Bat Cookies (Chocolate Sugar Cookies)

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This post and recipe was created for #HalloweenTreatsWeek! I was sent samples by some of our sponsors but as always opinions are 100% mine.

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These Halloween Bat Cookies are a delicious chocolate sugar cookie topped with pure melted chocolate and sprinkles for an easy fright inspired treat. Perfectly tender chocolate dough is the perfect look for sugar cookie bats, and the sprinkles make them fun for kids to decorate and enjoy.

a plate of chocolate bat sugar cookies with sprinkles

Freshly baked cookies are a treat I’m super grateful to be able to eat, and more grateful to know how to bake. But…I have an admission. I don’t love decorating them. I’m not skilled with the fine tipped pastry bags, nor are my hands steady enough to pipe intricate lacy designs on my sugar cookies.

BUT I have a kiddo, and I like fun cookies! So I developed this simple but adorable Halloween bat cookie. I flavored the base of my Crisco Sugar Cookie dough with chocolate to give the bats the right color, then spread on melted dark chocolate (which is way easier than icing) and topped them with sprinkles. It was easy enough for anyone to do, no piping bag required.

Take a look more spooky Halloween recipes from our #HalloweenTreatsWeek Bloggers today:  Halloween Cookies & Bars: Halloween Cakes & Cupcakes: Halloween Brownies: Halloween Pies & Cheesecakes: Halloween Drinks: Chilled Halloween Treats: Sweet Halloween Treats: Savory Halloween Recipes: 

Ingredients

I have a deep love for sugar cookies. My heritage recipe has never failed me (they were even the first cookie I made for my now husband!), and the dough, thanks largely to the shortening, is easy to deal with and perfectly tender.

Ingredients for bat sugar cookies - sugar, egg, flour, cocoa powder, shortening, spinrkles and chocolate

In the end, this dough works just as well as the original, but with a few key changes. To get started you’ll need some basic ingredients.

  • All purpose flour – going with an alternative flour may make the dough to sticky or dry.
  • Cocoa powder – either natural or dutch processed cocoa will work! Read more about which you’d prefer in my Cooking with Chocolate guide!
  • Baking powder – not soda!
  • Kosher salt – salt actually enhances chocolate.
  • Shortening – I’ve used both butter flavored and plain with equal success.
  • Sugar – white sugar, like from my sponsor Dixie Crystals is ideal for this.
  • Egg – 1 room temperature egg
  • VanillaMake your own, it does taste better!
  • Milk – I use whole, but your preferred milk will be fine.
  • Chocolate – I used a semi sweet 65% cacao chocolate bar. You can use your preferred chocolate, milk chocolate included.
  • Sprinkles – Go with black, white, or silver for a perfect bat cookie.

Tips for Making Perfect Bat Cookies

Here are some tips for making sure your cookie making process goes perfectly every time.

bat sugar cookies on a black plate in front of a ghost candle holder and a bag of sugar
  • Sift the cocoa powder, flour, salt, and baking powder together after you weigh/measure it to stop cocoa powder from being lumpy in your dough.
  • Don’t over mix it. Work with it as little as possible at each stage to prevent tough cookies.
  • Chill the dough for 30 minutes minimum before rolling it out, so it can hydrate, meaning moist, evenly baked cookies.
A baking sheet with parchment paper and cut out chocolate bat sugar cookies
  • Roll it out between two pieces of parchment paper rather than a floured surface. Flour will color chocolate dough!
  • Roll cookies 1/4” thick. Roll them thinner for crisper cookies and thicker for softer. Be careful, to thin or too thick can make decorating more challenging.
  • Let them cool completely before decorating.
  • Choose a dark chocolate bar, not baking chocolate, and heat carefully for a shiny finish.
  • Decorate in batches of 4-5 cookies to avoid the chocolate hardening and the sprinkles falling off.
A bat cookie being coated with melted chocolate

Prep & Storage

Sugar cookie dough is perfect to make the day or even two ahead of when you’re ready to bake. For refrigeration longer than an hour, you’ll need to let the dough sit at room temp about 20 to 30 minutes before you can roll it out.

Once baked and the chocolate set, store your bat cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 to 4 days.

Freeze the cut out cookies before baking. Once baked they don’t freeze as well, and chocolate will take on a strange color once frozen and thawed.

a white granite slab with chocolate bat sugar cookies on black netting

Eat & Enjoy

I really hope you have as much fun making these bat cookies as I did. They’re a fun Halloween twist on a traditional sugar cookie and just perfect as a cute treat this time of year. These are the cookies for the simple decorators that still look adorable at the end of the day. Happy Halloween and Happy Baking!

If you like these, don’t forget to check out these other Halloween Desserts!

a plate of bat shaped sugar cookies with black and white sprinkle wings

Bat Sugar Cookies

Mikayla M.
Soft chocolate sugar cookies shaped like bats and coated with chocolate and sprinkles for festive Halloween cookies.
5 from 11 votes
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 16 minutes
Chill Time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 11 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 30 people
Calories 126 kcal

Equipment

  • Bat Cookie Cutter

Ingredients
  

  • 4.5 ounces shortening 2/3 cup, regular, or butter flavor
  • 7.3 ounces white sugar 3/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 large egg room temperature
  • 1 tablespoon milk
  • 8 ounces flour 1 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoon
  • 1 ounce cocoa powder 1/4 cup + 1 1/2 tablespoons
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 6 ounces chocolate dark or milk
  • sugar sprinkles

Instructions
 

  • Sift together the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder, and salt into a small bowl and set aside.
  • Cream shortening and sugar together until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes.
  • Add in milk and vanilla and beat until combined. Add in egg and beat again to combine.
  • Add in the dry ingredients and fold to combine until a smooth dough forms without any streaks of flour. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes, up to 2 days.
  • Preheat oven to 350°F and lay out a large sheet of parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Also line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
  • Lay dough on paper and cover with another sheet off parchment and use rolling pin to roll dough out to 1/4" thick.
  • Cut out cookies and place on baking sheets, 1 inch apart. Bake in preheated oven for 8 – 9 minutes or until the dough looks dry and set along the edges.*
  • Let cool on baking sheet for 2 to 3 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Decoration

  • Melt chocolate gently in the microwave, 30 second bursts at half power, until mostly melted. Stir to finish melting.
  • Spread a thin layer of chocolate on each cookie and sprinkle with Halloween sprinkles on the wings, using two long sprinkles to make eyes.*
  • Let set completely, then store in an airtight container layered between wax paper for 3 to 4 days.

Notes

*I fill up one baking sheet and get it in the oven while I cut out and fill the second. That rotation gets all my cookies baked faster. 
*I recommend spreading 5 cookies with chocolate then doing sprinkles. Doing one at a time is time consuming, but the chocolate will set too fast if you try to decorate them all with chocolate first. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1cookieCalories: 126kcalCarbohydrates: 17gProtein: 1gFat: 7gSaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 6mgSodium: 23mgPotassium: 41mgFiber: 1gSugar: 10gVitamin A: 9IUCalcium: 5mgIron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

I’d love to hear what you think, feel free to tag me on Instagram @theflourhandprint so I can see how it went! Until next time, Happy Eating!

Nutrition information and cooking times are provided as a best estimate. Values may vary based upon ingredients and equipment.

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14 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Came back to find this recipe again because these bat cookies were such a hit last year. Thanks for this fun recipe!

  2. 5 stars
    These cookies were so fun to make. Every September my sons and I start looking for Halloween recipes to make them and prepare for Halloween Day, these made the list to make again, so fun and so delicious. Plus we love chocolate. A win-win

    1. Wonderful to hear Silvia, I love that you plan ahead and taste test early. I’m thrilled my bat cookies made the cut to make again!

  3. 5 stars
    These are so cute for Halloween! I can’t get enough chocolate, so I’m all about that dipping. Thanks for such a delicious and creative recipe!

  4. 5 stars
    Oh my gosh! These are ghoulishly spooktacular! So festive and perfect for the season! These are on the menu today!

  5. 5 stars
    These Bat Cookies were so fun to make and turned out adorable! My kids had a blast with their friends making them. Have a great day!

  6. 5 stars
    I made these over the weekend, and they came out so cute! Love that the dough was easy to handle, and they had the perfect chocolatey flavor.