• Melt the white chocolate at 50% power in increments of 30 seconds, stirring between each, until smooth. Place in a small sandwich bag and cut off one tip. Drizzle over the top of the bark. Chill to set, break into pieces.

Easy Fudge Recipe

The main ingredient in this fudge is candy corn!The candy corn mixed with some peanut butter makes a butterfinger candy bar! If you don’t mind making this recipe with 5 ingredients, I like to melt some milk chocolate and drizzle it over the top of the fudge. No candy thermometer needed – just an easy fudge recipe!

This recipe is a viral TikTok recipe, the original Butterfinger Fudge with candy corn – and it’s so delicious.

Ingredients Needed

• Candy Corn: Be sure to use fresh candy corn (from this year, not old stuff you find in your pantry).
• Peanut Butter: Creamy peanut butter is definitely the way to go for this recipe.
• Sweetened Condensed Milk: Turns it into fudge!
• White Chocolate Chips: This is what helps the fudge solidify.

How to make Easy Butterfinger Fudge

• Line a 9×9-inch pan with foil and spray with cooking spray.
• Add Candy Corn and peanut butter to a saucepan and heat over low heat. Add sweetened condensed milk and white chocolate, stirring until smooth. This will take awhile!
• Spread evenly in pan. Cool on counter about 15 minutes, then chill until hardened. Cut into squares.
• If you want, you can dip the fudge in milk chocolate or drizzle chocolate over the top. Melt chocolate chips (I added a little vegetable oil to thin them) and dip the bottoms of the fudge squares in the chocolate. Set on a wax paper lined cookie sheet to harden.

Sugar Cookie Pizza for Halloween

One of my favorite things to do is turn savory items sweet and this pizza recipe is no exception. The sugar cookie crust is delicious and that mixed with the frosting on top is even better. You really can’t go wrong with this recipe. 

This cookie pizza is so simple. I used food coloring to accomplish the bright coloring on this recipe. This pizza could be a hit at any Halloween party–have everyone there make their own! You do not want to miss out on this one!

Ingredients Needed

• Sugar Cookie Dough: The delicious crust! I used a semi-homemade option (a roll from the grocery store) but you can also make my homemade sugar cookie dough.
• Vanilla Frosting: Use a can of frosting or my vanilla buttercream recipe.
• Pumpkin Pie Spice: Will be mixed into the frosting to make the best pumpkin spice frosting!

How the make Halloween Sugar Cookie Pizza

• Spray a round pizza pan with cooking spray press your cookie dough evenly in the bottom of your pan.
• Bake for 14-16 minutes (for the pizza pan size). Cool completely before frosting.
• Stir pumpkin spice and orange gel food coloring into the can of frosting.
• Spread pumpkin spice frosting over the top of your cooled cookie. Using black decorator icing, pipe circles around your cookie pizza, about ½” apart until you’ve gotten to the center. To create your spiderweb, use a toothpick and starting at the center ring, pull the toothpick through the frosting to the outer edge. Repeat at desired intervals around the cookie.

Delicious Halloween Fudge

This fudge recipe does require two pans or bowls for melting, but trust me, it is for the best! With this fudge having a layer of brown and a layer of orange–the spooky halloween vibes are shining through with this recipe. This fudge is great on its own, but I also love to press a piece of candy corn or some sprinkles into the top to give it the best look. 

On face value, fudge seems like it would be hard to make. That can be true sometimes, but this recipe is EASY fudge made with sweetened condensed milk. This one factor makes the fudge have an enjoyable baking and eating experience. Get into the Halloween spirit with Halloween Fudge!

Ingredients Needed

• Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips: This is for the bottom layer
• White Chocolate Chips: Can be easily dyed for the top layer
• Sweetened Condensed Milk: You’ll need a 14 ounce can
• Orange Gel Food Coloring: I definitely recommend Gel Food Coloring because it will work better with this fudge. Regular food coloring has water in it and can break your chocolate.

How to make Halloween Cut Out Cookies

• Make your cookies and cut them into desired shapes. I use bats, pumpkins, and ghosts but use any Halloween themed cookie cutters you have.
• Make up a batch of buttercream and color as desired.
• Use a small round tip (I usually use a Wilton #4 tip) to pipe the buttercream all over the cookies, then use an offset spatula to smooth it out.

The Best Peanut Butter Cookies

These pudding cookies are good for any season, but I especially love them during Halloween. You can turn them into monsters for any spooky occasion you have in the fall! To do this, simply bake the cookies as asked and when they are done (but still warm) place Halloween sprinkles and eyes on top!

Whether or not you want to make this for a holiday or not, these soft and sweet peanut butter cookies are the best out there. If you know a peanut butter lover–these are right up your alley!

Ingredients Needed

• Challenge Unsalted Butter: Softened
• Creamy Peanut Butter: Gives the most authentic peanut butter taste
• Brown Sugar: Brown sugar should always be packed!
• Milk: Milk is my secret ingredient in all my peanut butter cookies – it keeps them soft!
• Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix: Make sure it’s instant pudding mix – this adds flavor and keeps them soft!
• Sprinkles and Candy Eyes: Optional to make monsters!

How to make Peanut Butter Pudding Cookies

• Cream butter, peanut butter, and brown sugar with a hand or a stand mixer until smooth. Mix in vanilla, egg, and milk. Add the pudding mix and mix until combined, then mix in baking soda. Slowly mix in flour until the dough forms.
• Mix in chocolate chips and sprinkles.
• Scoop 2 tablespoon sized cookie balls onto prepared cookie sheets. Press them in a criss-cross pattern with the tines of a fork.
• Bake for 8-12 minutes or until the cookies are just no longer glossy on top. While the cookies are warm, press candy eyes in the top.

Pumpkin Cookie Cake for Halloween

This cookie cake is especially easy because it uses a box mix. It is light and fluffy and has the most incredible pumpkin flavor that transports you into the fall season!

Making this recipe specifically for Halloween is so fun. I love to frost it with black frosting because that is totally spooky and then adding Halloween themed sprinkles and maybe even candy corn really is the cherry on top!

Ingredients Needed

• Pumpkin Spice Cookie Mix: Plus ingredients listed on the box to make the cookies.
• Cream Cheese Frosting: The tastiest frosting and it goes amazingly with pumpkin flavor. You an also make your own cream cheese frosting from scratch.
• Halloween sprinkles: The perfect topping.

Easy Halloween Cupcakes Anyone Can Make

I am so excited to share these quick and easy Halloween cupcakes with you today! If you’ve been looking for cupcake ideas for a Halloween party, I’ve created five different sweet cupcake toppers that are so easy anyone can make them.

Basic Ingredients

• You will need 24 cupcakes baked and cooled. You can make any flavor you like!
• You will also need two batches of homemade vanilla buttercream frosting, or you can use four cans of vanilla frosting instead.
• Depending on which cupcakes you make, you may need some chocolate frosting, which you can make or use store-bought. Peanut Butter frosting is great too, depending on what design you’re making.

Basic Supplies

• Piping bags
• Wilton piping tips (see the list under each design for specific tips)
• Gel food coloring
• Oreo cookies
• Candy eyes (I’m a total sucker for Halloween cupcakes with eyes!)

These are just the general items you will need for all of the cupcake designs. Be sure to note the specific items for each design, including piping tips, frosting colors, and candy or cookies.

How to Make Jack-O-Lantern Cupcakes

• Orange gel food coloring
• Green gel food coloring
• ½ can chocolate frosting or use black food coloring
• Wilton #47 tip
• Wilton #5 tip
• Wilton #106 tip
• If you use my pumpkin cupcakes recipe you’d have pumpkin flavored Pumpkin Halloween Cupcakes!

How to Make Witch Cupcakes

• Green gel food coloring – Color about two cups (or one can) of frosting green.
• Purple gel food coloring
• Wilton Open Star Tip: 1M tip
• Oreo cookies for the base of the hat
• Hershey’s Kisses to make the tip of the hat

How to Make Spider Cupcakes

• White frosting
• Chocolate frosting for the legs using a Wilton #5 tip
• Oreos for the base of the spider body.
• Candy Eyes

How to Make Monster Cupcakes

• Purple and/or gel food coloring (or any colors)
• Wilton Open Star Tip: 1M tip
• Candy eyes – They’re spooky halloween cupcakes with eyes!!

How to Make Copycat Mickey Halloween Cupcakes

These are also called Mickey Candy Corn Cupcakes!

• Orange and Yellow gel food coloring
• Wilton Open Star Tip: 1M tip – you’ll want to frost the cupcakes in the order of the candy corn colors: yellow then orange then white.
• Chocolate candy melts or mini Oreos to make the Mickey ears.

The Tastiest Halloween Toffee Bark

Festive recipes are some of my favorites and this one so good. Chocolate bark is perfect for any Halloween party and get together. Just simply adding decorative sprinkles makes all the difference!

This recipe is one better than basic candy bark – it’s toffee bark! It is just like caramel, but better! It’s easy to make and decorated for Halloween with sprinkles and candy eyes. My daughter loved this so much she couldn’t get enough!

Ingredients Needed

• Graham Cracker Sheets: You will be using multiple full perforated sheets. You can also substitute Ritz crackers if you prefer.
• Unsalted Butter: Butter and sugar is what makes the toffee. I prefer using unsalted butter.
• Brown Sugar: Remember that brown sugar needs to always be packed
• Chocolate Chips: These turn the toffee into bark – only use semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips (or bittersweet) but not white chocolate (see recipe note).
• Halloween Sprinkles: Any spooky colors will do!

How to make Halloween Bark

• Line a 10×15-inch pan (jelly roll pan or cookie sheet with sides) with foil and spray well with cooking spray. Lay the graham crackers in a single layer in the pan, breaking a few to fill in the edges and gaps as much as possible.
• Melt butter in a saucepan then add brown sugar and water. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Place a candy thermometer in the pan and do not stir. Let the mixture cook until it reaches 255ºF then pour over cookies and spread carefully to cover all the crackers. Bake for 5 minutes.
• Remove the pan from the oven and sprinkle with the chocolate chips.
• Bake an additional 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and, using an offset spatula, carefully spread the chocolate chips evenly over the toffee.
• Sprinkle your Halloween sprinkles and/or candies over the chocolate. Let cool to room temperature, then chill to set. Break into pieces and serve.