Sugar Skull Cookies You Can Color!

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Looking for a simple Halloween activity to make with the kids? Bake up a batch of these Sugar Skull Cookies You Can Color with edible markers!

A couple weekends ago, I spent the day with my nieces.  They were having a sleepover at my parents’ house while my brother and sister-in-law were packing up their house for their upcoming move.  So my mom and I started brainstorming ideas to keep the girls busy while they were over. 

Mom had plans to buy a pumpkin painting kit for us to do.  I decided that “craft time with Aunt Jess” would also involve some baking.  My nieces love making cookies!  Since it’s Halloween season, I knew it was the perfect time to break out my sugar skull cookie cutters and make some Day of the Dead cookies!  

My nieces also love to color, so I thought it would be fun to color our cookies with edible markers!  Sugar skulls, traditionally, are pretty ornate and colorful.  Edible markers made it fun and easy to decorate our cookies.  My nieces couldn’t believe that we were using markers on our cookies!

My four year old niece is such a help!  I told her that I would be putting our cookies up on my website.  I had brought my camera equipment and some backdrops with me to my parents’ house to take pictures.  My niece came out to the car with me to get everything and insisted that she help carry a few things back to the house. I loved having an assistant for the day!

We never got around to taking pictures (I took them at home instead), but we had a ton of fun making these cookies together!  I even left the sugar skull cookie cutters behind so the girls could use them in Play-Doh!

These sugar skull cookies are perfect for kids who love to color! Here’s how to easily make these sugar cookies for Halloween:

Bake ’em!

I have to admit that I cut major corners with my sugar cookie recipe.  I was making these with small children after all!  So I used a pouch of Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix.  My “assistant” then asked to help out again.  I added the eggs and butter and she mixed!

Then, both nieces helped cut out shapes using the sugar skull cookie cutters.  First, you cut out the shape of the skull.  Then, you turn the cookie cutter over and press the design into the cookie dough.

We baked the cookies according to the instructions on the package of mix and let them cool completely before decorating.

Color ’em!

Next came the fun part!  Coloring our cookies!  We used Wilton Food Writer markers in primary colors and neon colors.  They were easy to use on our sugar cookies and my nieces had a blast decorating these sugar skulls!

Eat ’em!

The best part of making cookies is eating them!  Now, be forewarned that the black marker did make a bit of a mess out of my nieces’ mouths.  But it’s all part of the fun. Right?  If you don’t want to scrub black marker off your kids’ faces, just use the other colors on your cookies.  They’ll still look great!

While I was hanging out with my nieces all day, I said to my mom, “Mommy brain is totally a thing!”  We set the timer on the oven, but never hit preheat!  I couldn’t figure out why the cookies weren’t baking!  Then, I looked at the oven temperature and realized my mistake.  Duh!

It all worked out in the end!  I had a nice day spending quality time with my nieces and doing Halloween activities!  We made a fun mess out of painting pumpkins and had a great time making our cookies! If your kids love to color, this is such a fun way to let them get creative in the kitchen!

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What’s your favorite kid-friendly Halloween activity?