There’s no trick to creating this Sugar Cookie Skull! It’s made with a simple sugar cookie dough, topped with cream cheese frosting, and finished with fresh fruit for a tasty and spooky dessert.
Perfect Halloween Treat!
We first posted our Halloween Sugar Cookie Skull five years ago, and it continues to be a top pick for ABK readers. With cream cheese frosting on a soft sugar cookie, whatever fruit you choose to feature adds a burst of fresh flavor. So eye-catching, it will be the spook-tacular centerpiece at your next party, and it tastes to-die-for!
The Best Halloween Sugar Cookies!
This sugar cookie recipe is one we have been using for years. I reduced the recipe by half and used the recipe for cream cheese frosting from our 4th of July flag cookie. For a sheet pan style sugar cookie, try ABK’s Pan Cream Cheese Sugar Cookie. If you are looking for a gluten free option, try ABK’s Gluten Free Sugar Cookie.
Our Sugar Cookie Skull is easy to put together and doesn’t need to be refrigerated before shaping. I suggest refrigerating the dough for 30 minutes after shaping and before baking to help the skull hold its shape. We love this sugar cookie recipe. It’s sweet, soft, and bakes up like the fruit pizzas we loved in the 80s!
Easy Halloween Dessert
I love this Halloween Sugar Cookie Skull because it’s festive without being scary and is so simple to mix, bake and assemble. We love decorating one giant sugar cookie, rather than having to cut-out, frost and decorate individual cookies for a party! This dessert is easy to frost and assemble. Kids love to decorate this treat as well!
Make our Halloween Sugar Cookies Skull up to two days ahead and cover tightly after baking. On the day of serving, frost and decorate. The skull in the photos were made by Kathleen, my amazing assistant. Kathleen and her daughters made this dessert last year at Halloween and we decided back then it had to be shared with ABK readers this year! Thanks Kathleen <3
Halloween Sugar Cookie Skull – personalized
The fruit we suggest in the recipe is easily adaptable to fruits you love. We are fans of almost any type of fruit, and love to use fresh fruits in season. The long dark grapes are called “Moon Drops” or “Black Finger” grapes. I love the dark color of the grapes and think they look perfect on the cream cheese frosting. They are sold in the fall at many grocery stores.
Almost any fresh, dried, or canned fruits may be used in this recipe. I highly recommend draining fruit in a colander and then on paper towel to avoid juice on the dessert or the colors bleeding.
Cut it out!
When ready to serve our Halloween Sugar Cookie Skull, simply cut into squares and serve on a dessert plate or napkin. It may be served with or without a fork and simply eaten as a cookie. Whenever I serve a fruit desert like this, I like to cut a row at a time, so guests can enjoy the dessert as part of the table/party decor! Any leftovers should be refrigerated because of the cream cheese frosting. Hope you love this sweet, simple and festive Halloween dessert!
More Halloween recipes from ABK… Black Caramel Apples, Halloween Dinner, and Easy Mummy Stromboli.
Halloween Sugar Cookie Skull
Ingredients
Cookie
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup shortening, or butter
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 eggs
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup milk
Frosting
- 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- Dash of salt
- 1-2 tablespoons milk, cream, or half-and-half
Fruit
- 1 bunch Moon Drop or finger grapes, sliced and drained
- 1/2 cup strawberries
- 1 kiwi
- 1 small can mandarin oranges, thoroughly drained
- 1 small can pineapple tidbits or chopped fresh pineapple, thoroughly drained
- Raspberries and blueberries, optional
Instructions
Cookie:
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil lightly coated with cooking spray.
- In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter, shortening and sugar. Mix in vanilla and eggs. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix on low speed.
- In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add flour mixture alternately with milk to the butter/sugar mixture. Mix on low speed just until all ingredients are incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix again for one minute.
- In the prepared pan, roll the dough into a large oval shape ¼-inch thick. Mold the dough into the shape of a skull. Refrigerate or freeze the dough for 15-30 minutes.
- While the dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place rack in the center of the oven.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes or until lightly golden on the top and edges of the cookie. Do not overbake! Remove from the oven and let cool completely before frosting and decorating.
- This cookie may be baked up to 2 days before serving. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and store at room temperature.
Frosting:
- In a bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer, beat cream cheese and butter on medium speed until soft. Add 1 cup powdered sugar and continue mixing on low speed. Add vanilla and salt. Add 1 more cup of powdered sugar and mix until smooth.
- Add milk 1 tablespoon at a time. You may only need 1 tablespoon. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix until the frosting is smooth. Frost the cookie and decorate with fruit as desired.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Be sure to leave a comment and give this recipe a rating, letting me know how you liked it. I’d love to see a photo, tag @abountifulkitchen on Instagram!
Jann WIlliams
TOTAL HIT!!! My husband made this while I made your soup, bread and salad for a birthday/Halloween dinner! As long as every ingredient was in front of him:) he managed to pull off this colorful, creative and delicious dessert! Everyone was super impressed right down to our 2 year old grandson. It will definitely become a tradition and much anticipated dessert around Halloween. Thanks Si!
Si Foster
Hi Jann!
It’s always a kids favorite! I love that you were able to share it for Halloween and a special birthday. What a wonderful way to celebrate, food really brings people together!
Thanks again for sharing!
XO,
Si
Amy Montano
This was so fun to make! I’ve made it each Halloween the last few years and it’s always a bit hit!!
Jessie p
Made this for Halloween and my kids loved it!! I love fruit pizza and this design was so fun!
Heidi hebdon
This was super fun and so yummy for our Halloween dinner! Such a unique twist for the holiday! My kids thought it was so cool!
Marisa
We made this for Dia de los Muertos party and it was a hit! Really but super tasty. Didn’t require a lot of artistic skill either!
margaretjeffries
Great fun for Dia de los Muertos! Our skull did not turn out so picture perfect but tasted great and brought us together in the kitchen for a fun activity to celebrate a special holiday!
Lynn Butler
This was such a fun dessert to do for my grandsons the week before Halloween! They all love fruit and all things “spooky” this year, so this was a perfect fit. The big surprise was how much the adults loved this as well! ha! We all gobbled it up, delicious and not too sweet. Thank you!
Si Foster
It’s the perfect holiday treat for everyone, I’m so glad you and your family enjoyed the recipe Lynn! Thank you for sharing and for reading ABK,
xo
Si
Kim Finch
So loved this Skeleton Cookie recipe! So much I made it twice and gave to the neighborhood kids! I like the cookie taste better made with butter only but both ways worked well. Thank you for a great recipe!
Sophie beck
It was so fun to make, and it was delicious! I loved it!
Si Foster
I agree, Sophie, this recipe is so fun! Thank you for reading ABK,
xo
Si
Anne Ebert
I’m wondering if I can double this recipe and still serve it on a sheet pan. I see it makes 20 servings and I need it for Trunk or Treat 🙂
Si Foster
Hi Anne, yes you can double this recipe, and it would be such a great treat for Trunk or Treat! Thanks for asking and for reading ABK,
xo
Si