Witch Hat Cookies

Name: Witch Hat Cookies
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 145 min
Ingredients: 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour; 2 teaspoons cornstarch; ½ teaspoon baking soda; ¼ teaspoon baking powder; ⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt; ½ cup unsalted butter (softened); 1 cup granulated sugar; 1 large egg; ¾ cup creamy peanut butter; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; purple gel food coloring; Halloween sprinkles; purple sanding sugar; 33 Hugs candies (or Kisses, unwrapped)

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Halloween witch hat cookies are a fun purple peanut butter cookies that are topped with a Hershey's Hug and then coated in sanding sugar and sprinkles. This halloween cookies recipe is perfectly festive and so much fun to make!

This festive peanut butter cookie is definitely one of my favorite cookies that I've made for Halloween. They're fun to make and so cute when you're done!

Witch cookies are so simple to make, you can get the children in the kitchen to help you whip up a batch of these tasty cookies.

This was inspired by another Halloween cookie recipe on Kitchen Divas and is so much fun when served up with these Halloween rice krispie treats.

These cookies come out of the oven puffy, but they flatten slightly as they cool. The sanding sugar on top gives it a festive look, but also makes them taste delicious!

These fun witch hat cookies are perfect for parties, school events, send home treats from school parties, play dates, teachers gifts at Halloween time, fall festivals and for snacking anytime of year.

Why You Will Love this Recipe

Who doesn’t like cookies with sprinkles? These easy Halloween treats have all of the flavors people love: chewy, peanut buttery dough rolled in colorful sprinkles.

Easy to make for groups and perfect for your Halloween party
Great to give as a gift.
A fun Halloween activity for kids. They love to help make these cookies
Lots of ways to change them up with different sprinkles and colors!
Peanut buttery flavor with a nice crunch for the sugar/sprinkles on the outside.

You may not need trick-or-treaters because everyone will enjoy these purple cookies just as much! How cute are these!

Ingredients

All you need are simple baking ingredients to make the best witch hat cookies with Hershey's kisses. Let's look at what goes into making these fun and festive Halloween cookies.

All-purpose flour with a touch of cornstarch: Creates the soft and chewy base of these cookies.
Leavening: We'll be using a combination of baking soda and baking powder.
Butter: Use unsalted butter for more control over the flavor. If you use regular salted butter, be sure to adjust or eliminate the salt added to the cookie dough.
Granulated sugar: Sweetens and create texture in the cookies.
Egg: Provides structure to the cookie dough.
Creamy peanut butter: What gives these cookies their peanut butter flavor. You can also use chunky peanut butter.
Gel food coloring: Preferred over liquid since it doesn't effect the consistency of the dough when adding high amounts of food coloring to get a more intense color. I used purple but you can use other colors as well such as green or orange.
Decorations: Grab some Halloween sprinkles or colored sanding sugar.
Witch hats: Use Hugs candies or chocolate kisses on top to create the witchy look.

See the recipe card for the full list of ingredients and quantities of each.

How to Make Witch Hat Cookies

Here's an overview of how to make this Halloween cookie recipe. See the recipe card for detailed instructions.

Gather your ingredients together and line a sheet tray with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, stir together the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder, and salt until combined, set aside.

Dry ingredients in a bowl to make purple Halloween cookies.

Cream the butter with the sugar for two minutes In a large bowl.
Add the egg and mix it in until combined.

Butter and sugar inside a stand mixer bowl.

An egg is added to the butter and sugar mixture.

Add the peanut butter and vanilla extract to the cookie dough and mix it in until combined.
Add the dry mixture to the wet.

Peanut butter and vanilla added to the stand mixer bowl.

Dry mixture placed on top of the wet mixture inside the stand mixture bowl.

Mix the cookie dough all together.
Add the violet-colored gel food coloring until you achieve the color you want. I like to give a few good stirs by hand to make sure the color is evenly distributed.

Wet and dry ingredients are mixed well using a stand mixer.

Violet colored food gel is added to the cookie dough.

Use a one tablespoon cookie scoop (or you can eyeball it) to shape the dough into balls. Place the scoops of the dough on the baking tray not touching but close together.
Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 2 hours to chill, even best overnight if you have the time.

Scoops of cookie batter added to a lined baking sheet.

After chilling the dough, preheat the oven to 350°F. Place the sprinkles or sanding sugar into a small bowl.
Roll the cookie dough into a smooth ball, then roll it in the sprinkles or sugar. Place the cookies about two inches apart on the sheet trays.

Chilled cookie balls rolled in purple sprinkles.

Cookie dough balls coated in sprinkles placed onto a baking sheet.

Bake the cookies for 9-11 minutes until puffed up and starting to crack. Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes on the sheet tray.
Press a hug in the center of each cookie until it sticks.
Place the tray directly into the freezer for 10 minutes to prevent the chocolate from melting.

TOP TIP: Get your freezer ready while the baking so after cookies cool for 5 minutes you immediately put a hug or kiss in the center of each cookie and place the tray right into the freezer for 10 minutes to prevent the chocolate from melting.

Placing a kisses chocolate in the center of the cookie dough.

Substitutions and Variations

Don't have the correct ingredients on hand? Or want to change something up? Here are some helpful tips for you to change your witch cookies.

No Purple? - Use your favorite color or none at all.
Sprinkles? - I used these Halloween sprinkles. However you can use any type of sprinkles that you have on hand, or that you find in your local supermarkets, or none at all.
No Peanut Butter? - Make witch hat sugar cookies with this sugar cookie recipe instead and add your candy witch hat, coloring and sprinkles as desired.

If you love recipes like this, you may also enjoy pumpkin cake mix cookies.

A hand holding a witch hat cookie with a bite taken.

Storage

Room temperature: Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Freezer: Place the cookies in a single layer in a freezer bag or stack separated by parchment paper in a freezer container. These cookies will keep in the freezer for up to three months. When ready to eat, let them defrost on the countertop.

Make ahead: They work great to make ahead. You can even make them for large groups in batches and freeze until you need them.

What to Serve with Halloween Cookies

Whether you're making a batch for a party or just the family at home, here are some ideas!

Hot Cocoa: Perfect if it's cold outside you can make Regular Hot Hot Chocolate, Peppermint Hot Chocolate or Mexican Hot Chocolate.
A Selection of Halloween Recipes: I love them with caramel apples and Halloween brownies.
Use them as a teacher's gift or party favor by wrapping them up in a festive bag.

Expert Tips

Here's some tips to keep in mind so your purple Halloween cookies bake up perfectly!

Don't skip the cornstarch. It keeps these Halloween cookies soft and chewy.
Having trouble getting the sprinkles to stick? Use sanding sugar instead or press firmly while rolling to get them to stick.
Use the traditional Hershey's' milk chocolate kisses or the white chocolate Hugs with stripes. I love white chocolate so I use Hugs and I think they stand out so well against the purple cookie.
Make sure that you use gel food coloring as it is stronger than liquid food coloring. I used Wilton brand "violet" food gel coloring.

Two witch hat cookies on a towel on the counter with more Halloween cookies in background.

FAQ

Here are some questions I get about making witch cookies!

What is sanding sugar?

Sanding sugar is finely ground up sugar that is typically colored. When using sanding sugar in baking, you use it similar to sprinkles. This is the sanding sugar that I used to make these witch hat cookies.

Can I leave out the food coloring?

Yes, you can leave the food coloring out. However, the cookies will look white rather than purple but will not change the taste of your cookies.

Should I use liquid or food coloring gel?

It does not matter what type of food coloring you use. I think that a gel-based food coloring is best because it will be more concentrated than liquid food coloring, which gives you a brighter and more vibrant color to your cookies. I used food coloring gel in shade violet, about ½ of a container was used to achieve the purple color.

Why use cornstarch in these Halloween Witch Hat cookies?

Cornstarch is used to keep the cookies from spreading too much. If you use all-purpose flour and bake at a lower temperature, your cookies will spread while baking. Using cornstarch keeps the cookie from spreading too much.