Recipes from Halloween Cookie Challenge

Browse recipes from the show and see what tasty Halloween cookie creations the bakers have whipped up.

Photo By: Betty Weiner

Photo By: Sean Rosenthal

Photo By: Betty Weiner

Photo By: Sean Rosenthal

Rotten Big Toe and Diseased Jaw Cookies

For the first round, Justine made peanut butter maple cookies with maple royal icing. Her two body part cookies were a diseased jaw with decayed teeth and a rotten big toe with maggots crawling on it. The judges loved the details and hyperrealism of her cookie designs.

Brain and Rotten Mouth Cookies

Minh wanted to make a nostalgic flavor, so she whipped up sour apple caramel cookies with buttercream on top. Her first body part cookie was a brain with a realistic 3D dome shape. This brain was inspired by a college memory of her taking a rat brain from her neuroscience lab class and giving it to her now husband. For her second cookie, she made a mouth with rotting teeth. The judges were impressed with Minh’s realistic designs and the balanced flavors of her cookie and buttercream icing.

Detached Eyeballs and Broken Heart Cookies

For the first round, Kyra wanted to create a flavor the judges have never tasted before. So, she whipped up a “vampire slayer cookie,” which was a garlic cayenne chocolate chip dough with maple cayenne icing. Her first design was a broken heart cookie with cracks and splatters of blood, wrapped around with wafer paper bandages. Her second design was a set of two dangling eyeballs tied together with drips of blood to really bring out the gore. The judges were impressed by her cookie designs and flavor combinations.

Zombie Hand and Heart Cookies

Stephen made a vanilla almond dough for his body part cookies. He made a heart with red caramel blood spilling out and realistic veins and arteries. His second body part was a zombie hand with exposed bones and flesh. The judges enjoyed the textures and interactiveness of both cookie designs.

Witchy Potion Gone Wrong Cauldron

For her cauldron, Kyra whipped up strawberry balsamic vinegar and maple bacon cookies, which she thought was a fun Halloween dough. She wanted to be playful and unique, so she created a cauldron with a witch who had fallen into her potion. The potion also had elements of octopus tentacles, bat wings and strange mushrooms with eyeballs. To add more designs, the cauldron was surrounded by lighted candles made out of icing and fondant. The judges loved the overall pairing of her flavors and the execution of her cauldron display.

Growth Potion Cauldron

Minh made an orange lavender dough and a devil’s food cookie dough. For her cauldron, she concocted a growth potion perfect for short people. This was inspired by her petite height and her trouble reaching for things. In the potion, there were octopus tentacles and bat wings, and along the sides of the cauldron were slime pouring out and flames flaring from the bottom. The judges really enjoyed the flavors of her cookies and the 360-design of her cauldron.

Beast-Taming Potion Cauldron

For the cauldron display challenge, Justine made a black licorice dough with fennel and star anise. She made a massive cauldron with a beast-taming potion, inspired by her son whom she described as a “wild child.” The spell included ingredients such as a snail's shell, dust from a witch’s broom and a hush of a librarian. Her second flavor was a root beer cookie inspired by her tradition of making root beer with dry ice every Halloween. The judges were blown away by the smooth designs and incredible flavors of her cauldron, which led her to earn the title of Halloween Cookie Champion.

Pink Spider and Black Skull Cookies

For the first round, bakers created Halloween cookies using unconventional colors. So, Emily baked fruity rainbow sherbet cookies with berry lemon icing to compliment the theme. For her designs, she made a hot pink spider cookie and a black skull with pink flowers. The judges enjoyed her fun flavor and use of colors in her cookie decorations.

Creepy Pizza and Ice Cream Cone Cookies

For the first round, Cheryl whipped up a cinnamon donut cookie with Mexican vanilla icing. This flavor was inspired by her annual visit with her sister and niece to a corn maze, where they would always have a cinnamon sugar donut. For her designs, she created a pizza and an ice cream cone, which are typical Halloween party snacks. However, she used unusual colors and added strange features to them, which the judges loved.

Rainbow Ghosts and Dull Day of the Dead Skull Cookies

For his unconventional cookies, Allan made a gluten-free coconut almond dough with raspberries and royal icing on top. For his first cookie design, he created rainbow Halloween ghosts, which were contrasts to the standard white sheet ghosts. His second design was a dull Day of the Dead skull, which is typically painted in bright colors.

Cat Candy Corn and Witch Jack-o-Lantern Cookies

For the first round, Janae baked orange ginger cookies with orange royal icing. For her designs, she created a black jack-o-lantern with purple stripes and a candy corn with white, purple and green colors. To add more unusual features, she gave witch and cat costumes to her jack-o-lantern and candy corn figures.

Cat Graveyard

For the display challenge, Cheryl made a butter pecan dough with amarena cherries and a peanut butter chocolate chip toffee dough. Her design was a cat graveyard with a witch's potion brewing to bring all of her dead cats back to life. However, Cheryl added a creepy twist on the living cat — making it three-eyed after touching the potion!

Escaping Mummy Graveyard

For the display challenge, Allan whipped up a pomegranate gingerbread dough and an oatmeal pecan dough, which was a family recipe passed down from his wife’s grandmother. For his cookie graveyard scene, he created an underground casket with a mummy trying to escape. He topped off his cookies with royal icing and buttercream, and the judges enjoyed his creativity and flavors of the cookie display.

Witch's Potion Graveyard

For the display challenge, Emily made a blood orange spice dough with cinnamon and a cookie butter dough. In her design, she created a graveyard with a witch in the middle, concocting a spell to bring back the dead. The judges were blown away by her outstanding graveyard details and delicious cookie flavors, which led her to earn the title of Halloween Cookie Champion.

Kitchen Witch Cookie

For the first round, Mik made a maple brown sugar cookie with apple spice and maple icing, which was reminiscent of an apple cider doughnut. Her silhouette cookie was a kitchen window scene of a witch stirring her cauldron over a lantern. Her use of colors and royal icing added depth and dimension to her cookie, and the judges loved the cinnamon and apple flavors that tied in with the fall season.

Reunion of the Witches Cookie

Ben made a pumpkin spice dough with pumpkin puree and roasted pecans, because he wanted his cookie to really taste like Halloween. His silhouette design was a reunion of witches gathering in a haunted castle. This was inspired by a legend from Mexico, where he grew up. In his decorations, Ben also added a moon as the light source, a big creepy tree and elements of pumpkins and skulls using royal icing. The judges were impressed by his handpainting techniques and the great detail on his cookie.

Graveyard Cookie

Tinnell baked a snickerdoodle cookie with cinnamon icing for the first round. Her silhouette design was a graveyard scene under a full moon, and there were elements of a house, tombstones, bats and a creepy tree. She also wanted to include some color to her design, so she added bright floating ghosts and orange pumpkins on the side. The judges enjoyed her snickerdoodle flavor and the use of different Halloween elements in her design.

Headless Horseman Cookie

For her silhouette cookie, Danielle whipped up a lemon ginger dough with lemon icing. Her design was a midnight scene of a headless horseman holding up its pumpkin head, along with a girl running away and a dark tree in the middle. This cookie design was a perfect portrayal of a Halloween night, and the judges especially loved the complimentary flavors of lemon and ginger.

Cookie Jar Jack-o-Lantern

For the Jack-o-Lantern display challenge, Mik made a s’mores dough – a flavor that reminded her of Halloween memories with her family – and a sweet corn mango dough. For her design, she created a cookie jar jack-o-lantern inspired by her extensive cookie jar collection. The jack-o-lantern was menacing with fangs and a creepy mouth, but when you took the lid off, there were fun cookies inside. The vibrant colors of the pumpkin impressed the judges, and they enjoyed the experience of taking and eating cookies out of the (literal) cookie jar.

Two-Faced Jack-o-Lantern

For the second round, Tinnell made a sweet potato chocolate dough and a vanilla almond cookie dough. Her jack-o-lantern design was a two-faced pumpkin, inspired by her two kids. The front of the pumpkin was scary-looking, because her son is all about blood and gore, while the back side was cute and colorful, because her daughter loves the adorable side of Halloween. The judges really enjoyed Tinnell’s fun 360-design of her two-faced jack-o-lantern.

Pumpkin Patch Jack-o-Lantern

For the jack-o-lantern display challenge, Ben made chili lime mango and smoked chipotle gingerbread cookies. His design was a huge carved jack-o-lantern, inspired by his first visit to a pumpkin patch. He remembered both a cat and a sign on top of the pumpkin, which he added to his display, and for more depth, Ben placed a glowing light inside and vines outside of the jack-o-lantern. The judges were blown away by his outstanding flavors and stunning pumpkin display, which led him to win the title of Halloween Cookie Champion.

Angry Jack-O-Lantern Mask Cookies

For the first round, Salma made toasted sesame and orange cookies with orange blossom royal icing. To Salma, anything without spices is boring! So, she added some flavors inspired by her Indian and Kuwaiti cultures. For her mask design, she made angry jack-o-lanterns that really embody the Halloween spirit.

Spider-Eating Clown Mask Cookies

Elizabeth whipped up a cookies and cream dough topped with royal icing. For her design, she created spider-eating clown masks, because she wanted to combine two massive Halloween fears into one. The judges were impressed with the creepy design and especially loved the 3D spiders on top of the cookies.

Monarch Butterfly Mask Cookies

Christina made a snickerdoodle dough for her monarch butterfly mask cookies. When decorating, she first airbrushed her naked cookies, then used royal icing to pipe on the details of the butterfly. The judges were highly impressed with the details of the butterfly wings and Christina’s use of several decorating techniques.

Elton John Mask Cookies

For his mask cookies, Pete made a caramel apple cookie dough, which he thought was a fun and perfect autumn flavor. He wanted to make a mask that he would wear for Halloween, so he made a mask inspired by an Elton John outfit. In his decorations, he used royal icing and multi-colored sugar beads, and the judges especially loved his use of wafer paper to create the colorful feathers.

Day of the Dead Banner

For her party banner, Salma made a chocolate taffy dough as the first cookie flavor. Her design was based on decorations used for Day of the Dead, which is widely celebrated in her town back in Texas. So, her banner had cookies of skulls and flowers to make it very colorful. Her second dough was pumpkin spice and anise — an herb with a licorice-like flavor and is commonly used in Middle Eastern and South Asian cultures.

Crafty Halloween Banner

For her party banner, Elizabeth made a spiced apple cider dough and a chocolate candy corn dough topped with royal icing. The inspiration behind her crafty Halloween banner came from her love of doing crafts. So, she wanted to make a crafty banner that she could see herself hang up in her home. The banner was composed of alternating pom poms and big flags with varying Halloween designs.

Pumpkins and Silhouettes Banner

For the second round, Christina made a party banner with a theme of pumpkins and silhouettes. Each cookie hanging from the banner alternated between a pumpkin with changing faces and a silhouette of various Halloween figures. Christina’s first dough was chocolate peanut butter, and her second dough was brown sugar spice – a warm autumn flavor packed with cinnamon and nutmeg spices. The judges really enjoyed Christina’s cookie flavors and banner design, which led her to win the title of Halloween Cookie Champion.

Pirate and Flapper Cookies

Lisa is known for her gluten-free cookies, so for the mix-and-match costume cookie challenge, she whipped up gluten-free peanut butter and pumpkin cookies and topped them off with maple royal icing. For her two designs, she created detailed costumes of a pirate and a 1920s flapper, which resulted in a fun juxtaposition that the judges loved.

Clown and Baker Cookies

Brian made a peanut butter cup dough for his mix-and-match costume cookies. The use of peanut butter and chocolate created the perfect combination that also represented his favorite candy as a kid. Following more inspiration from his childhood, the designs he made were of a clown and a baker – costumes his mother would dress him up in for Halloween. The placement of colors was extremely complimentary, which impressed the judges.

Scary Clown and Fancy Cow Cookies

Bryoni made a double cookies and cream sugar dough that had the full package of chocolate and vanilla sandwich cookies with a gooey middle. For her costume designs, she made a scary clown and a fancy cow. The inspiration for her fancy cow costume came from her daughters, because they not only love dressing up as princesses, but they love animals as well. The judges were blown away by the cookies and cream flavor and were impressed by the juxtaposition of the two costumes.

Magical Fairy and Pumpkin Cookies

For the mix-and-match cookie challenge, Lauren made two costumes reflecting her two favorite memories of Halloween – one was a magical fairy and the other was an adorable pumpkin, inspired by her daughter's previous Halloween costumes. For her cookie flavors, she made a peanut butter cup cookie dough with crushed pretzels, which gave complimentary flavors and a hint of that nostalgic candy we get during Halloween.

Haunted Barn

For the display challenge, Lisa baked her haunted barn out of both her gluten-free vanilla bean and chocolate brownie cookie flavors, and they were topped off with vanilla icing and melon liquor royal icing. Her haunted barn design stemmed from her summer camp experiences as a kid and her fear of a creepy barn that lived on the summer camp grounds.

Haunted Hair Salon

For round two, Lauren built a haunted hair salon inspired by the several tragic experiences she'd had with hair! It was made out of a death by chocolate cookie dough with freeze dried raspberries, because this was one of her favorite Halloween cookie flavors. Her second flavor was a cereal snickerdoodle cookie dough, and the cookies were topped off with both vanilla black raspberry liquor royal icing and vanilla butter royal icing.

Haunted Towers

For the haunted house display challenge, Bryoni made both a spiced snap cookie dough and a pecan sugar cookie dough with orange apéritif liquor royal icing and caramel royal icing. For her design, she built haunted towers with a cemetery surrounding them. This was inspired by the many abandoned towers and cemeteries found in her hometown of New Orleans. Both her design and cookie flavors blew the judges away, leading her to earn the title of Halloween Cookie Champion.

Zombie Teddy Bear and Cute Witch Cookies

For her cute and creepy Halloween cookies, Arlene whipped up a peanut butter chocolate chip dough, which was inspired by one of her favorite candies as a kid. For her cookie characters, she created a cute witch and turned an adorable teddy bear into a zombie. Her seamless combination of royal icing and fondant created 3D effects that impressed the judges.

Cute Bat in Ice Cream Cone and Bunny Voodoo Doll Cookies

For the first round, Rebecca turned a bat into a super sweet creature on top of an ice cream cone and (inspired by one of her daughter's toys) turned a bunny rag doll into a creepy bunny voodoo doll. For her dough, she made her signature cookie flavor of peanut butter bacon and topped off the cookies with vanilla icing.

Cute Spider and Creepy Cyclops Bunny Cookies

Kim whipped up a caramel apple dough mixed in with some granulated green apple hard candies. For her creepy and cute creatures, she created a creepy one-eyed bunny and a cute spider on a web which was inspired by her pet...tarantula!

Cute Werewolf and Creepy Killer Teddy Bear Cookies

Joshua made a red velvet cookie dough with a cheesecake royal icing, which is one of his popular cookie flavors. For his formerly cute cookie, he made a serial killer teddy bear, and for his formerly creepy cookie, he created a cute and dapper werewolf.

Cursed Evil Spellbook

For the second round, Arlene whipped up a white honey gingerbread dough with black sesame and a classic vanilla sugar cookie. Her scary spellbook was designed to look like it was covered in human flesh with a demon inside grasping on her heart. This symbolized the "curse" put on her of entering over a dozen cookie competitions but never winning. She served a cookie knife along with it which allowed the judges to stab the book in attempt to destroy the demon inside.

Soul-Eating Spellbook

For his 3D ancient spellbook, Joshua created a pecan sandie dough with black cherry simple syrup and a candy apple dough coated with red hard candy, which was inspired by a childhood memory of his neighbors giving out candy apples for Halloween. His ancient spellbook had impressive wood textures and gold designs, including its main feature of the soul-eating skull on the front cover.

Enchanted Alligator Spellbook

For the second round, Rebecca created an enchanted alligator hide spellbook made out of a blood orange almond blackberry dough and a cajun chocolate brownie dough. Because she is from Louisiana, the inspiration behind her alligator spellbook came from the many swamps found there. Both her detailed designs and cookie flavors blew the judges away, which led her to become the first ever winner of Halloween Cookie Challenge.