Movie Monster Cookies

In Shop the Swap this year, I offered decorated cookies. @susieoregon requested classic Universal film monsters: Frankenstein, Wolfman, Dracula, etc.

They were so much fun to make!

When my (grown) son saw them, he placed his own order for movie monster cookies. But he wanted mostly modern horror movie characters rather than the old classics. So I made a batch for him, too.

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I wasn’t familiar with some of these characters… how about you guys? Maybe I should offer a prize to anyone who can correctly identify ALL of the cookies (without googling). Ha! But I bet no one can. Some of the Universal characters are pretty obscure. I actually printed out the classic movie posters for the older characters, and attached them as hang tags on the cookies.

Both of these sets of cookies were made the same way. Thought I’d offer a little mini-tutorial for anyone who wants to design some custom cookies.

I started by researching the characters using Google image search, but obviously you can skip that step if you don’t need to do it.

First step is to make some pencil sketches. I try my hardest to draw these about the same size as I want the cookie to be, but you can always reduce or enlarge them as needed.
image
When the picture looks good, trace over the main lines with a Sharpie marker. You want to avoid too much detail, and tiny thin pointy parts if possible. Cookies will spread and lose fine shapes.

I keep a stash of cheap, thin, flexible cutting boards to create custom cookie templates.


You can cut out the plastic templates while waiting for your cookie dough to chill. (Fast-chill tip: flatten your dough to about 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch and wrap it up in plastic wrap. Then place it in the fridge sandwiched between two cookie sheets. The metal helps conduct the temperature so that the dough chills faster.)

Roll out your dough to the desired thickness. (Roll-out tip: Instead of flour, use a mixture of half flour and half powdered sugar to dust surfaces. Helps avoid floury-tasting cookies.)

Cut out the shapes with a small-tipped knife.


Keep dipping the tip in the flour/powdered sugar mixture to minimize sticking. Make sure the dough is firm enough, so it does not deform when you cut it. Cutting inward (toward the center) rather than outward may also help minimize stretching.

If there are little details on the edges (like the ruffle on Pennywise’s collar), it may be easiest to just cut a straight line then later add the detail. I used a small triangle cutter to nip the dough to create the ruffle.

I didn’t remember to take pictures during the decorating process. But I use a glaze, which I paint on with a silicone brush. The I add the details with a piping bag (but still using the glaze, so really fine details are not possible. If you want a lot of detail in the decoration, royal icing is probably the way to go.)

I had so much fun this year, making cookies for everyone! Here are a few more Halloween cookies (with more of a gothic style) that I made for @Bunny1kenobi.

…and some vegan ones for @susieoregon.

If you decide to make cookies, feel free to ask me questions. And… Happy Halloween!

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So awesome! Now I want to eat cookies.

I have no idea whether this was a Universal, but my friend once made us watch The Brain That Wouldn’t Die; is that the exposed-brain-looking one in the top photo? He also showed Eegah, which I remember nothing about but am throwing out there just in case it’s right :laughing: .

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I can guess the classics but some of the newer ones are stumpers! My favorite is the Invisible Man!

They are beautifully and recognizably done! The coloring is great…that green…wow…

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It’s amazing how much detail you get in sugar! I love these and now I, too, want cookies!

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Oh my gosh, amazing! Nosferatu! Awesome.

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The brain one is supposed to be a Metaluna Mutant from “This Island Earth” @megwell … but I guess I should have mentioned that I was looking at black & white pictures of many of these creatures, so I got some colors wrong. (Only realized it when I was later printing out the movie posters.) Increases your difficulty level!
:rofl:
The Invisible Man and Nosfetatu are right, @AIMR and @Magpie!

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Wow! These are awesome!

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These are truly amazing! Samara from The Ring and is that Tomas from the Orphanage?!!

So impressed with your talent and I was wondering how you had so many cookie cutters and now it all makes sense! What a clever idea.

:heart::heart::heart:

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Yes to Samara and no to Tomas.

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wow! these are all fabulous!
I’m always amazed at your cookie artistry, and thanks for sharing the tips!

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YOU are a cookie WIZARD!

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These are AMAZING!! I so appreciate you walking us through some of your process. I can’t believe how much goes into each batch!! Just wow! Sooo cool!!

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You are SO talented! No way on earth would I be able to eat these!
I only know:
Freddy
Penny wise
Annabelle
Babadook
Samara
Sam
Demagorgon
Scream
Michael myers
Jigsaw
Hellraiser
The vampire from American Horror Story: Red Tide
I can’t place the other guys that looks like Frankenstein’s Monster…

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Wow. Your skills continue to amaze me each and every time I see something you create. You are a phenomenal artist and it’s so amazing to see how you can switch up mediums so flawlessly. :heart_eyes:

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Pretty darn good! I’ve listed all the characters below, blurred in groups.

UNIVERSAL MONSTERS
In box:

Dracula, Mantis, Phantom of the Opera
Metaluna Mutant (from This Island Earth), Invisible Man, Frankenstein, Brute Man

On plate:

Bride of Frankenstein, Frankenstein, Creature from the Black Lagoon
Wolfman, (Logo), Mummy

(MOSTLY) MODERN MONSTERS
Top plate:

Freddy Krueger, Pennywise, Annabelle
Samara, Leatherface, Babadook

Bottom plate:

Demagorgon, Nosferatu, Ghostface/Scream
Michael Myers, Jigsaw, Sam/Samhain (from Trick ‘r Treat), Pinhead/Hellraiser

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Again, excellent selection and depicted so realistically! They are ALMOST too good to eat!

My sister used to bake these types of cookies and had a small baking business. She recently gave all of her baking stuff to our two nieces. They called to remind her that she has yet to give them the sugar cookie recipe she has guarded from us all. I think that is what she is giving us for Christmas!

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Oooh, if you get the recipe, I’d be interested!
:wink:

Mine is not really a secret. If you google “cream cheese sugar cookies”, it will definitely come up. It’s a vintage recipe I got when I bought a vintage cookie cutter that was sold with its original packaging. I’d be willing to share it. If I remember later today, I’ll edit the original post to include it.

The cookies are very rich and probably on the sweet side for modern tastes… but I love them!

The glaze recipe is something I made up myself because I hated royal icing.

What I really need is a FABULOUS vegan cut-out cookie recipe. While I did make vegan cookies for both @susieoregon (see above) and @photojenn (see below) for STS, I am not yet thrilled with my recipe. If anyone has a super-yummy vegan recipe, let me know.

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That’s it!

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Thanks, everyone, for all the nice comments!
Recipe below (couldn’t figure out a good place for it in the original post.)

Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies
Recipe Source: Better Homes & Gardens’ Heart & Home Collection, Spring Recipe Sampler by Hallmark

1 cup butter, softened
1 8-oz package cream cheese
2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp almond extract
3.5 cups all-purpose flour

In mixing bowl, beat butter and cream cheese with electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds.

Add sugar and baking powder; beat until combined. Beat in egg, vanilla, and almond extract. Beat in as much flour as you can with the electric mixer, then stir in remaining flour with a wooden spoon.

Divide dough in half. Cover and chill for 3-4 hours or until easy to handle.

On highly floured surface, roll each portion of dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place one inch apart on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

Bake in a 375 degree oven for 8-12 minutes (depending on cookie size) or till edges are firm and bottoms very lightly browned. Because of the cream cheese, cookies may seem still a bit mushy, but they will firm up as they cool as long as edges are firm/barely brown.

Slide entire sheet of parchment off cookie sheet to cool. When firm, can use a spatula to move cookies onto wire racks to finish cooling.

Makes about 24 large cookies.

Endymion’s Cookie Glaze

4 cups powdered sugar
3 TBSP butter, melted
1 tsp meringue powder
1/4 cup + 1 TBSP milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp almond extract
Dab of corn syrup
Pinch of salt
Food coloring

In medium to large bowl, sift the 4 cups of powdered sugar. Add butter, salt, meringue powder. Mix, using electric mixer on LOW.

Add milk, flavorings, and corn syrup. Mix until smooth. Glaze should be the consistency of pancake batter. If it is too thick, add a little milk. If too thin, add more powdered sugar.

Color as desired.

This glaze is intended to dry to a sturdy crust. SO …cover with cling wrap (pressed down so it touches the surface of the glaze) to avoid crusting before you use it.

You can apply this glaze with a silicone brush (my favorite method), or by dipping cookie tops into the glaze, or by pouring the glaze over cookies arranged on a wire rack. (If you place parchment paper or foil under the rack, you can collect and re-use the glaze. If it starts to crust too soon, you can heat it a little.)

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I love you forever for sharing this!!!

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