Spookie Cookies: Next-Level Decorating to Make Your Treats Come Alive, written by Karen Thi, features an exciting collection of Halloween-themed cookies in a variety of over-the-top, vibrant styles alongside detailed guides and step-by-step photos. A few highlights include a Toil & Trouble Cauldron, Witch’s Apothecary, Slithering Snake, BoOokshelf, and Char-Boo-Terie Board.
Disclosure: I received this book from Page Street Publishing in exchange for my honest review. All opinions and statements are my own.
Karen Thi
Karen Thi is a self-taught cookie artist and storyteller. She has been decorating cookies for over a decade and is a two-time Food Network champion.
Her work has been featured with major brands such as Disney, Netflix, Sephora, Spotify, and more. This is Karen’s debut cookbook.
Spookie Cookies
Karen begins Spookie Cookies with a short introduction before going over the base royal icing and cookie recipes.
Even if you aren’t quite ready for the intricate decorations, the cookie recipes are fantastic on their own. We have tried the classic vanilla and black cocoa chili so far, but other options include cinnamon roll, deathday (cake batter flavor with Halloween sprinkles), and ube/pandan.
She has also put together an incredibly detailed guide for making meringue powder-based royal icing, flavor variations, troubleshooting, and how to achieve different consistencies and colors.
Chapters are divided according to theme: The Dead and Undead, The Witching Hour, Macabre Market, Creatures and Creaturae, Haunted Mansion, and Halloween Night. The contents page has a list of recipes with page number for easy reference.
For those with varying skill levels, there is a helpful visual chart with the included cookie designs showing the level of difficulty and specialty tools required (the Gothic Chandelier wins in both categories).
Karen also provides the photography. Every single cookie is paired with at least one vibrant photo of the finished creation with multiple step-by-step photos along the way.
Measurements are listed in US customary and metric. Each cookie has a short headnote, yield, required equipment, ingredients, and colors/consistencies. At the end of the book, there are printout templates available via QR codes, plus STL files for purchase to make your own 3-D printed cookie cutters.
Eyeball-Tini
We started with The Eyeball-Tini from The Witching Hour chapter.
This cookie takes some time to prepare, but it is a great option for those like me who do not have much experience with piping royal icing. For the icing itself, you only need to prepare three colors for the martini glass and eyeballs.
After bringing together the cookie dough (we went with classic vanilla) and resting for a bit, it is cut into a martini glass shape, baked until set, and cooled before covering in purple royal icing.
The glass is then “filled” with a sheet of set gelatin to mimic the green martini and two eyeballs to finish.
The longest part is making the green martini backing for the cookie, but it isn’t overly intricate. Gelatin is briefly heated, then combined with yellow-green food coloring and edible glitter before spreading across an acetate sheet to set overnight.
Black Widow
We especially loved the Creatures and Creaturae chapter and the Black Widow is the first recipe in this section.
This spider-themed cookie can be made with any cookie base (we went with black cocoa chili) and is covered with a spider web design across the surface.
The spider itself is formed with black molding chocolate and royal icing accents. It is definitely a fun option for those who enjoy sculpting with dough.
Rosy Maple Moth
The Rosy Maple Moth was my daughter’s favorite and we were both unbelievably excited with the results.
These delicate little cookies were inspired by the small pink and yellow Rosy Maple Moth found across the eastern United States and southeastern Canada. I do not think I actually knew about this type of moth before and went down a bit of a rabbit hole learning about them.
The cookies are the smallest in the book with just a thin oval for the body, but the antennae and wings make them quite fragile (I walked so so slowly with the tray when transferring them from the kitchen to my photo area- and only managed to break one antenna).
The antennae and wings are completely piped with royal icing and allowed to fully set for a few hours before adding the details to the wings. They are then attached to the cooled cookies with additional yellow icing and two final dots of black icing to make the eyes.
Spookie Cookies is a fantastic pick for those interested in making stunning royal icing-decorated cookies with a spooky twist. Designs ranging from delicate works of art to interactive and 3-D creations. This book was definitely outside of my comfort zone, but I learned so much and we had such fun. I can’t wait to try out more styles- particularly the bookshelf.
In general, the ingredients for the cookies and royal icing can be found in larger American grocery stores. For those in Northern Virginia, I have been able to get meringue powder at Wegmans and craft stores with cake supplies. Some of the more specialty tools may require further searching such as fine tip edible markers, Halloween sprinkles, gold luster dust, molding chocolate, wafer paper, candy melts, and fondant.
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