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Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: Mild chocolate flavor to let those mix-ins really shine.
Texture: The cookie is ultra soft and chewy with blissful crunches from the Halloween M&Ms and googly candy eyes.
Ease: SO easy to make.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe: It’s the perfect quick yet impressive Halloween dessert.
Festive and easy, these Halloween Cookies are an absolute must-make for your friends and family for a spooky movie night at home or for the Halloween block party!
No tricks here, just a delicious and adorably festive treat!
They’re so easy to make, too. No crazy decorating with royal icing required! Plus, these are so fun to get the kids involved with baking up a spooky treat together.
If you make these for your Halloween party, you might want to make a double batch. They go fast! 😉
I’m obsessed with these cookies. I make them all the time for friends and they’re always a hit. So creative and can be switched up for Christmas or Easter.
These are one of my favorite Halloween treats to make each year, and I hope you love this recipe as much as I do (and the guests who have enjoyed them off my dessert table too!).
Key Ingredient Notes
This recipe is very straight-forward, but there are a few special ingredients doing some heavy lifting. Here’s what you should know:
Black Cocoa or Dutch-Process Cocoa Powder – Black cocoa can be ordered online and will provide that festive deep dark color. It also makes the cookies taste like Oreos! If you can’t find it, use Dutch-process cocoa powder instead. Be sure to also measure your cocoa correctly, as cocoa powder is a drying ingredient and too much will dry out your cookies.
Cornstarch – To keep the consistency of these cookies soft and tender.
Butter – Be sure it’s at a cool room temperature (around 67°F is perfect), and not too warm or greasy. Learn why butter temperature is important in baking here.
White chocolate chips & Halloween-themed M&Ms – For flavor, and to bring a super fun Halloween-y flair to our cookies! I used the “Ghoul Mix” M&Ms originally in this recipe, which appear to have been discontinued in recent years (boo!). Use the regular Halloween M&Ms instead.
Candy googly eyes – Optional, but so festive! Easy to find under the Wilton brand at most grocery stores seasonally, or online.
How to Make Double Chocolate Halloween Cookies:
- Cream the butter and sugars. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars together on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Add the vanilla and egg. Scrape the bowl down before adding in the vanilla extract and the room temperature egg, beating well to combine.
- Combine the dry ingredients. Sift together the flour, cocoa, cornstarch, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Gradually add in the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and beat until a slightly sticky dough forms.
- Add the chocolate. Fold in the white chocolate chips and M&Ms with a rubber spatula.
- Portion out the cookies and decorate. Using a large spring-loaded scoop, drop 3-tablespoon sized balls of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them at least 2 inches apart. Dot the balls of cookie dough with extra chips and M&Ms.
- Bake. At 350°F for about 12 minutes, until puffy but still soft, being careful not to overbake.
Carefully press candy eyeballs into the cookies while still hot. Allow to cool slightly on the baking tray before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
Can I Change up the Mix-Ins?
Yes! You can absolutely switch out the white chocolate chips and Halloween-themed M&Ms for just about whatever you like! Just be sure to keep the total weight (or volume) the same as written in the recipe as well as using similarly sized mix-ins so the cookie dough balls stay together. Here are some Halloween cookie mix-in ideas:
- Dark chocolate chips
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Reese’s Pieces
- Well-chopped candy bars
You can also add candy corn to the tops of the cookies after baking, along with the candy eyeballs.
Storage & Make ahead
Room Temperature: These are best enjoyed when fresh, but they will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. Be sure they are completely cooled before storing.
- How to Keep Cookies Soft: Add an apple wedge, piece of bread, or a tortilla (my favorite) to the container a day or two after baking them, or whenever you find the texture beginning to harden. The moisture from this will migrate to your cookies, making them soft and chewy again.
Freeze Cookie Dough: I love the taste of cookies straight from the oven best (who doesn’t!?). I always keep pre-scooped balls of various types of cookie dough in a resealable bag in my freezer, so I can bake cookies off and have them warm from the oven in a matter of minutes whenever I want! Find all my tips for freezing cookie dough, and baking from frozen here.
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Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, at cool room temperature
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 egg, at room temperature
- 1 cup (127 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup (43 grams)
black cocoa powder (or Dutch-process), sifted - 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 cup (85 grams) white chocolate chips, plus more for garnish
- 1 cup (218 grams) Halloween M&MS, plus more for garnish*
Edible candy eyeballs , for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars together on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape the bowl down before adding in the vanilla extract and egg, beating well to combine.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, cornstarch, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Gradually add in the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and beat until a slightly sticky dough forms. Fold in the white chocolate chips and M&Ms with a rubber spatula.
- Using a large spring-loaded cookie scoop, drop 3-tablespoon sized balls of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them at least 2 inches apart. Dot the balls of cookie dough with extra chips, M&Ms.
- Bake for about 12 minutes, until puffy but still soft, being careful not to overbake. Carefully press the candy eyeballs into the cookies while still hot from the oven. Allow to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Photos by Joanie Simon.
What a fun, delicious cookie!! Couldn’t find black cocoa so went with Dutch process and added black food coloring; the ghouls mix m&ms were *nowhere* to be found so we went with a different fun Halloween sprinkle mix – the eyeballs are so much fun! They’re soft and chocolatey and SO good. Thanks for sharing!!
Your cookies look extra spooky and delicious, Lish! We haven’t had luck finding the ghouls mix either, but I love your addition of festive sprinkles!
I made these cookies but I used toasted pecans and toasted coconut instead of M&Ms. They were so good, I wish I had white chocolate chips to put in them too but I just used what I had on had. 10/10 recommend making these!
I used peanut butter m&ms instead of regular M&Ms …I will be making these more than once a year (no eyes needed 🙂
I made these cookies this weekend and they were fun and easy to make! The kids loved them and luckily I got to split one with my husband. The cookies are the best! I am going to make them throughout the year with different colors of M & M’s. Thank you for a great recipe!
Black cocoa is nowhere to be found at any of my local supermarkets, also it’s incredibly pricey?? Does regular cocoa powder work, it just won’t be as black?
You can also use Dutch-processed cocoa powder, which is mentioned here in the recipe tips as well as in the recipe card ingredient list! The cookies will tasty more chocolaty and yes, won’t be as dark in color.
Dutch processed cocoa is available everywhere-always several to choose from at the Publix stores around me
I want to make these this weekend! Just to double check – will the candy eyes not melt in the oven? I’ve heard this can happen. Thanks for an amazing website!
I’ve never had that happen, nor have any of my recipe testers! However, if you’re concerned, you can always dot them onto the still-hot cookies fresh from the oven. Just be careful so as not to scorch your fingertips!
Fabulous! I’ll definitely be trying this. I appreciate your reply 🤗
Hello! I’m very glad I came across your website. I am enjoying making your cookie recipes. Regarding this recipe, the only Halloween M&Ms that I can find are black and orange. I have found Halloween sprinkles that are orange, purple, light green, and has the eyes in it. How do you think that would work in the cookies? I will keep trying to find the Ghoul’s Mix at a reasonable price, but so far I haven’t. 🙂 Any help is appreciated. Thanks!
Hi Judi! I’ve had a hard time finding the ghoul mix this year, too. I don’t know if they stopped manufacturing it, or if it’s not as widely distributed. The sprinkles would be fun, but of course you wouldn’t get the taste & texture of the M&Ms. I think the regular Halloween M&Ms would still look fun & festive!
I followed the recipe to the T and it came out well but I only got 8 cookies. I had to stick it in the fridge because it was too soft. I think the grams for flour was incorrect. I am only saying this because I bake a lot and this was way off with the amounts.
Hi Laurette, I just double-checked and the flour weight amount is correct. It sounds more like your butter was too warm at some point before baking and it caused the dough to be too soft. Or maybe the dough sat out near a hot oven or warm window and it got a little too hot. I hope you’ll give this recipe another chance, it’s a reader-favorite!
I never review recipes but OH MY GOODNESS! These were the best cookies that I have made in awhile! I usually only like warm cookies but even the next day, the cookies were DELICIOUS and soft! These will be a yearly treat at Halloween and will even change the M&m color to match all the Hollidays!
I’m so thrilled to hear that, Nicole! And I love that idea of using seasonal M&Ms throughout the year, so fun!
My cookies same out super flat.any ideas why? Still delicious!
You might find the troubleshooting tips in my article on How to Bake Thick Cookies helpful! The most likely culprit is that your butter and/or dough got too warm at some point before blending or baking.
I’ve been making these cookies for the last 3 years and they never disappoint! The recipe is easy to follow, delish, and fun!
This year I’m wanting to make them with some crushed candy cane pieces and white chocolate chips for Christmas but I’m unsure if the candy cane pieces will melt in the oven? I feel like they will and I’m worried it will be weird – any suggestions on how to include them for peppermint flavor and candy crunch (small pieces!) in the cookie?
Hi Kimmy! I don’t see why that wouldn’t work – the crushed candy cane shouldn’t melt in the oven. Just a heads up… we may or may not have a chocolate peppermint cookie recipe coming out next week that you could easily swap in white chocolate chips for 😉
Kimmy, yes you can use crushed peppermint in your cookies and they won’t melt. You can find them around November in bags already crushed in the baking section. I keep in my freezer and use them in recipes for the holidays with no melting issues. Happy Baking.
Made these for Halloween! I had black cocoa on hand from another baking project and I have to say, it really levels things up and I love the Oreo flavor it adds. Doubled the recipe and added some sprinkles, would definitely make again!