55 Halloween Cookies to Bake This Spooky Season

• Time Commitment: 1 hour and 30 minutes
• Why We Love It: make ahead, crowd-pleaser, kid-friendly

And you thought Oreos were good. These soft-baked beauties are bursting with cheesecake.

• Time Commitment: 3 hours and 10 minutes
• Why We Love It: beginner-friendly, make ahead, crowd-pleaser, <10 ingredients

Don’t want to be stressed come the night of the party? Make the eight-ingredient dough ahead of time and bake it just in time for your guests’ arrival.

• Time Commitment: 45 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, kid-friendly, special occasion-worthy

Could these spiced brown sugar cookies be any cuter? We think not. The cinnamon sugar coating really takes these over the top.

• Time Commitment: 35 minutes
• Why We Love It: kid-friendly, beginner-friendly, crowd-pleaser, <10 ingredients

Turn on a scary movie, bundle up on the couch and get ready to eat way too many monster eyes.

• Time Commitment: 40 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, beginner-friendly, kid-friendly, make ahead

Alexa, add five-pound bag of candy corn to my shopping cart. This autumnal take on the classic monster cookie is loaded with Reese's Pieces too, but you could substitute any candy you'd like.

• Time Commitment: 25 minutes
• Why We Love It: <30 minutes, beginner-friendly, <10 ingredients

Because you can only have so many cinnamon-sugar cider doughnuts. (Just kidding, we’ll never get sick of them or snickerdoodles.)

• Time Commitment: 30 minutes
• Why We Love It: kid-friendly, make ahead, <10 ingredients, beginner-friendly, crowd-pleaser

Nothing says Halloween like candy-packed cookie dough, right? Bring on the caramel.

• Time Commitment: 4 hours and 30 minutes
• Why We Love It: special occasion-worthy, crowd-pleaser, make ahead, <10 ingredients

A French treat with an autumnal spin that's perfect for a fancy dinner party, thanks to cinnamon, cardamom and cloves.

• Time Commitment: 30 minutes
• Why We Love It: special occasion-worthy, beginner-friendly, <10 ingredients

Sweet potato casserole always felt like dessert to us anyway.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour and 15 minutes
• Why We Love It: kid-friendly, make ahead, beginner-friendly

Your kids will forget all about their trick-or-treat candy when they find these goodies in their lunchboxes.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour and 50 minutes
• Why We Love It: special occasion-worthy, make ahead, crowd-pleaser

Melted chocolate anchors the homemade, crackly brittle to the dough so it doesn’t totally liquefy in the oven. Science, y’all.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour and 5 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, kid-friendly

Way better than storing that extra candy in the freezer (and way cuter, too). Trust.

• Time Commitment: 3 hours
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, special occasion-worthy

A gloomy, blustery fall day is no match for warm spices, molasses, dark brown sugar and soft caramel.

• Time Commitment: 25 minutes (plus chilling)
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, special occasion-worthy, <10 ingredients

We usually whip these stunners up for Christmas, but all it takes for a fall remix is using a pumpkin-shaped or leaf-shaped cookie cutter.

• Time Commitment: 20 minutes
• Why We Love It: <30 minutes, <10 ingredients, gluten free, one bowl

For when you realize you forgot to pick up dessert at the supermarket and your guests are arriving in ten.

• Time Commitment: 20 minutes
• Why We Love It: <10 ingredients, kid-friendly, special occasion-worthy, <30 minutes

Psst: The googly eyes are vegan, since they're made from nothing but powdered sugar, corn syrup and cornstarch.

• Time Commitment: 20 minutes
• Why We Love It: <30 minutes, beginner-friendly, kid-friendly

The only spirits we want to be haunted by are the ones made of cream cheese frosting.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour
• Why We Love It: <10 ingredients, gluten free, Paleo-friendly, special occasion-worthy

Coconut flour cookies stuffed with homemade jelly? And they’re vegan? That’s some strange magic.

• Time Commitment: 20 minutes
• Why We Love It: <30 minutes, kid-friendly, special occasion-worthy

Bake the easy sugar cookies, then let the kids at the party decorate with everything from Oreos to candy eyes to sanding sugar.

• Time Commitment: 2 hours and 15 minutes
• Why We Love It: kid-friendly, special occasion-worthy, <10 ingredients, beginner-friendly, no bake

You only need three ingredients and a refrigerator to pull these ghoulish poppables off.

• Time Commitment: 4 hours and 30 minutes
• Why We Love It: kid-friendly, beginner-friendly

Eleven-minute brown butter cookies with a touch of autumn—what's not to like? Mix things up by using peanut M&M's, white chocolate chips or butterscotch chips.

• Time Commitment: 30 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, beginner-friendly, kid-friendly, make ahead, one bowl

Think Reese’s Pieces, chocolate chips and leftover trick-or-treat candy. Even better, you’ll only need to dirty one bowl to make them.

• Time Commitment: 50 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, make ahead, special occasion-worthy

Spiced, classy and totally chic, this is the Morticia Addams of Halloween cookies. They're just the coffee pairing for your grown-up Halloween party.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour and 45 minutes
• Why We Love It: beginner-friendly, crowd-pleaser, special occasion-worthy

Presenting a chai tea latte in dessert form. We'd layer the vanilla bean frosting on thick if we were you.

• Time Commitment: 3 hours (includes resting time)
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, kid-friendly, beginner-friendly

Your childhood favorite, but homemade with a fall twist. Be sure to have a glass of milk at the ready for dunking.

• Time Commitment: 3 hours and 20 minutes
• Why We Love It: kid-friendly, beginner-friendly, make ahead

These cookies will keep for up to four months in the freezer, meaning you can celebrate spooky season through Valentine’s Day.

• Time Commitment: 35 minutes
• Why We Love It: beginner-friendly, kid-friendly, crowd-pleaser, make ahead

A solid way to use up all the leftover candy the trick-or-treaters didn’t devour if we’ve ever seen one.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour and 10 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, <10 ingredients, special occasion-worthy

Make sure you brag to your party guests that you whipped these up yourself—they look like they’re from a fancy bakery.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour and 15 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, beginner-friendly, <10 ingredients

Ah blondies, the chewy, crispy-edged cookie bars that never disappoint. These will work with just about any sweet add-ins that you have on hand.

• Time Commitment: 45 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, special occasion-worthy

Dark cocoa turns these chocolate sugar cookies black as night. Use both a pumpkin cookie cutter and pumpkin stamp to take them over the top.

• Time Commitment: 3 hours
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, beginner-friendly, <10 ingredients

Browning butter before adding it to the dough will give the cookies an irresistibly caramel-like, nutty flavor.

• Time Commitment: 30 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, beginner-friendly, kid-friendly

The PB cookie classic gets a creepy makeover. Trade traditional Hershey’s Kisses for peanut butter cups, then craft tiny spiders with black licorice and candy eyes.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, make ahead, kid-friendly

Pumpkin purée and pie spice make these no-frills treats super festive. Hook your guests up with some Halloween sprinkles and let them take care of the decorating.

• Time Commitment: 4 hours and 5 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, make ahead, special occasion-worthy

Sorry kids, you’ll have to sit this one out. These spicy cayenne- and chipotle-spiked gems are for the grown-ups.

• Time Commitment: 55 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, make ahead, beginner-friendly

The homemade chai spice including ground ginger, nutmeg and allspice is straight-up soul warming.

• Time Commitment: 2 hours
• Why We Love It: make ahead, kid-friendly, beginner-friendly

The easiest way to turn your Halloween party into a real brouhaha? Serve these cookie-pretzel hybrids.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour
• Why We Love It: vegan, dairy free, beginner-friendly

Because no one should have to miss out on dessert. The secret? Vegan butter and almond milk.

• Time Commitment: 45 minutes
• Why We Love It: beginner-friendly, kid-friendly

We hope you aren’t afraid of the dark. These are beyond bold and decadent, thanks to dark cocoa powder and a trifecta of chocolate chips, peanut butter chips and peanut butter cups.

• Time Commitment: 25 minutes
• Why We Love It: <30 minutes, Paleo-friendly, gluten free

Never choose between a pumpkin dessert and chocolate ever again. Bonus? These are made without butter or oil and use whole-wheat flour.

• Time Commitment: 45 minutes
• Why We Love It: kid-friendly, beginner-friendly, <10 ingredients

So easy even your little monsters could make them without you. We’re talking four ingredients and not a second of cook time if you use your trusty microwave instead of a double-boiler.

• Time Commitment: 30 minutes
• Why We Love It: <10 ingredients, beginner-friendly, kid-friendly

Use any confection, from Snickers to Rolos, in these simple cake mix cookies. We’re sure the kids won’t mind donating some from their stash, particularly when you tell them about the end result.

• Time Commitment: 25 minutes
• Why We Love It: <30 minutes, beginner-friendly, kid-friendly

All the tart sweetness of the quintessential autumn drink, plus a kiss of gooey caramel. They’ll taste even better dunked in hot homemade apple cider.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour and 35 minutes
• Why We Love It: special occasion-worthy, gluten free, crowd-pleaser, make ahead

These almond cookies stuffed with cherry jam-spiked frosting are nothing short of divine. Splattering them with diluted food coloring gives them a devilish appearance.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour and 45 minutes
• Why We Love It: kid-friendly, beginner-friendly, crowd-pleaser

Sweet-and-salty lovers, meet your new favorite candy bar. They're easier to make than you think, thanks to store-bought caramels.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour and 20 minutes
• Why We Love It: beginner-friendly, make ahead, crowd-pleaser

Not that the O.G. needs any help being delicious, but a few spoonfuls of pumpkin puree and a slew of autumn spices take the classic to a whole new level. Did we mention the butterscotch chips?

• Time Commitment: 55 minutes
• Why We Love It: kid-friendly, beginner-friendly, make ahead, crowd-pleaser

Sorry, what'd you say? We were totally distracted by these sweet, crunchy, salty cookies. Don't forget to garnish them with a flourish of flaky salt.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, kid-friendly, special occasion-worthy

Bust out the piping bag and flex your skills ahead of the kids' Halloween party. (We're betting they'd be happy to help decorate them, too.)

• Time Commitment: 30 minutes
• Why We Love It: make ahead, beginner-friendly, crowd-pleaser

This grown-up dessert screams fall and is just right for an intimate spooky soirée. Rolling the dough balls in sugar before baking them gives the exterior of the cookies extra crunch.

• Time Commitment: 45 minutes
• Why We Love It: make ahead, beginner-friendly, crowd-pleaser

These icebox cookies are not only prime for Halloween, thanks to their color scheme, but would also be a hit at this year's holiday cookie swap.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour and 5 minutes
• Why We Love It: kid-friendly, special occasion-worthy, crowd-pleaser

When fall pumpkin picking and summer bonfires collide, these ooey-gooey handhelds are the result. Don't be shy with the mini marshmallows.

• Time Commitment: 30 minutes
• Why We Love It: kid-friendly, beginner-friendly, crowd-pleaser

They're only as epic as their toppings, so go wild with Halloween M&Ms, peanut butter cups and orange and black sprinkles. (Bonus points for including candy corn and mellowcreme pumpkins.)

• Time Commitment: 1 hour and 20 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, special occasion-worthy

Store-bought meringue cookies can easily star in this pumpkin pie-inspired masterpiece, but feel free to go the extra mile by making them yourself.

• Time Commitment: 40 minutes
• Why We Love It: <10 ingredients, special occasion-worthy, kid-friendly, crowd-pleaser

The only thing better than a bunch of small cookies is one giant one. And since the recipe calls for boxed snickerdoodle cookie mix, the dough will come together in a flash.

• Time Commitment: 45 minutes
• Why We Love It: <10 ingredients, kid-friendly, beginner-friendly

Campfire, shmampfire. We’re getting our autumn s’mores fix without an open flame, thanks to these gooey cookies.

• Time Commitment: 30 minutes
• Why We Love It: beginner-friendly, kid-friendly, special occasion-worthy, make ahead

Pumpkin cookies with cream cheese frosting? Call us basic, but we’re certain it’s a match made in autumnal heaven.