Vampire Cookies October 15
Every year I see lots of Halloween cupcakes and cakes that are rather boring in their decorations. They may have faces of ghosts or vampires painted on top with colored icing, but that really doesn’t do much to set them apart from non-holiday cupcakes. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays and I think it’s fun to go over-the-top where ever possible and really take decorations as far as they can go. I did this last Halloween by creating Vampire Cupcakes - cupcakes filled with a blood-red cherry pie filling that “bled” when you bit into them. This year, I wanted to start a little collection of vampire Halloween goodies and opted to try my hand at making vampire cookies.
Like the cupcakes, I wanted the cookies to be a pale white color and filled with something bright red. I opted for a very simple butter cookie dough that bakes up to be a pale cream color (thanks to the use of real butter, even though shortening would have turned out a whiter cookie) and filled each of the cookies up with bright red raspberry jam. I finished them off with a little vampire bite on top. The cookie dough needs to be made at least an hour in advance of baking, because it needs to be chilled and rolled out. These are not sandwich cookies, but are made by sandwiching filling between two rounds of uncooked dough and pressing the edges together to seal the filling inside.
I made the bite marks by poking two holes in the dough with a toothpick before baking. Even though the cookies spread slightly in the oven, the holes stay in place. I used a toothpick dipped in jam to draw the blood trickle from one of the holes after the cookies cooled. Any red jam or preserves will work for these. Don’t choose one with big chunks of fruit in it, as it will be a bit difficult to work with.
The cookies have a light vanilla and butter flavor to them, and are the perfect color to really set off the red of the filling. The have a slightly crisp edge and a soft, chewy center. When you take a bite and expose the jam, they really do look like they’re bleeding! They are baked at a slightly cooler temperature than some cookies, so they don’t really brown during baking. They are at their best the day they are made, as the jam tends to make the cookies a bit softer after being stored for a day or two.
These cookies are also good for those who are fans of the vampire genre in general, Halloween or not, so you might consider baking a batch for someone who is a fan of the Twilight book series, HBO’s True Blood or even Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Vampire Cookies
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp almond extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
approx 1/2 cup red jam (raspberry/strawberry)
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in egg and extracts.
Add flour and salt to the bowl and mix them into the butter-sugar mixture at low speed until dough is just combined. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 325F.
Divide dough in half and keep the portion you are not using in the refrigerator.
Roll dough out on a lightly floured surface until it is about 1/8-inch thick. Use a cookie cutter to cut out 2-inch rounds.
Place rounds on a baking sheet, put a teaspoon of jam on each of them and cover with another round of dough. Press edges down lightly, pinching the edges onto the cookie sheet. Use a toothpick and poke two small holes (like a vampire bite) in the top of each cookie.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, until cookies are set.
Cool for about 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Dip a toothpick in some extra red jam and re-insert in the “bite” holes you made before baking to emphasize them, if not already red. Draw a blood trick down from one of the bites with the jam, if desired.
Cookies are best the day they are made.
Makes 2 dozen.
Lori Oct 15
These are WONDERFUL! Cathy at NoblePig will love them, since she’s the Queen of All Things Halloween. Wow, those are really cool.
mamaloo Oct 15
I love these! Maybe I’ll make a double batch for my son’s fright night bake sale.
Maria Oct 15
Fun cookies for this month!!
Anne Oct 15
Hahaha, oh, that is awesome. Must, must make
Rachel Oct 15
These are fabulous! I’ll be linking to them.
Y Oct 15
I’m in awe.. what a fantastic idea! I love the idea of sandwiching jam between two pieces of dough, and the vampire bite marks are just ingenius!
Bridget Oct 15
Whoa! Now THOSE are creepy!!!
aleta meadowlark Oct 15
I’m with you on cheesey Halloween cupcakes, and these are inventive in addition to being just lovely. BOOKMARKED!
liv Oct 15
Really cute idea…
PetiteKitchen Oct 15
The title of this post made me giggle.
PetiteKitchen Oct 15
The title of this post made me giggle.
Katrina Oct 15
Amazingly clever! Love it. Great photo.
Sarah Oct 15
Those look great! I made your vampire cupcakes for work last Halloween and they were a smash. I know what I’ll be making this year!
beth Oct 16
great idea. Will have to try this
Monet Oct 16
I’m a college student, and a few of my friends are obsessed with Halloween. I’m going to have to bake some of your Halloween-themed treats for them; they would be so tickled by this.
Patricia Scarpin Oct 16
These are so much fun, Nic! Adorable! Love the idea.
bob Oct 16
Oh, these are awesome!
One question, though: does the dough have to be cut with a scalloped-edged cookie cutter? I’ve never made filled cookies before, so I was wondering if the scalloping helps keep them together…?
Nicole Oct 16
Bob - No, you don’t need a scalloped edge cookie cutter. It just so happens that my favorite set of cookie cutters has scalloped edges. You can’t really see the edges in the finished cookie, anyway.
Mona Oct 16
Cute!
You could have a bunch of friends over on Sunday nights to watch True Blood on HBO and eat these cookies!
megan Oct 16
These are too cute! I’ll have to try them out on a group of teens who love Edward. Maybe I’ll call them Edward’s vampire cookies.
Rachelle Oct 16
Ooh these are great too! I hope to be able to make these and your slime cupcakes for my little girl’s Halloween cakewalk at school. If so, I’ll be sure to blog about them and you!
Baking Chamber Oct 16
That’s such a cute idea! I love themed cookies! I can’t wait to see what else you make
Anja Oct 17
I love this idea, the bitemarks just pull it all together.
Becca A Oct 18
I love this idea!
NenisQ Oct 19
Me encantaron!!!!
simples pero con el justo toque para halloween!!
seguro las hago!!
Beth Oct 19
What a great idea, with the bite marks! Tasty looking, too.
h Oct 19
Cute idea!
However, I’m having a really tough time making these cookies. My dough is very soft. I had a hard time rolling them out as it melted, even after I froze them for an hour. They also look half done, and they’ve been in the oven for 15 minutes.
What am I doing wrong?
Nicole Oct 19
h - The dough is very buttery and it will soften quite a bit the longer it is out of the fridge/freezer, which is why I suggested working in two batches. If your kitchen is warm, you may need to divide the dough in quarters to work with it.
The cookies will not brown in the oven at all (white/pale cookies fit with the vampire theme), although they will set and should not look wet. If your dough was thicker than mine, it make take a few extra minutes. If it continues to be a problem, raise the oven temperature to 350 and bake them at that temp.
Veggie Wedgie Oct 20
This is such a cool idea! Love it! So much nicer and minimal than overload halloween decorations
Chez US - Denise Oct 20
This is great! I made your cupcakes last year and have been on the fence about doing the same; but, thanks to you, we will be making these! Too cute!
Julie Oct 20
That’s really funny, in a creepy and disturbing sort of way.
Lucy Oct 20
Gruesome… but loving them… I must make these for my son who is so into Halloween. He’s been involved in a haunted house since he was 12 yrs old and continues into adulthood.
Lori Oct 20
Those are some of the most fun cookies I have ever seen.
Such a neat idea! I was reading your site, and it’s nice to see another saddleseat rider around. I moved a couple of years ago, and haven’t been able to find a place around to ride… miss it so much!
Thanks for such a wonderful blog!
Colleen Oct 21
Thanks for the recipe! I veganized and made a batch yesterday. You really do have to work fast when rolling and cutting or they get too sticky to handle.
Colloquial Cook Oct 23
Made them last night, the dough was a bit of a nightmare to roll out, so I stuck it betwen two wax paper sheets and froze it!
Thanks for sharing the recipe!
But my work colleagues all approved
Kristena Oct 30
This is brilliant!!! Thanks for the recipe.
Lauren Oct 31
i really loved this recipe! i’m not a very good baker, but i wanted to make my family something special for halloween. of course they loved them! plus… they do make me think a bit of twilight which is a bonus!
Aislinn Nov 3
Just made this yesterday and the office already gobbled them up; they were delicious!
JD Nov 18
These ARE GREAT! I had them at a hotel in Providence several years ago and thought they were awesome! Great for any holiday! Just leave off teh fang bites and dust with confectioners sugasr for Christmas! YUM!
megan Nov 20
oh these are just too cute! the first photo actually reminded me of those uncrustables pb & j sandwiches
i can’t wait for twilight, wish i was going to the midnight premiere tonight…
karen Nov 22
what a great idea!
emily Dec 13
awesome!! i’m going to try and make these for the Dexter finale tomorrow night!
ellie Jan 9
I just made these for a party & everyone loved them! They were reaaalllly good warm too! excellent idea!
Pedro Feb 6
funkey idea
Pedro Feb 6
i will try it with rasbery jam and cheese
Asha Feb 24
Do you know any vapmire themed desserts? Like cakes or cupcakes…My friends and I LOVE the Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer. The book is about a girl who falls head-over-heels for this vampire. Her birthday is coming up and we are planning a vampire themed party. There is one type or cupcake I’ve heard of called “Vampire Bites” but we want to see if there is something less complicated…
Raymond Vampire Mar 10
I took the time to make these and they’re not just asthetic.. They taste pretty good too
dude Mar 11
Red velvet cake, it’s a classic, google it.. You’ll love it
Anything romantic, no need to go into the whole gore blood stuff.. Ribs? To simulate vampires eating human flesh.. Red drinks, Red kool-aid, or punch with alcool if you have the right to.. As long as it’s red
momcat133 Apr 8
I tried to make these but the dough was too soft… didn’t roll. It seems like the cupcakes were successful, so I will try those next time.
organic fertilizer May 20
I am going to bake them today so pray for me:)
Lindz May 20
i’m going to make these and the vampire cupcakes for our True Blood season 2 premiere party!! thank you so much, if i can pull theses off it will be perfect! exactly what i was looking for!!
denise Jun 6
I just found your cookies - I think I’m in love. These are perfect for the Twilight/New Moon party that I am planning.
Hope you don’t mind but I posted about your creativeness over on my blog littleantdesign.blogspot.com
plip Jun 9
i absulutly would love to try these for my twilight b bday thanks
(:
ally Jun 12
i loved this recipe, but when i tried to make it, it was horrible. i can’t get the dough to roll out. i’ve tried everything. it sticks, even with flour, and when i put it in the freezer, it breaks into pieces. i think i got maybe two circles out of it, and they turned into goo. should i add more flour? or just use a different recipe for the cookies?
Nicole Jun 12
Ally - Try chilling the dough in the refrigerator for about a hour before working with it, if you’re having problems with it not being firm enough. Roll it out with some flour, or between sheets of wax paper, and work with smaller chunks of the dough (maybe 1/4 at a time) so it doesn’t warm up too quickly.
Lace Front Wigs Jul 13
I thought of your vampire cookies after watching twilight! Yummy!
julie Jul 19
these cookies need a disclaimer. like, “do not make if you live anywhere remotely warm,” or actually, “do not make if you do not live anywhere but the north pole.” something like that.
julie Jul 19
so i discovered a kind of work-around if you’ve made the dough and are about to throw it in the trash from frustration:
slap down half the dough on some greased foil and put some wax paper over it. roll it out to cookie-sheet size and plop it on there. use one small enough to fit in your freezer. put it in the freezer for about 4 minutes, or long enough so that you can pull off the wax paper without taking half the “dough” with it. stick that in a 350 degree oven for about five minutes or at least until it’s somewhat set. now you can use your cookie cutter to cut out the circles and repeat it for the other half. they should be squishy enough to still mold together, but they can still hold their own and will actually not fall apart when you pick them up
this method, unfortunately, makes about a dozen instead of the expected 2 dozen. if you want the 2 dozen, you can just build a walk-in freezer and make them in there, your choice.
julie Jul 19
oops, don’t forget to stick them back in the oven after you squish them together! hah
Veronica Oct 11
I will make this today I think… I have some red currant jam and some eggs I want to get rid off… I was looking through my bookmarks and this was the first I found with eggs in it!
I really want to try half with cocoa as well. The vampire of course is pale white, but the bitten “victims” can be dark as well as white :D? Don’t you think? I can always send you a link when I have made them, so you can see how the came out!
fake tattoos Oct 24
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nulf91 Oct 25
sorry, but…what means 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour?? about 5?? thanks!!!
=3 Oct 25
THANK YOU!! Going to use this at my halloween party!
Susan Oct 27
These look great but I am having trouble with the stage where you put two layers together. I just can’t seem to do it delicately and they look pretty ham-handed. Is there a trick to it? I was afraid if I just push the top layer down it will separate after they are cooked.
Also, I read this a couple of weeks ago, then when I went to find your site again I found this same recipe published all over the internet - your pictures and everything - didn’t see anyone giving you credit. Wow, shameless!
Kristin Oct 28
I, too, found the dough impossible to work with. No matter how much flour I used, how tiny the batch of dough was, or how long they stayed in the fridge, the dough ended up stuck to everything it touched. In an attempt to save the whole idea, I rolled the dough into a log and froze it overnight thinking I’d just slice them into the desired thickness the next day. Well, they did not freeze firmly at all. Slicing them created the same problem only with crumbled dough everywhere. I did what I could, pieced them together, and baked them for about 20-25 minutes. They taste pretty good but they were thisclose to being a complete disaster. Perhaps I need a tutorial on rolling out cookie dough.
Ed Oct 30
Finicky dough, but so far so good. First batch is in the oven. I doubled the recipe, but it looks like I’m only going to get two dozen instead of the expected four. Did you perhaps count each cookie as taking up two cookies? (one for each layer?)
Jacq Nov 3
I made these for a friend’s Halloween party and I thought I would let you know they were such a big hit and gone in in a matter for seconds.
Everyone loved them