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Sugar Skull Cookies Recipe
Ash Tyrrell

Sugar Skull Cookies Recipe

I started making sugar skull cookies a few years ago when I wanted a Day of the Dead treat that felt personal instead of store-bought. I remember being intimidated the first time, thinking I'd need fancy piping skills to pull it off, but I quickly realized that isn't true at all.
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Total Time 40 minutes
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour — the base of your dough spoon it into your measuring cup instead of scooping to avoid packing it too tight
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda — helps the cookies hold a slight lift without puffing up and losing their shape
  • 1 teaspoon cream of tartar — gives the dough that classic tender slightly chewy sugar cookie texture
  • 1 cup unsalted butter softened — creaming it properly is what makes the dough light instead of dense
  • 1 cup granulated sugar — sweetens the dough and helps create that soft golden edge once baked
  • 1 large egg room temperature — binds everything together and keeps the dough from crumbling apart
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract — a simple flavor boost that rounds out the sweetness
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract — this is the ingredient that really makes these taste like something special
  • 4 egg whites for the icing — whipped up, these form the base of a smooth, pipeable royal icing
  • 2 cups powdered sugar for the icing — thickens the icing and gives it that glossy, hardened finish once dry
  • ½ teaspoon cream of tartar for the icing — stabilizes the egg whites so your icing holds stiff peaks
  • Food coloring in black red, pink, yellow, blue, green, and orange — used to paint the traditional sugar skull design

Method
 

  1. Add your softened butter and sugar to a mixing bowl and beat on medium-high speed for about two minutes. You're looking for a pale, fluffy texture rather than anything grainy or separated. This step builds the airy structure your dough needs.
  2. Crack in your egg along with the vanilla and almond extract, then mix until fully combined. The almond extract is subtle but noticeable, giving the dough a slightly more complex flavor than a typical sugar cookie.
  3. Whisk together your flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar in a separate bowl first. Add this dry mixture into your wet ingredients gradually, stirring just until a smooth dough comes together without overmixing it.
  4. Shape the dough into a ball, cover it, and refrigerate for about an hour. This step firms everything up so your cookies keep a crisp, clean skull shape once you cut and bake them.
  5. Once chilled, let the dough sit at room temperature for about ten minutes to soften slightly. Roll it out on a floured surface to about half an inch thick, then press your skull cutter firmly into the dough.
  6. Arrange your cut cookies on a parchment-lined sheet with a little space between each one. Bake at 325°F for 8 to 10 minutes, watching for edges that are just barely golden rather than deeply browned.
  7. Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for a minute before moving them to a wire rack. They need to be fully cool to the touch before any icing goes on, or your colors will run and blur together.

Notes

  • I always chill my dough for the full hour, since skipping it makes the dough too soft to hold clean skull edges.
  • I like using a stencil taped over my cookies as a guide, it makes the decorating step so much less intimidating.
  • I keep my icing slightly thicker than I think I need, since a runnier icing tends to bleed past the lines I've piped.
  • I decorate one color at a time and let each layer dry a bit before adding the next, which keeps my designs crisp.
  • I always make a double batch of dough, because these disappear fast once my family sees them on the counter.