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Halloween Cookies are an easy pudding cookie recipe with Halloween sprinkles and candy! These chocolate chip cookies are all dressed up for Halloween! 

cookies with Halloween themed m&ms and sprinkles baked in.


Easy Halloween Cookies

In all honestly, trick-or-treating was never my Halloween jam. I hated being out after dark with a cranky toddler – who took days to catch up on sleep – when I would have rather been at home watching TV and drinking wine.

No, my favorite part of Halloween are the fun treats and parties and activities. I may not want to trick-or-treat but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to make all the Halloween treats!

What makes the best Halloween cookies? Dressing up cookies with Halloween M&Ms, sprinkles, and candy eyeballs!

These Halloween Cookies are the perfect dessert for Halloween parties: they’re easy and no fuss with fun sprinkles!

ingredients in Halloween cookies laid out on a marble counter.

Important Ingredients

  • My original pudding cookie recipe uses a combination of unsalted butter and brown sugar. I love the flavor that brown sugar adds to cookies and it is an additional method to keep them soft.
  • Instant Pudding Mix – be sure to buy INSTANT and it can be any flavor.
  • Halloween M&Ms and Halloween Sprinkles – like a colorful mix of jimmies and candy eyeballs!

Click to see the recipe card below for full ingredients & instructions!

process shot of halloween cookies.
process shot of halloween cookies.
process shot of halloween cookies.
process shot of halloween cookies.
process shot of halloween cookies.

How to make Halloween Cookies

  • Cream butter and sugar until fluffy.
  • Add egg, vanilla, baking soda, salt, and instant pudding mix.
  • Mix in all purpose flour.
  • Add Halloween candies.
  • Scoop 2 tablespoon cookie dough balls and place on a cookie sheet. Chill at least 30 minutes, then bake until no longer glossy.
cookies with Halloween themed m&ms and sprinkles baked in.

My favorite celebration cookies are Pudding Cookies!

I love how versatile they are. You can make any flavor cookie recipe just by adding a box of instant pudding! Whether you want vanilla, lemon, chocolate, cheesecake or any other flavor cookie, you just add that flavor pudding mix to your dough.

I have made so many different kinds of pudding cookies for every occasion: Christmas, Valentine’s Day, 4th of July, Easter, and now Halloween!

This cookie dough is easy to make, has tons of flavor from the added pudding mix, and they stay soft for days. These are so much better than your normal cookie recipe!

However, if you prefer you could also turn my Chocolate Chip Cookies or Sugar Cookies into Halloween Cookies!

cookies with Halloween themed m&ms and sprinkles baked in.

Tips for making the best Halloween Pudding Cookies:

  • Don’t skip chilling the dough! Not only does it help the flavor meld but it also helps keep them puffy after baking.
  • Be sure to use INSTANT pudding mix and NOT sugar-free!
  • Use any color M&Ms and sprinkles to make your favorite cookie. I added the eyes at the end to make them monster cookies!
  • Get the look like I have: when they first come out of the oven add a few more M&Ms to the top of the cookies (press them on) before the cookies cool. Do the same with the sugar eyes, if you’re using, and the cookies will be extra fun.

FAQs

How long do pudding cookies last?

These will last in an airtight container almost a week before getting stale.

Can you freeze these cookies?

Freeze for up to 3 months in an airtight container.

cookies with Halloween themed m&ms and sprinkles baked in.

Halloween Cookies Recipe (Pudding Cookies)

4.88 from 70 votes
Halloween Cookies are an easy pudding cookie recipe with Halloween sprinkles and candy! These chocolate chip cookies are all dressed up for Halloween! #halloween #cookie #easy

Recipe Video

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Yield 24 cookies
Serving Size 1 cookie
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Ingredients
 

  • ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter softened
  • ¾ cup (150g) brown sugar packed
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 3.4 ounces box Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 ¼ cups (155g) all purpose flour
  • ¼ cup Halloween sprinkles
  • ¾ cup Halloween M&Ms any flavor
  • Candy eyes optional
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Instructions

  • Note: This dough requires chilling.
  • Cream butter and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. (You can also use a hand mixer.) Mix in egg and vanilla until smooth. Add pudding mix, baking soda, and salt. Mix until combined. Mix in flour, then stir in sprinkles and M&Ms.
  • Scoop 2 tablespoon balls of cookie dough onto a cookie sheet covered with parchment or a silpat baking mat. There’s no need to space them out, you’re going to chill them. Cover and chill for at least 30 minutes.
  • Preheat oven to 350°F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or silpat baking mats. Place chilled cookie dough balls 2” apart on cookie sheet. Bake 9-11 minutes or until the edges just start to turn brown. If desired, press 1 or 2 candy eyes and 3-4 more M&Ms into the freshly baked cookies.
  • Cool 5 minutes on cookie sheet before transferring to a rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to 4 days or freeze for up to one month.

Recipe Nutrition

Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 127kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 20mg | Sodium: 58mg | Potassium: 19mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 145IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 17mg | Iron: 1mg
Nutritional information not guaranteed to be accurate
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Author Dorothy Kern

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Dorothy Kern

Welcome to Crazy for Crust, where I share recipes that are sometimes crazy, often with a crust, and always served with a slice of life.

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4.88 from 70 votes (51 ratings without comment)

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51 Comments

  1. My 11 year old daughter just made these and they turned out so good! We did have to bake ours a little longer than 11 minutes (like another reader said)…it was about 14 minutes when I could see that they cracked and started to spread a little. Yum!! Thank you!

    Reply

  3. These were simple and fun to make! Mine didn’t seem done after the 11 minutes in the oven. I had to bake them longer. Anyone else?

    Reply

    1. Sometimes ovens vary in bake time, and it also can take a little longer if they have been chilled longer than a couple hours.

      Reply

  4. I make cookies for a weekly meeting where they know me as “the cookie lady”. I made these cookies last week, but with regular M&Ms, and they were VERY popular. This week I’m going to use the same base recipe but I added 8 oz of crushed Oreo’s. They’re chilling in my fridge right now and I can’t wait to see how they turn out.

    Reply