It’s spooky week once again and I stayed up in the middle of the night to make a special treat for my son. These are Halloween monster cookies with candy googly eyes. And before I go into making of the cookies, let me be clear. These cookies are not meant for human consumption. Just kidding!! The candy eye balls are so sweet that only kids can love them. Adults have to remove the eye balls from the monster cookies to actually enjoy them.

Monster cookies are easy to make Halloween treats

For a stretch of 15 days, I did not have any house help. Therefore, I wasn’t even sure whether I could do anything special for my kids of Halloween. A week before, Tugga reminded me of the spooky witches fingers that I had done the year before. He was eager to help me in any way he could. Having said that, with our very own little monster Brishti running around, it was looking to be a difficult task. Nevertheless, Tugga and I started going through google for easy Halloween treats. The basic ask was that they need to be spooky.

We shortlisted a few treats and finally decided on monster cookies and a witches brew milk shake. The milk shake never happened but I did manage to pick up a couple of cake mix boxes.

Monster cookies -1

Cake mix boxes are hassle free cookie ingredients

I don’t judge anyone who tries to apply a short cut to cooking or anything for that matter, as long as the job gets done. Most of us have paucity of time. And we are running around like ‘headless chickens’ like a friend of mine had pointed out. Last year, I had baked more than 100 cookies with cake mix boxes for a special occasion. Hence, I decided to do the same with the Halloween treat monster cookies as well. I did have a box of googly eyes which I had purchased a couple of months back in anticipation of Halloween.

With cake mix boxes, everything is measured out perfectly. With just some eggs, sugar, vanilla, butter and food colouring, the monster cookies are easily doable. Tugga did insist on helping me bake the monster cookies but I decided against it. When the kids and mother in law were tucked in bed, all house chores were done, I got up to start baking at midnight.

Monster cookies - 5

The perfect time to bake is when there is no one around to disturb you

Yes, it was midnight when I started and put in the first batch of the cookies in the oven. The house was quiet expect for the loud thumping of music from the neighbourhood Kalipujo, which didn’t seem to end. As long as there are any ‘mumma’ sounds, I am quite comfortable with any other kind of sound during baking. Last year, I had done a Halloween Ghost cake and had taken pictures post-midnight. I took out my box of colours and decided to go with blue, green and yellow for the best results. I used a Betty Crocker vanilla cake mix box and the idea for the monster cookies from Delish.com.

The baking time in the recipe was for 8 minutes but my baking time was 15 minutes for the first batch. The second and the third batch was done in 12 minutes. The amount of baking time varies on a lot many things and cookies don’t take much time. Therefore it is best to watch them like a hawk post 7 minutes into the oven. The second that you see that the cookies have taken shape and have a firm base, take them out. I added the googly eyes while the cookies were soft and then slowly slide them on to a cooling rack to harden.

Monster cookies - 7

Monster cookies - 3

Tips for baking monster cookies

The consistency of the cookie dough is a bit sticky. The stickiness depends on the size of your eggs. Sometimes, my cookie dough is too sticky and hence, I put them in the fridge for ten to fifteen minutes before rolling them out. Once you put the food colour, again the consistency changes. If it is get colour, then it is not much of a problem. But in case of liquid colour, the dough again becomes sticky. Keep in the fridge for a few minutes and they firm up enough to be able to work with them. One important thing is to use good quality food colour. Kids are going to have these cookies and it is better to be safe than sorry. Also, use more colour since, when the cookies bake, the colour fades a bit.

As I have said before, baking time also varies from oven to oven. When you take the cookies out, the top is always soft. Once you stick the eyes,  slide them gently on a cooling rack. The monster cookies harden as they cool. The cookie dough is rolled in sugar and then baked. It gives a nice effect along with the crinkly tops. However, that sugar and the candy eyeballs, make the cookies too sweet for adults. Kids love them but if you want to bake them for adults, do away with the rolled sugar.

Monster cookies - 8

The Kids woke up to a nice surprise on Halloween

Tugga couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw the monster cookies in the morning. That smile and the twinkle in his eyes was more than enough of a validation for me. I started baking at midnight and finished with everything post 2 AM. It was all worth the effort. And Tugga took a few cookies to school to share with his friends. I believe it was short of a riot in class.

If you are looking for an adult and savoury Halloween treat, why don’t you try these pumpkin and prawn hand pies? They are absolutely delicious.

Do try this recipe and share your feedback. You can reach out to us at our social media handles: InstagramFacebook or any of our personal Facebook (Madhushree and Anindyaand twitter profiles. Post a picture and tag us.

Pin this for your recipe board ? You can follow us on Pikturenama recipes for more recipe ideas (Link)

Monster cookies - 2

Halloween Monster Cookies

Madhushree Basu Roy
These monster cookies are made with cake mix box and are the best Halloween treats.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Course Cakes and Bakes
Cuisine Global
Servings 28 numbers approx

Ingredients
  

  • 1 no vanilla cake mix box I used 450 gm box
  • 2 nos eggs
  • 6 tbsp melted butter
  • 1/3 cup castor sugar and extra for rolling
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3 nos food colours I used blue, green and yellow
  • candy eye balls

Instructions
 

  • In a mixing bowl, add the eggs, butter, vanilla and sugar and combine. Add the cake mix and combine everything. In case the whisk doesn't work, use your fingers to make it into a smooth dough. It could be sticky. In that case, pop it into the fridge for ten minutes and then start working on it.
  • Divide the dough in three equal parts and add three different food colours. Mix them well (again using your fingers or a whisk, whichever works for you).
  • Roll the dough into small balls. In a bowl, take extra sugar and roll the balls in the sougar and then place then 2 inches apart on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
  • Bake in a pre heated oven at 180 degree c for 12 to 15 minutes. The second the cookie balls have flattened and have taken shape, the tops are a bit crinckly, take them out.
  • Stick the googly eyes on the hot cookies. Gently slide them on a cooling rack and let them harden as they cool.
  • Serve montser cookies for your little monsters at home.
Keyword cookies, crinkly cookies, halloween treat, monster cookies, monster eye cookies