For this installment of must-have munchies, we’re going to attempt something a bit different – homemade Haunted Mansion cookies. Using a recipe found online and several creepy cool Haunted Mansion cookie cutters, we’ll make some ghoulishly delightful spooky sweets.
For these dark delights, we’re using 3D printed cookie cutters and a powerfully pleasant potion list that Madame Leota would love. This is something most foolish mortals should be able to do in the comfort of their own crypt.
Boo-tiful beginning
Inspiration for this incantation comes from Donna Dark Collins otherworldly spread of tempting treats as featured in this At Home Imagineering story. We found the recipe online (thanks to the Nerdist). Most of the ingredients were already haunting the cobwebbed cabinets here at home (flour, sugar, butter, baking powder, vanilla extract, egg, and salt). A quick trip to the local craft store gave us the food dye.
Cutting, Cutting, Cutting
Cookie cutters were custom crafted by a few sellers on eBay (note – as they are made with food grade plastics, they cannot go in the dishwasher or, for that matter, very hot water). For our ethereal experiment, we called in the following spirits: Ezra, Gus, and Phineas (THEE Hitchhiking ghosts), Madame Leota (tombstone), Hattie’s disembodied head (hatbox ghost), (living?) Haunted Mansion wallpaper, 13-hour grandfather clock, and the Mansion’s very own entrance sign.
UPDATE: These can also be found on Amazon (thanks to ITM reader Mindy H for the heads up!):
Purchase here ($18.99 for a set of six + shipping)
Making a macabre mix
Directions for these intended to vanish mortal mouth-watering morsels were pretty easy to follow. After combining the flour, baking powder and salt (and, as directed, setting aside), we turned to our trusty 50+ year old electric mixer (used to be mom’s RIP, difficult to replace) to cream the butter and sugar. Egg and vanilla were added next.
Upon adding a terrifying teal (thought that looked better than sky blue), minor disaster descended. Our beloved, ancient mixer gave up the ghost (insert sad face here).
Albeit behind the scenes, as mixing in dry ingredients while using a hand mixer required more attention than allowed for photos, the remaining items were mixed together. This ghostly green dough was given a thin plastic skin and laid to rest (for an hour) in the ‘fridge. A guard was also placed to ensure no premature frights.
A bewitching hour (and a half) later . . .
After an hour to chill, our ghostly dough made its way from fridge to cutting board. Rolled to the perfect thickness, creepy cookie cutters were turned to task. Soon sweet spirits began to rise from the counter and, eventually, into a 350-degree oven for a ten-minute transformation.
Baker’s note: The more detailed denizens decided to be difficult- even after chilling dough for 90 minutes and using excessive flour, hitchhiking ghosts, hatbox ghost, and 13-hour clock proved mightier than this first attempt could handle. The dough stuck in the nook and crannies of these cutters making their end result unrecognizable. Mansion sign, wallpaper and Leota tombstone turned out acceptable Haunted Mansion cookies. In the future, I might leave the dough to chill longer. Also, the oven time needed an extra 2-4 minutes to complete the cooking process.
Final edible arrangements
The results haunt for themselves – a magnificently macabre mix of three different, darkly delightful Haunted Mansion cookies – must have munchies were soon ready to vanish. Of course, no spooky sampling allowed without first extending extra special ghostly gratitude to kitchen witch Jonna N for her baking assistance and guidance.
Have you attempted to call in the sweet (or savory) spirits by conjuring Haunted Mansion treats in your crypt’s kitchen? Please share your ghostly goodies story in the comments.
Source and images: Michael Gavin, Donna Dark Collins, Nerdist, eBay