Witch Hat Cookies

5 from 3 votes

Halloween Witch Hat Cookies are a simple peanut butter cookie all tricked up with a chocolate witch hat made from bugles, melting chocolate, and a powdered sugar icing. These fun treats are fun to make and are unbelievably delicious too!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword halloween cookies, peanut butter cookies, witchh hat cookies

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 13

Total Time 43

Servings cookies

Calories 205kcal

Author Sue Ringsdorf

Ingredients

For the peanut butter cookies:

1/2 cup unsalted butter - softened to room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 large egg - at room temp
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

For the decorating:

22 bugles
10 ounces Ghirardelli dark chocolate melting wafers
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter - melted
2 Tablespoons half and half
2 teaspoon vanilla
1 ½ - 2 cups powdered sugar - adjust according to how stiff you want frosting
food coloring and sprinkles - any color

Instructions

For the cookies:

Using a hand mixer, cream butter and sugars together until creamy. Add egg and mix well. Then add vanilla and peanut butter and mix until well combined.
1/2 cup unsalted butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 1 large egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
Mix dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder) together. Add to wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Roll dough into small balls (you should get 22) and place on sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Chill for at least two hours or overnight.
Prep oven to 350 degrees. Place eight cookie balls on a large baking sheet (lined with parchment paper) at a time to bake.
Bake cookies for 10 - 13 minutes, depending on how dark you like your cookies.
Let the cookies sit on baking sheet for five minutes before transferring to wire cooling racks to fully cool.

To decorate:

Melt a small amount of dark chocolate melting wafers. Coat 22 bugles with chocolate and set upright on a pan lined with parchment paper. Let the chocolate harden before continuing.
10 ounces Ghirardelli dark chocolate melting wafers, 22 bugles
Melt more chocolate and add a spoonful on top of each cookie, spreading around carefully to make a circle (the brim of the hat). Place chocolate bugles on top of chocolate before it sets.
Make buttercream frosting by mixing the butter, half and half, vanilla, and powdered sugar. Use hand mixer to cream, and then add food coloring. You may need more powdered sugar if frosting is too runny. Or more half and half if it is too stiff. Adjust accordingly.
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter, 2 Tablespoons half and half, 2 teaspoon vanilla, 1 ½ - 2 cups powdered sugar
food coloring and sprinkles
Pipe frosting on cookies to form the sash of the hat. Add Halloween sprinkles immediately.
STORE. Store the witch hat cookies on a large baking sheet. Cover loosely with aluminum foil. These will store nicely at room temperature for up to three days.
FREEZE. You can freeze these cookies too. Place in an airtight container or an aluminum tin covered with a freezer bag. These will freeze nicely for approximately two months.

Notes

Use room temperature butter and eggs to up your cookie game. This allows the ingredients to form an emulsion which traps air. While baking, this trapped air expansionists to produce a fluffier cookie. Using cold ingredients will prevent this magic from happening.
Chill your dough. This will allow the fat in the cookies to chill and firm up. When baking, this chilled fat will prevent an over-spreading of the cookies. The resting time will also allow the flour to soak up the liquids in the dough. When the cookies are fully-hydrated, they brown better, bake more evenly, and have a more complex flavor.
Over-Spreading TIP: If the cookies spread too much, take them out of the oven, fix them with a spoon, and place back in the oven to finish baking.
Shake off excess chocolate from the bugles. When coating the bugles, use a fork and insert part of it into the bugle and shake off excess chocolate. Then stand the bugle up on the sheet pan.
Let chocolate set. The chocolate covered bugles will set up at room temperature after a pretty short amount of time.
Place bugles on the hat. When forming the base of the hat with the melting chocolate, press the chocolate covered bugle into the middle of the chocolate as soon as possible so that the bugle sticks. Repeat with remaining bugles and cookies.
Pipe icing. I find that piping the icing for the sash is the easiest method. Make sure your icing is a nice consistency to pipe.
Add sprinkles immediately. You’ll want to add the Halloween sprinkles to the sash (powdered sugar icing) before it sets.

Nutrition