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For easy Halloween cookies, bake soft chocolate cookies made with cocoa powder, then turn them into spiders, mummies or monsters while they are still warm: press a round chocolate candy in the middle, pipe legs or bandage stripes, and add candy eyes. One batch of dough makes about 24 cookies in under an hour, and kids can do the decorating.
Cocoa powder gives the cookies a deep, dark chocolate color that makes every Halloween decoration pop, with no melted chocolate needed in the dough.
What do you need for Halloween chocolate cookies?
Makes: about 24 cookies · Prep: 20 minutes · Bake: 9 to 10 minutes · Decorate: 20 minutes
- 1¼ cups (160 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (43 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp fine salt
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (100 g) packed brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
To decorate
- 24 round chocolate candies or chocolate truffles
- ½ cup (85 g) chocolate chips, melted for piping
- Candy eyes
- White icing or melted white chocolate
How do you make Halloween chocolate cookies?
- Mix the dry ingredients. Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt into a bowl.
- Cream. Beat the butter and both sugars for 2 minutes until light, then beat in the egg and vanilla.
- Combine. Mix in the dry ingredients on low speed just until no flour shows.
- Scoop. Roll the dough into 1-tablespoon balls and set them 2 inches apart on lined baking sheets. Chill for 15 minutes if the dough is soft.
- Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 9 to 10 minutes, until the edges are set and the centers still look soft.
- Decorate warm or cool. For spiders, press a chocolate candy into each warm cookie; once cool, pipe 8 legs with melted chocolate and add two candy eyes. For mummies and monsters, decorate the cooled cookies as below.
How do you decorate them?
| Design | How |
|---|---|
| Spiders | Chocolate candy body pressed in while warm; 8 piped chocolate legs; 2 candy eyes |
| Mummies | Zigzag stripes of white icing across the cookie, leaving a gap for 2 candy eyes |
| Monsters | A dab of green or purple icing, one big candy eye, and sprinkle “teeth” |
| Spiderwebs | Three circles of white icing, then drag a toothpick from the center outward |
| Bats | Two halves of a chocolate wafer cookie as wings, pressed in while warm |
Let melted chocolate and icing set for about 30 minutes before stacking or packing the cookies.
Which cocoa powder is best for Halloween cookies?
This dough uses baking soda, and natural cocoa gives it the acid it needs to rise into soft, slightly puffed cookies; brown sugar helps too. Dutch-process cocoa also works and gives an even darker cookie, with a little less puff. For a near-black “spooky” color, swap 2 tablespoons of the cocoa for black cocoa (see black cocoa powder). The leavening rule is explained in baking with cocoa powder.
Grevista is a one-ingredient natural cocoa powder from Vietnamese Trinitario cacao; one batch uses about 43 g. Compare sizes on the Grevista cocoa powder page.
More Halloween chocolate ideas
- Graveyard dirt cake: cocoa pudding, cookie “soil”, tombstones and gummy worms in our dirt cake with a Halloween graveyard version.
- Halloween brownies: bake our one-bowl cocoa powder brownies and top them with the same spiderweb icing.
- Halloween hot chocolate: make our hot chocolate with cocoa powder and float marshmallow “ghosts” with chocolate-chip eyes.
- No-bake option: shape no bake cookies and add candy eyes for quick monsters.
How long do Halloween cookies keep?
Store decorated cookies in a single layer in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. Undecorated cookies freeze for up to 3 months; thaw, then decorate.
If you are deciding which tin to buy for recipes like this one, see our guide to the best cacao powder, which compares options by flavor, processing and published lab testing.
For an everyday batch without the Halloween decorations, bake our double chocolate chip cookies.
Frequently asked questions
Can I make the dough ahead?
Yes. Wrap the dough and refrigerate for up to 2 days, or freeze the scooped balls and bake from frozen, adding 1 to 2 minutes.
Can kids help decorate?
Yes. Bake and cool the cookies first, then set out candy eyes, icing in zip-top bags with a small corner snipped, and sprinkles. Adults should handle the hot candy-pressing step.
Can I make these without eggs?
Replace the egg with 3 tablespoons of plain yogurt or unsweetened applesauce; the cookies will be a little softer.
Written by the Grevista Editorial Team. Last updated November 2, 2026. How we check facts: Editorial Policy.