Easy Halloween Cookie Decorating Ideas: Turn Any Cookie Into a Spooky

October 28, 2026 3 min read

Ask anyone what makes a Halloween cookie a Halloween cookie and the answer is almost never the dough. It is the ghost, the spider web, the little candy eyes staring back at you. The cookie underneath can be whatever you already love to bake, and a few simple decorations will turn it into something spooky in a couple of minutes.

Why the decoration does the work

A plain sugar cookie, a chewy chocolate chip, and a spiced pumpkin cookie all become a Halloween cookie the same way: with a face, a web, or a wrapping of icing on top. That means you do not need a special recipe. Use your favorite cookie, bake it the way you always do, let it cool completely, and decorate it. Warm cookies melt icing and marshmallow right off, so patience at the cooling rack pays off.

The marshmallow spider web

This one comes from our Double Chocolate Spider Web Cookies, and it works on any cookie, especially a dark one where the white web shows. Melt a few marshmallows in the microwave for about 45 seconds, let them cool for a few seconds so they do not burn your fingers, then pinch a little between the thumb and index finger of both hands and pull it into strands. Lay the web over a cookie and touch the edges so it sticks to the cookie and not to your fingers. Add a candy eye or two if you like.

The marshmallow ghost

Press a large marshmallow onto the center of a cooled cookie with a dab of frosting so it stays put. Whisk powdered sugar with milk, a teaspoon at a time, until you have a thin icing that falls off a spoon in a ribbon. Spoon it over the marshmallow so it drapes down onto the cookie like a sheet, then add two mini chocolate chips or dots of icing for eyes before it sets.

The two-eye ghost

This is the easiest ghost there is. Spread a swoop of white frosting over a cooled cookie with the back of a spoon or a small spatula, leaving the edges a little uneven, then press in two candy eyes or mini chocolate chips. A tiny oval mouth in chocolate icing is optional.

The mummy

Pipe or drizzle strips of white icing back and forth across a cooled cookie, leaving a small gap near the top. Set two candy eyes in the gap, and the cookie looks like it is peeking out from its bandages. Messy stripes look better than neat ones.

The pumpkin face

Tint icing orange and spread it over a cooled cookie, then draw on a jack-o'-lantern face with chocolate icing, or press in mini chocolate chips for the eyes and mouth. A small stem in green icing finishes it.

The monster

Spread any bright color of icing, such as green or purple, over a cooled cookie and press in one, two, or three candy eyes at different heights. A zigzag mouth in chocolate icing is all the personality it needs, and no two monsters should match.

Pick a cookie to decorate

Any of these cookies makes a good base. Dark cookies show white ghosts and webs best, and flat, sturdy cookies hold icing best.

Double Chocolate Spider Web Cookies: fudgy and dark, the natural base for a marshmallow web.

Ghost Pop Tarts: a ghost built right into the cookie, filled with Nutella, amarena cherry, or fig.

Pumpkin Sugar Cookies with Pumpkin Spice Icing: cut-outs that hold their shape, ideal for ghosts, mummies, and pumpkins.

Brown Butter Maple Pumpkin Cookies: big and chewy, perfect for a monster face.

Pumpkin Ricotta Cookies: soft and cake-like, already dipped in a pumpkin spice glaze.

Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies: the everyday favorite, ready for a two-eye ghost.

Bring your own favorite cookie to the party, too. If it bakes flat and cools completely, it can wear any of these faces.

Featured DaTerra product:

Baking Sheet/Cookie Sheet Twin Pack

Decorating means baking a lot of cookies, and two ceramic nonstick sheets let you keep one batch baking while the other cools.