Whether you’re a kid or an adult you’ll love making these adorable candy corn shortbread cookies. Candy Corn is the iconic Halloween symbol for candy! I have to say I’ve never really enjoyed the taste of candy corn though (sorry to the candy corn fans), it’s 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. They are a fun slice and bake cookie that is easy to whip up with only a few key ingredients.I promise this will be one of your top shortbread cookie recipes and it’s a great way to spread some Halloween cheer!
Ingredients
The key to these cookies is the butter! Really any shortbread cookie at that. So it’s essential to buy top quality butter as it makes all the difference! It provides a creamy flavour which is rich and well balanced.
- All-purpose flour
- Unsalted butter
- Icing sugar
- Pure vanilla extract
- Salt
- Orange food colouring
- Yellow food colouring
Variation
You don’t have to use this recipe just for Halloween cookies; you can make them into any shape you like or any colour combo too.
Gift
These fun treats make cute hostess gifts or treat bags for your next Halloween party. I packed candy corn shortbread cookies in clear polkadot cellophane bags with sweet candy corn.
Tips for the Perfect Candy Corn Shortbread Cookies
- Use gel food colour to achieve strong accurate colours.
- If you don’t have gel food colour and you need to make orange, combine a 1:1 ratio of yellow and red liquid food colouring.
- If your dough is getting too soft to handle (roll into a log) then place it back in the refrigerator to slightly firm up, approx. 12 minutes. You don’t want the dough to be too firm either as it will be more difficult to shape into a triangle.
- Use a large piece of wax paper to help shape the dough into a triangle.
- The firmer the log the easier it will be to slice, so don’t rush this stage. Let the triangle log sit in the refrigerator for at least 1-2 hours or overnight.
- Make sure to roll the logs of dough nice and tight or you may end up with little air holes in the cookies.
- Leave lots of room on the cookie sheet for the air to circulate around the cookies. Overcrowding the cookie sheet will cause uneven baking (and will take longer to bake).
Storing Candy Corn Cookies
Shortbread cookies have a long shelf life. Store cookies in an airtight container or tin for up to two weeks or freeze for up to two months.
How To Make Candy Corn Shortbread Cookies
Step One: Make your cookie dough in an electric mixer. Roll the dough in a ball, and divide dough in half. Then take one half of the dough and divide it into one third. You should have 3 cookie dough balls gradually getting smaller. Shape dough into balls. Note: If you have a scale the weights of each ball will be 292 g, 190 g, and 100 g. For the largest ball, add yellow food colouring in the middle of the dough. Fold the dough over the food colouring and work in with your hands until it’s bright yellow. For the second largest ball, use orange food colouring. Leave the smallest ball as is.
Step Two: Roll the balls into logs approx. 13″ long. Place logs on top of each other; yellow dough on the bottom, orange dough in the middle and plain/white dough on top. Shape into a triangle by pressing one side of the log flat against your cutting board, and lightly press down to flatten. Then roll over to the other side and press down. Note: you can use a large piece of wax paper to help shape the dough into a triangle. Refrigerate the triangle log until firm, approx. 1 hour.
Step Three: Once the cookie dough is firm, with a sharp knife slice the log into ½-inch thick slices and place cookies on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until the bottoms are starting to turn golden brown. Let cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before removing to a wire rack.
Candy Corn Shortbread
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!
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 25 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 25 mins
- Yield: 24 1x
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 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
- yellow food colouring
- orange food colouring
Instructions
- In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat butter, sugar, vanilla and salt until well combined.
- Turn the mixer to low speed and slowly add flour to the butter mixture, turn the speed up and mix well.
- Roll the dough in a ball, and divide the dough in half. Then take one half of the dough and divide it into one third. You should have 3 balls gradually getting smaller (see picture guide above for reference). Shape dough into balls. Note: If you have a scale the weights of each ball will be 292 g, 190 g, and 100 g.
- Flatten the largest ball out, drop approx. 10-15 drops of yellow food colouring in 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 bright yellow (add as much food colour as you like until you reach your desired colour, just add a little bit at a time).
- For second largest ball, use orange food colouring (if you don’t have orange, you can make it by adding 1:1 ratio of yellow and red food colouring).
- Leave the smallest ball as is.
- Roll balls into logs approx. 13″ long (If your dough is too soft to work with refrigerate it for 15 minutes or until slightly firm, or easier to handle).
- Place logs on top of each other; yellow on the bottom, orange in the middle and plain on top.
- Shape into a triangle by pressing one side of the log flat against your cutting board, and lightly press down to flatten. Then roll over to the other side and press. Note: you can use a large piece of wax paper to help shape the dough into a triangle.
- Refrigerate the triangle log until firm, approx. 1 hour.
- Preheat your oven to 300˚F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper, set aside.
- Once cookie dough is firm, with a sharp knife slice the log into ½” thick slices and place on the prepared baking sheet approx. 1″ apart.
- Bake in the middle of the oven for 22-25 mins, until slightly golden brown on the bottom.
- Let cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before removing to a cooling rack.
Notes
Store cookies in an airtight container for up to two weeks.
You can also make up the dough the night before and keep in the fridge until you are ready to bake the next day.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Cookie
- Calories: 121
- Sugar: 3.7g
- Sodium: 78mg
- Fat: 7.8g
- Saturated Fat: 4.9g
- Unsaturated Fat: 0
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 11.7g
- Fiber: 0.3g
- Protein: 1.2g
- Cholesterol: 20mg
Keywords: Shortbread, Cookies, Halloween, Candy Corn
Happy Baking!!
FAQ’s
No, these candy corn shortbread cookies are shaped to look like the candy but taste like a buttery shortbread.
No, candy corn shortbread cookies are buttery and not sweet at all like the candy.
Yes, shortbread cookies have a long shelf life. Store baked cookies in an airtight container or tin for up to two weeks or freeze for up to two months. Otherwise, you can make the cookie dough, shape it into a triangle, wrap in plastic wrap and leave for 1-2 days in the refrigerator before baking or freeze the cookie log for up to one month.
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these are so cute!