Follow this haunting tutorial for some spooky Halloween treats!

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Learn how to make some spooky Halloween treats with this haunting tutorial from Cake It With Justin!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup Salted Butter (Room Temp)
• 1 cup Granulated Sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 2/3 rd cups of all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 1 tbsp pure vanilla or vanilla bean paste
• 1 tsp lemon or almond extract
• extra flour for dusting

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

1. In a stand mixer, or using a hand mixer, beat the room temp.* butter and sugar until it is a pale yellow color at a medium speed for at least 1 minute. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients and mix.
3. Reduce mixer speed to low and add the egg and flavoring. Mix.
4. With mixer speed at low, slowly add the dry ingredients in one cup at a time. Once it has turned into a dough, lay the mix out onto a clean surface and form into a solid ball of dough.
5. Sprinkle some flour on the surface and, using a rolling pin, roll out the dough to about 1/2 to 1/4 of an inch thick. Cut out your shapes and transfer to a cookie tray lined with parchment paper. Make sure the parchment paper is flat.
6. Bake cookies for about 10-12 minutes. Take the cookies out BEFORE they look brown and crispy. Most people bake cookies until they look done, but trust me, take them out a minute or two before they look done to you. Let them rest on the cookie tray and/or transfer them to a wire wrack. I decorate my cookies on the trays they were baked on!
7. Enjoy! Decorate with your favorite royal icing recipe!

• If you don’t have room temperature butter on hand, microwave it in 7 second intervals with the plastic wrapper on until soft to the touch but not melted.

TRADITIONAL ROYAL ICING RECIPE
INGREDIENTS

• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 3 tbsp meringue powder (I use Wilton or Chef Master)
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 tsp of flavoring of choice (I prefer cake batter or an almond and lemon combination)
• 2 tbsp corn syrup

• With a mixer, using the paddle attachment (you can also just use a hand mixer with whisk attachments), slowly beat the powdered sugar, meringue powder, and water on a low speed until combined. Increase speed to medium-high. Beat until color of icing turns whiter and brighter and the texture is full and fluffy; about 2 minutes . Then, add the corn syrup and extracts. Beat until it is thick and stiff. Should be like a thick version of buttercream. At this stage, you’ve created royal icing that is perfect for decorative details on cookies that need to keep their shape like flowers or eyeballs. To thin icing to a “flooding” consistency, mix in water one tsp at a time with a spatula until it is the desired consistency you enjoy working with! Color icing with gel or powdered food color and put them in tipless piping bags and decorate! This can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge!