Pumpkin Spice Ghost Cookies with White Royal Icing
A ghost cookie looks easy to cut until one of its narrow arms stretches as you move it to the baking sheet. These Pumpkin Spice Ghost Cookies with White Royal…
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A ghost cookie looks easy to cut until one of its narrow arms stretches as you move it to the baking sheet. These Pumpkin Spice Ghost Cookies with White Royal Icing stay easier to handle because the dough gets chilled before and after cutting. The pumpkin pie spice gives each bite a warm, familiar flavor, and the white icing with two tiny chocolate-chip eyes makes the ghosts easy to recognize.
I roll the dough between parchment so it stays even without sticking to the counter. Keeping the dough at a consistent thickness matters here: thin spots bake faster, while thicker areas can still be soft when the edges have set.
The icing has two jobs, so it needs two textures. A thicker portion outlines each ghost; a looser portion fills the center without leaving bare edges. Once the white tops are smooth and the little eyes are in place, these cookies have crisp shapes and a sweet pumpkin-spice finish.
Kitchen Note
Keep the icing you’ll use for outlining thick, and only loosen the portion meant for flooding. If all the icing is thinned together, it can run past the ghost’s edges instead of holding a neat border.
Save these Pumpkin Spice Ghost Cookies with White Royal Icing for spiced cutouts with smooth white tops and chocolate-chip eyes.
Why These Ghost Cookies Skip Pumpkin Puree (And Still Taste Like Pumpkin Spice)
Pumpkin spice cookies don’t need pumpkin puree to taste like pumpkin spice. This dough gets its flavor from pumpkin pie spice, while flour, butter, sugar, and egg give it the structure of a cutout cookie. Pumpkin puree brings extra moisture; in a dough meant to hold a defined shape, that moisture can make rolling and cutting more difficult.
That difference is useful if you’re expecting a soft, cakey pumpkin cookie. These are spiced sugar cookies with clean ghost outlines, not pumpkin-puree cookies, and they don’t have the orange color that puree would bring. The spice is the point: it gives the cookies a cozy aroma without making the dough wet or changing how it handles. The white icing adds the ghostly finish while leaving the spice flavor easy to taste.
The Ingredients That Give These Ghosts Their Shape and Finish
- All-purpose flour — It gives the dough enough structure to roll and cut. A standard grocery-store flour works well; a specialty flour isn’t needed, and a different type may change how the dough handles.
- Pumpkin pie spice — The premixed spice blend provides the signature flavor without adding moisture. Fresh, fragrant spice makes a more noticeable difference than an expensive brand.
- Unsalted butter — Softened butter creams with the sugar and helps the dough come together. It should give slightly when pressed, not look shiny or melted; ordinary grocery-store butter is fine.
- Granulated sugar and egg — Sugar adds sweetness and helps the butter cream smoothly, while the large egg binds the dough. Keep the egg at the listed size so the dough’s balance stays consistent.
- Powdered sugar and meringue powder — Powdered sugar gives the icing its smooth base, and meringue powder helps it dry into a firm finish. They aren’t interchangeable with granulated sugar or each other.
- Clear vanilla extract — Clear vanilla keeps the icing looking white. Regular vanilla extract works in its place, but the icing will take on a light ivory tint.
- Mini semisweet chocolate chips — Their small size makes them easy eyes for the ghosts. Use mini chips rather than larger ones so they sit neatly on the iced faces.
From Chilled Dough to Smooth White Ghosts
Mix and Chill the Dough
Heat the oven to 350°F and line two 18×13-inch baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk the flour, baking powder, kosher salt, and pumpkin pie spice together in a medium bowl. In a large bowl, beat the softened butter and granulated sugar on medium until creamy, about 2 minutes, then beat in the egg and vanilla. Add the flour mixture in two additions on low, stopping as soon as the dough comes together; divide it into two disks, wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, until firm.
Roll and Cut the Ghosts
Roll each chilled disk between sheets of parchment until the dough is 1/4 inch thick. Cut out 3-inch ghosts and arrange them on the prepared baking sheets, leaving room between the shapes. Chill the cutouts for 10 minutes before baking. If the dough gets soft while you’re cutting, return it to the refrigerator so the shapes are easier to lift intact.
Bake Until the Edges Set
Bake one sheet at a time at 350°F for 9–11 minutes. Look for set edges and bottoms just beginning to turn golden; the tops don’t need to brown. If you wait for deep color across the cookies, they’ll be drier than intended. Cool the cookies on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a rack and let them cool completely.
Make Two Icing Textures
Beat the powdered sugar, meringue powder, 6 tablespoons of the warm water, and clear vanilla on low until combined. Raise the speed to medium and beat for 4–5 minutes, until the icing looks glossy and thick. Transfer about one-third to a piping bag for the outlines. Stir the remaining 1 tablespoon warm water into the icing left in the bowl to make it thin enough to flood the centers.
Outline, Flood, and Add the Faces
Pipe an outline around each completely cooled cookie, then fill the middle with the thinner icing. Use a toothpick to nudge the icing into the edges rather than pressing on the cookie. While the icing is wet, press two mini chocolate chips point-side down into each ghost for eyes. Leave the cookies uncovered for 6–8 hours, until the icing is firm.
Small Changes for a Different Batch of Ghosts
Use Salted Butter Instead
Use the same amount of salted butter and leave out the kosher salt. The cookies may taste a little saltier depending on the butter brand, but the dough will still work as a cutout.
Make Vanilla Ghost Cookies
Leave out the pumpkin pie spice for a simple vanilla cookie beneath the white icing. The shapes and decorating method stay the same, but you’ll lose the warm spice flavor.
Give the Icing an Ivory Tint
Swap the clear vanilla in the icing for the same amount of regular vanilla extract. It keeps the vanilla flavor but gives the finished icing a soft ivory cast instead of a bright white look.
Storage and Reheating
- Refrigerator: Refrigeration isn’t needed. Once the icing is fully firm, store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days; damp refrigerator air can make the icing tacky.
- Freezer: Freeze undecorated, fully cooled cookies in an airtight container with parchment between layers for up to 2 months. Thaw them before decorating.
- Reheating: These cookies don’t need reheating. Don’t microwave decorated cookies, since heat softens the icing; thaw frozen undecorated cookies at room temperature and decorate once they’re fully thawed.
Questions That Come Up While Making These Ghost Cookies
Pumpkin Spice Ghost Cookies with White Royal Icing
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Heat the oven to 350°F.
- Line two 18x13-inch baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, kosher salt, and pumpkin pie spice together in a medium bowl.
- Beat the butter and granulated sugar in a large bowl on medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes.
- Beat in the egg and vanilla extract.
- Add the flour mixture in two additions and mix on low just until the dough comes together.
- Divide the dough into two disks, wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour until firm.
- Roll each disk between sheets of parchment to 1/4 inch thick.
- Cut out 3-inch ghosts and arrange them on the prepared sheets.
- Chill the cutouts for 10 minutes.
- Bake one sheet at a time at 350°F for 9–11 minutes, until the edges are set and the bottoms are just beginning to turn golden.
- Cool the cookies on the sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
- Beat the powdered sugar, meringue powder, 6 tablespoons of the warm water, and clear vanilla extract in a large bowl on low until combined, then on medium for 4–5 minutes until glossy and thick.
- Transfer about one-third of the icing to a piping bag for outlining.
- Stir the remaining 1 tablespoon warm water into the rest of the icing for flooding.
- Pipe an outline around each cooled cookie.
- Fill the centers with the thinner icing, and use a toothpick to spread icing into the edges.
- Press two mini semisweet chocolate chips point-side down into the wet icing on each cookie for eyes.
- Leave the cookies uncovered for 6–8 hours until the icing is firm.
