Bat Cookies Recipes

CHOCOLATE BAT COOKIES

Steps:

• In large bowl, beat butter, granulated sugar, egg and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon. Stir in flour, cocoa and salt. Divide dough in half. Flatten each portion into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate 1 hour.
• Heat oven to 375°F. On lightly floured surface, roll one portion of dough at a time 1/8 inch thick. (Keep remaining dough in refrigerator until ready to roll.) Cut with 4 1/2x1/2-inch bat-shaped cookie cutter. (If dough becomes too sticky to cut, refrigerate 10 minutes before rerolling.) Place 2 red cinnamon candies on each cookie for eyes. Sprinkle with sugar crystals. On ungreased cookie sheet, place cookies about 1 inch apart.
• Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are set. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack.

BITE THE BAT COOKIE CONTEST

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out cookie dough to a 1/4-inch thickness and cut with bat cookie cutters. If you can't find a bat cookie cutter, cut a bat shape out of lightweight cardboard, place it on the rolled out cookie dough and trace around with a sharp knife. Place the cookies on a cookie sheet. Poke a hole on the top of each bat cookie using a drinking straw. Bake for 7 to 11 minutes or until lightly brown. Two minutes before the cookies come out of the oven, re-poke the holes to make sure they are large enough for threading a string. Remove cookies from the cookie sheet and cool on a cooling rack. Thread with 2 to 3-foot lengths of string or fishing line. Frost the cookies and add red hots candy for eyes. String a clothesline across the room (preferably the basement, porch or another room where you don't mind getting crumbs on the floor). Hang the cookies on the clothesline so they fall to the height of the children's shoulders. If you're hosting a party with a variety of ages, be sure to hang the strings at different lengths. To play, instruct the children to keep their hands behind their backs and try to eat the cookies with their mouths only. The first child to eat the whole cookie wins.

HALLOWEEN COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, and salt; set aside.
• In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy; beat in egg. On low speed, mix in flour mixture. Divide dough in half, and form into 2 disks, each about 3/4 inch thick. Wrap disks in plastic; chill until firm, at least 45 minutes and up to 2 days.
• On a lightly floured sheet of waxed paper, using a floured rolling pin, roll dough 1/2 inch thick. (If dough becomes too soft to work with, refrigerate for a few minutes.)
• Using 2- to 3-inch Halloween cookie cutters, cut out shapes, dipping cutters in flour as necessary to prevent sticking; place on a baking sheet, spacing them 1 inch apart.
• Bake until surface is dry to the touch, 10 to 15 minutes (if decorating, press candies into dough halfway through baking). Cool cookies 1 to 2 minutes on baking sheet; transfer to a rack to cool completely.

CHOCOLATE BAT BISCUITS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and line two baking sheets with baking parchment. Beat the butter and sugar together until creamy and pale, then beat in the yolk, the vanilla and milk. Sift the flour, coffee, cocoa and salt into the bowl, then mix together to make a soft dough. Shape the dough into a disc, wrap and chill for 15 mins.
• Dust the dough all over with a little flour, then roll it between two large sheets of baking parchment, to the thickness of a £1 coin. Remove the top layer of the paper, stamp shapes with an 8cm bat (or other) cutter, and carefully lift to the lined sheets using a palette knife. Re-roll the trimmings. Cut a 1.5cm x 5mm notch at the base of each bat's body. This is about right to sit the bats on thick tumblers; if your glasses are finer-edged, make the notches thinner so that the bats stay put. Bake for 10 mins or until the biscuits feel sandy and smell rich and chocolatey. Cool on the sheets for 5 mins, then lift the cookies onto a wire rack and cool completely.
• To decorate, melt the chocolate over a pan of simmering water or in the microwave. One biscuit at a time, brush chocolate over the bat ears and wings with a small paintbrush, then cover with chocolate sprinkles. Tap off the excess. Pipe faces and fangs onto your bats, then leave to dry. Keep in an airtight container for up to a week.

FRUITCAKE BAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Grease and flour a 13x9x2-inch pan. (Or spray with nonfat cooking spray).
• In a small bowl, blend flour, salt, soda, cinnamon and nutmeg.
• In a large bowl, beat butter, sugar, and eggs at medium speed until light and fluffy. Mix in rum or brandy extract.
• Stir in flour, dates, candied fruits, 1/2 cup cherries and nuts. Spread in prepared pan and bake 30 minutes until golden. Cool on wire rack, in pan.
• In the meantime, prepare the frosting by mixing together sugar and milk. Stir until smooth; then cover with a damp cloth until ready to use.
• When cake has cooled, frost, suing a spatula.
• Cut into 2 x 1-inch bars and decorate with red and green candied cherries. Store in a covered container, with pieces of wax paper between layers.