Pumpkin and Bat Sugar Cookies

There are many shapes that could go to symbolize Halloween….witches, cauldrons, ghosts, ghouls. Two shapes however that will never fail to bring that fright and fun of Halloween are pumpkins and bats!!! These are cookies that are so simple to make, are fun to make with your friends or kids, because you can make them together and decorate them together. Michael and I chose a beautiful deep purple and a bright orange. Instead of plain old fashioned icing, we made a fantastic royal icing using orange blossom honey and a little almond extract. Enjoy these cookies, and make as many Halloween inspired cookies as you like!! Celebrate the 9th day of Halloween as we do our 13 days of Halloween countdown!

*You will want to refrigerate your dough for an hour before use, so keep this in mind with you time. Make dough ahead of time!

Ingredients:

Cookie Dough:
2 1/2  cups  all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled, plus more for the work surface
1/4  teaspoon  baking soda
1/4  teaspoon  kosher salt
1  cup  (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4  cup  granulated sugar
1 large egg
1teaspoon  pure vanilla extract

Icing:
1 cup confectioner sugar
2 tablespoon milk
2 tablespoon honey (we used orange blossom for extra flavor)
¼ teaspoon almond extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium sized bowl mix together flour, baking soda, and salt. In a large bowl beat together butter and sugar until smooth. Make sure that your butter is at room temperature, otherwise it will be impossible to blend. Add the egg and beat until fluffy, about two minutes, then beat in vanilla.

Beating on a slower speed, gradually add and mix in the flour mix. Your dough is going to seem very stiff, which is what you want. Now place your dough flattened on a plate, and covered with plastic wrap, in the fridge for at least an hour.

Once an hour has passed, roll your dough out on a floured surface, to about a ¼ of an inch. Cut your shapes out using your cookie cutter. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the cookies start to turn golden brown. Let cool. Then decorate by using your icing.

To make the icing simply mix your ingredients together and add food coloring to color as much as you want!!! Now eat!!