Jack & Sally Sugar Cookies

sally stitches sugar cookies on a plate with jack skellington cookies

5 from 3 votes

You only need to split ONE batch of cookie dough in half to get both of these adorable Nightmare Before Christmas cookies. Keep the dough as is for the Jack Skellington cookies, then tint the other half three different colors for Sally's stitched up cookies.

Prep Time15

Bake Time9

Total Time24

Recipe Author Lynn April

Servings: 24 cookies

Ingredients

VANILLA BUTTERCREAM

▢ 6 Tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter softened to room temperature
▢ 1 and ½ cups (180g) powdered sugar
▢ ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
▢ ½ to 1 Tablespoon (8-15mL) milk or cream
▢ pinch of salt

Instructions

COOKIE BASE

Preheat the oven to 350ºF (177ºC). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Set aside.
In a medium size bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl with a handheld mixer, or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and powdered sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
Stop the mixer, add the egg, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract, then beat again on medium speed until everything is combined, stopping the mixer to scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
Reduce the mixer speed to low, then add the dry ingredients in two additions, insuring the first addition is mostly incorporated before adding the second. Continue to beat on low until just combined. Dough will be soft but not too sticky. If it is too sticky, allow it to rest for 10 minutes at room temperature.

SPLIT THE DOUGH

Using a spatula, gently press all of the dough into the bottom of the bowl so it's evenly dispersed and easy to divide. Using a spatula or a knife to draw lines into the dough, split the dough in half. Leave one half of the batter untouched, and split the other half into 3 fairly equal portions.
Scoop out each of the 3 portions of dough into 3 smaller separate bowls. This does not have to be perfect, but you can use a digital kitchen scale to insure equal portions, if desired. Set the 3 smaller bowls aside for now and work with the larger portion of dough (the half you did not split).

BAKE THE JACK COOKIES

Using a cookie scoop (I use this #50 cookie scoop for all of my standard size cookies), drop balls of dough onto one of the prepared baking sheets. The balls of dough will be jaggy on the top which will equate to jaggy cookie tops after they're baked. Since you're covering these cookies in icing to make a Jack face, you don't have to worry about it. If you'd like cookies that have smoother looking tops, simply dip your fingers into some granulated sugar and gently press the lines together to smooth out the cookie dough ball.
Bake the cookies for 8-9 minutes, just until edges are set. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

BAKE THE SALLY COOKIES

Tint each bowl of cookie dough one of Sally's colors (see note #3 about these colors).
Working with one color of dough at a time, use a ½ teaspoon measure or mini cookie scoop with a trigger, drop 8 balls of one color of dough spaced out evenly on another of the prepared baking sheets. When you have filled the baking sheet, wash the cookie scoop and move to a second color, dropping the next ball of dough right onto or next to the first ball of dough. This does not need to be perfect. Repeat with the third color.
When you have 3 balls of dough per space, dip your fingers into some granulated sugar, then gently press the 3 balls of dough together, giving a small "twirl" to the ball of dough to encourage swirling of the colors.
Bake the cookies for 8-9 minutes, just until edges are set. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

MAKE THE BUTTERCREAM

When the cookies are completely cool, they are ready for decorations. In a medium size bowl with a handheld mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the the butter on medium-high until smooth.
Turn the mixer to low, then slowly add the powdered sugar and mix until everything is combined. Add the vanilla extract, milk or cream, and salt, increase the mixer speed to medium and beat until combined. Turn off the mixer and use a spatula to stir the buttercream by hand to remove air bubbles and make it smooth and creamy. This usually takes about 3-5 minutes.

DECORATE THE COOKIES

When your buttercream is smooth, fit a piping bag or a large zip top bag with the corner snipped off with the buttercream. Pipe a mound of buttercream onto each of the Jack cookies, then use a small offset spatula or knife to smooth out the frosting evenly over the top of each cookie. Allow icing to set completely before piping on the Jack face (this will take about 1 hour).
When the white icing is set, smooth out any bumps with a piece of parchment or wax paper and your fingers. This is a totally optional step, but I like to make the white canvas as smooth as possible.
Working with one cookie at a time, use the black icing or semi-sweet chocolate in a piping bag or cookie icing bottle to pipe a Jack face onto each white cookie. Use the same icing or chocolate to pipe small stitches onto Sally's cookies. Allow everything to set before serving.
Store cookies covered tightly at room temperature up to 1 week. Cookies freeze well, up to 3 months. Unbaked dough balls also freeze well, up to 3 months. Bake frozen and add 1-2 minutes to the baking time.

Video

Notes

Flour: it is imperative that you either fluff/spoon/level your flour or ideally, weigh it in grams. Two cups of all-purpose flour is 240g. Too much flour will result in a dense cookie.
Room temperature egg: it is always a good idea to use room temperature eggs when using room temperature butter, as it incorporates into batter much more easily. It is not required, just encouraged.
Food coloring: I prefer gel food coloring, as it has the richest colors and doesn't water down cookie dough. My preferred brand is AmeriColor, and I have the large 50-count box. For Sally's pieces, I used electric purple + deep pink, turquoise, and gold + lemon yellow. You can achieve these colors any way you desire with whatever food coloring you prefer. You can get very close shades using combinations of colors in AmeriColor's basic 12-count box.
Black icing: I like to use pre-made cookie icing whenever I need black icing. It's convenient and easier than getting a true dark shade of black. You can find this in your local grocery store or craft store in the baking/cake decorating aisle.

Recipe adapted from vanilla bean sugar cookies

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Nutrition Disclosure

All nutritional values are approximate and provided to the reader as a courtesy. Changing ingredients and/or quantities will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.