Baking Cookies for Halloween Fun

I love fall, but my favorite month during the autumn season is October.

There are probably several reasons as to why I love October.
1. It's my birthday month.
2. It starts getting cool.
3. The leaves start to change.
4. It's my birthday month.
5. I like Halloween (only if it's fun and not creepy/spooky)
6. I like to decorate for Halloween (again fun and not creepy/spooky)
7. It's my birthday month!

Those are all pretty good reasons to like October, I think!

I especially like doing fun things with my kids and grand kids during the month, and they like it, too, no matter how old they are. We always paint pumpkins and bake/decorate Halloween cookies. This past Sunday was cookie day. The grand kids were busy and couldn't come over, so Julia and her friend, Laura, enjoyed mixing, baking,decorating, and eating delicious cookies. (Scroll down for the recipe!)

Laura is one of Julia's best friends. She recently moved to Oklahoma with her family. Her mom is so sweet and has driven Laura back to Kentucky several times so that she could still see her friends. Laura knows our home is her home, so she's always welcomed.

When she moved, this past June, we gave her a going away party. Her "going away" present was a signature quilt I made for her.

Her friends, as well as her friend's parents, have signed her quilt.

Okay, so back to the cooking baking!!!

Pretend that you are listening to rap music in the background, because that's what we were doing! lol

They measured and mixed (they loved my Kitchen Aid Mixer),

tasted cookie dough,

rolled the dough,

and carefully cut out pumpkins, ghosts, and cats.

Julia texted Natalie,our next door neighbor, to ask her to come over, too.

The more the merrier!

After the cookies baked and cooled off a bit, they sat at the kitchen table to decorate them.
Our cookie decorating techniques are really simple. We buy a container of white frosting, add some food coloring, and spread it on the cookie. I give them several options of sprinkles and let them decorate to their hearts content.

They loved the way their cookies looked, and thought they were too pretty to eat! So what's a girl to do?

Swap cookies, of course! Now that was easy!

With left over cookie dough, they created their own design.

Julia, Natalie, and Laura. I love 'em!

Here's the recipe in case you want to have some fun with your kids, too. My friend, Lori (from PA) gave this recipe to me 12 years ago, and I have been using it ever since.

3 Cups of sifted flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 Cup butter
1 Cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tespoon vanilla

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
Cream together butter and sugar in bowl until light and fluffy, using an electric mixer at medium speed. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each. Blend in vanilla. Gradually stir in dry ingredients into creamed mixture, blending well.

Divide dough in half. Roll out each half on lightly floured surface to 1/4" thickness. Cut with your choice of cookie cutters. Place 2" apart on greased baking sheets.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Makes 6 dozen.

After our Halloween cookie baking party we danced some of our cookie calories away. Sorry, but there are no pictures of me doing hip hop!

I may not can sing to rap, but I can hip hop! :)

Take care!

Amanda