Candy Corn Shortbread perfect for Halloween

Candy Corn; is the iconic halloween symbol for candy! I have to say I’ve never really enjoyed the taste of candy corn though, it’s way too sugary for me! Yes I know it sounds weird, a dessert girl saying it’s too sugary, but I’m more of a butter girl. If you’ve been following my posts and recipes you’ll know how much I love butter and its rich full flavours.

Nonetheless, I do love being festive around the holidays, so if I don’t like candy corn why not make it into a buttery treat that I will love?! And oh, how do I love these candy corn shortbread cookies. I promise this will be one of your top shortbread cookie recipes (you don’t have to use this recipe just for halloween and you can make them into any shape you desire).

The key you ask? Well, butter of course! Please, don’t cheap out on your ingredients, please! Especially when it’s your main ingredient! I use Stirling butter for my shortbread cookie recipes, it has a higher butter fat content (yum), and it makes all the difference! Its creamy in flavour is rich and its texture provides a dense, balanced taste.

Whether you’re a kid or an adult you’ll love making these adorable candy corn shortbread cookies; well, at least I did! They are pretty simple to make and can be fun to involve the kids. They’ll enjoy getting their hands right in there, playing with food colouring and shaping the dough! I’ve done a ‘picture how to guide‘ to make it even simpler for you to follow the recipe (see below).

They make a cute hostess gift or even treat bag gifts for your guests at your next halloween party. I packed my candy corn shortbread cookies in clear polkadot cellophane bags with actual candy corn and tied them with black and white ribbon. They look adorable if you ask me!

A How-to Picture Guide

Divide into 3 balls of dough; (add food colour) yellow, orange, white. Yellow should have the most ratio of dough, followed by orange and then white.
Roll dough into logs about 13 inches long.
Stack logs on top of each other; yellow, orange, and white on top.
Shape into a triangle by pressing (gently) the entire log onto its side, then the opposite side. Refrigerate.
Slice into 1/2 inch thick pieces.

Follow the recipe below using the pictures as a guideline.

Candy Corn Shortbread

Print Recipe

Candy Corn is the iconic halloween symbol for candy! But have you ever seen candy corn shaped shortbread? These super cute cookies are not only full of buttery deliciousness, are fun to make but also make cute halloween gift bags or treats!

Author: Alie Romano
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 25 mins
Total Time: 1 hour 25 mins
Yield: 24 1x
Category: Cookies
Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Units Scale

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup sifted icing sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups all-purpose flour

Instructions

In stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat together butter, sugar, vanilla and salt until light and fluffy.
Mix in flour just until combined.
Roll dough in a ball, divide dough in half. Take one half of the dough and divide into one third. You should have 3 balls gradually getting smaller (see picture guide above for reference). Shape into balls.
Flatten the largest ball out, drop approx. 8 drops of yellow food colouring in the the middle of the dough. Lightly fold the dough over the food colouring and work in with your hands until you reach an even colour of yellow dough (add as much food colour as you like until you reach your desired colour).
Repeat with the second largest ball, using the colour orange (if you don’t have orange, your food colouring box should tell you how to achieve the colour on the back of the box).
Leave the smallest ball as is.
Roll balls into logs approx. 13″ long (If your dough is too soft to work with refrigerate for 15 minutes or until firmer).
Place logs on top of each other; yellow on the bottom, orange in the middle and white on top.
Shape into a triangle by pressing one side of the log flat against your cutting board, lightly press down to flatten. Then roll over to the other side and press.
Refrigerate until firm about 30 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 300˚F.
Meanwhile line your baking sheet with parchment paper, set aside.
Once firm, with a sharp knife slice the log into ½” thick slices and place on prepared baking sheet approx. 1″ apart.
Bake in the middle of the oven for 25-30 mins, until slightly golden brown on the bottom.
Let cool on the tray for a few minutes before removing to a cooling rack.

Notes

You can make the cookies ahead of time and keep them in an airtight container for up to a week. You can also make up the dough the night before and keep in the fridge until you are ready to bake the next day.