Getting SPOOKY this year with a batch of Vegan Halloween Monster Cookies! These spooky triple flavored sugar cookies combine three flavors- matcha, purple sweet potato, and charcoal- into Halloween cookies that are the perfect mix of scary & cute!
The inspiration for these Halloween eyeball cookies actually came from combining my super popular Vegan Matcha Sugar Cookies and the Halloween Pinwheel Cookies I made last year. Since we have been celebrating all things sugar cookies this year, I figured why not make a spooky flavor to celebrate Halloween?!
P.S- the idea of making sugar cookies in this Neapolitan style originally came from Constellation Inspiration who makes the most gorgeous triple flavored sugar cookies!
Ingredients Notes:
These cookies use the base recipe of all my sugar cookie recipes, but with a fun twist! (full ingredients in recipe card at end of post)
- Matcha powder: I used Rishi everyday Matcha Powder
- Charcoal powder: Make sure to use activated food grade charcoal powder.
- Sweet Potato powder: I used Suncore Foods Purple Sweet Potato Powder
- These are the Edible eyeball sprinkles I used for this recipe
P.S- these monster sugar cookies can actually be made with virtually any flavor! As you will see in the recipe, I used a different amount of powder for each flavor, so you will have to experiment with the quantity of powder for other flavors.
Tips for the best monster eye cookies
Here are my tips & tricks to make these perfectly soft, chewy, and absolutely adorable monster cookies every time!
Always cream together vegan butter & sugar
This step is crucial to incorporate air and structure into vegan cookies. You'll want to cream the butter and sugar together using a standing mixer or electric mixer until super fluffy.
Make the dough first, then add the flavored powders
To make this recipe as easy as possible I recommend making a big batch of vegan sugar cookie dough first. Then, split it into three separate bowls and mix the powder into each bowl by hand. It makes for less cleanup and is the most efficient way to make these cookies!
Chill dough for at least 1 hour
For the absolute best cookie dough flavor always chill your dough! These cookies really only need 1 hour of chill time & I promise it's worth the wait!
There are two reasons this is important:
- Chilling the dough helps it firm up and ultimately makes it easier to form into a ball which is especially important for shaping these cookies.
- It actually makes the cookie sweeter! As the cookies sit the sugar absorbs some moisture from the dough and makes for a better flavored cookie.
How to shape triple flavored cookies
Here are the steps I follow:
- After chilling the bowls of dough, remove from the fridge and form each flavor of dough into 12-15 small dough balls that are about 20 grams each (or around 1 Tbsp).
- Take three balls (one of each color) and press together. Then, gently roll the balls together into one larger ball between your palms.
- Next, roll in granulated sugar. Rolling in granulated sugar helps these cookies get that crinkly texture and prevents them from spreading too much.
- Add to a baking tray and press down with your palm. These cookies need to be flattened slightly before baking for the best results.
- Only add eyeballs before baking if they will not all melt. Otherwise, skip and add after baking.
Do I add the googly eye sprinkles before or after baking the cookies?
I decided to use edible googly eyes in these cookies, but found that sometimes they melted during baking if they spread to the edges! Since mine held up pretty well, I added some before baking. However, I added most of the sprinkles immediately after baking so they held their shape. I highly recommend doing a test cookie to see if your sprinkles melt before trying this out!
Also my #1 tip for the best sugar cookies
Don't over-bake them. Seriously!! Stick to the baking time in this post (11-13 minutes). The cookies may look slightly under-baked right out of the oven, but as they are left to sit and cool on the tray they will continue cooking. This leads to gooey monster cookies that are nice and chewy inside!
FAQ & Substitutions:
I haven't tried it personally, but a 1:1 Gluten-Free Flour mix like Bob's Red Mill may work! Subbing almond flour, coconut flour, or other flour substitutes 1:1 for this recipe will not work.
When it comes to sugar cookies, I really don't recommend it. Granulated sugar really works best for this recipe to give it the best flavor, texture, and color.
If you do use an alternative sugar, I really only recommend maple sugar (not syrup). Also, if using maple sugar do not roll the cookies in sugar before baking as that step only works with granulated cane sugar.
The best part about these Halloween monster cookies is they can easily be prepped in advance for all your Halloween party needs! They can be stored in a closed container at room temperature for 2-3 days, in the fridge for 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
I highly recommend storing in the freezer as it's the best way to keep the texture nice and chewy. Plus, they are easy to defrost- just let them sit on the counter at room temperature around 30 minutes before eating.
I truly hope you love these Spooky Vegan Halloween Monster Cookies! They are perfectly delicious while still being cute & festive for Halloween. Enjoy!
-TSG
More vegan cookie recipes you will love:
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Halloween Monster Cookies
Ingredients
- ¾ cup vegan butter
- 1 cup organic sugar ¾ cup for the cookies and ¼ cup to roll the cookies before baking
- 1.5 flax eggs 1.5 Tbsp (12 grams) ground flaxseed mixed with 4.5 Tbsp water
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon matcha powder
- 2 teaspoon sweet potato powder
- 1 teaspoon activated charcoal powder
- ¼ cup googly eye sprinkles use more or less depending on preference
Instructions
- First add the butter and ¾ cup of the sugar to a mixing bowl and cream together until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Then, add in the flax eggs and vanilla extract and whip together about 10 -20more seconds to combine.
- Next, add the sifted flour, baking powder, and salt to the mixing bowl. Mix until a thick, yet slightly sticky, cookie batter forms. Do not overmix or else you will form too much gluten and the cookies will not spread as much and will be tough.
- Divide the dough into three equal portions. Then, add the matcha powder to one bowl, the sweet potato powder to the second bowl, and the charcoal powder to a third bowl. Cover all three bowls with plastic wrap and add to the fridge to chill for 1 hour.
- Cover a baking sheet in parchment paper and preheat the oven to 350F. Next, remove the bowls of dough from the fridge. Scoop the cookie dough into 1 Tbsp balls (around 20 grams per dough ball). Then take 1 Tbsp of each flavor dough (matcha, sweet potato, and charcoal), press together, and gently roll into a ball between your palms. Then, roll in the bowl of the remaining ¼ cup sugar that was set aside until coated.
- Place the cookie dough balls onto the parchment lined baking sheet. Then, slightly press each dough ball down with your palm. Make sure that each cookie is kept about 2 inches apart since they will spread slightly while baking. Then, press a few eyeball sprinkles into each cookie or wait until after baking to add any sprinkles as they may melt while baking.
- Bake for 11-13 minutes until bottoms are lightly browned and the cookie edges are fully cooked with soft centers. The cookies will continue baking after they are removed from the oven so the centers should be soft and just cooked, but not glossy or raw, when they are removed from the oven. Please be careful not to overcook these cookies as they will lose the chewy texture if overcooked.
- Remove the cookie tray from the oven and immediately tap the tray on the counter to produce a more “wrinkly” cookie. Then, while the cookies are still warm, press in any remaining googly eye ball sprinkles so they stick. At this point you can also swirl the warm cookies between a round pastry/cookie cutter to make them round.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. The cookies will be soft and puffy out of the oven and will naturally deflate a little while cooling. After 5 minutes, move to a wire cooling rack to finish cooling. Enjoy!
Notes
- These cookies can be made in any flavor. Simply sub the matcha, sweet potato, or charcoal powder for a flavored of your choice.
- Googly eye sprinkles will melt in the oven, so only add them before baking if you are okay with some being melted. The rest should be added directly after baking for the best results.
- Cookies can be stored at room temperature for 2-3 days, in the fridge for 1 week, or in the freezer up to 1 month. I highly recommend storing in the freezer as it's the best way to keep the texture nice and chewy!
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