Black and White Striped Pumpkin Cookies
Black and White Striped Pumpkin Cookies
These Black and White Striped Pumpkin Cookies are such a fun way to dress up classic pumpkin cutout cookies for Halloween. Instead of traditional orange pumpkins, I decorated these with bold black and white stripes and finished each pumpkin with a bright green stem.
The icing is made with meringue powder, powdered sugar, water, and light Karo syrup, which gives it a smooth finish and a little shine once it dries. These cookies are perfect for Halloween parties, cookie trays, treat boxes, or just a fun afternoon of spooky-season baking.
I love the black, white, and bright green combination. They’re a little unexpected, really cute, and look great mixed in with orange, purple, and black Halloween cookies.
Servings: About 18–24 cookies
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Bake Time: 8–10 minutes
Decorating Time: 30–45 minutes
Drying Time: 6–8 hours or overnight
Ingredients
For the Cutout Sugar Cookies
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract, optional
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
For the Cookie Icing
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons meringue powder
- 5–6 tablespoons warm water, plus more as needed
- 1 tablespoon light Karo syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Black gel food coloring
- Bright green gel food coloring
How to Make Pumpkin Cutout Cookies
Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large mixing bowl, cream the softened butter and granulated sugar together until smooth and fluffy. Add the egg, vanilla, and almond extract, if using, and mix until combined.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix until a soft cookie dough forms.
Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to approximately ¼-inch thick.
Use a pumpkin cookie cutter to cut out the cookies. Transfer them carefully to the prepared baking sheet.
Bake for 8–10 minutes, or until the cookies are set and the edges are just beginning to turn lightly golden.
Let the cookies cool for several minutes on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wire rack. Cool completely before decorating.
How to Make the Meringue Powder Cookie Icing
Add the powdered sugar and meringue powder to a mixing bowl.
Add 5 tablespoons of warm water, the Karo syrup, and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer until smooth and glossy.
If the icing is too thick, add additional water a teaspoon at a time until it reaches a smooth piping and flooding consistency.
The Karo syrup is one of my favorite additions because it helps give the icing a pretty, slightly glossy finish and keeps the dried icing from having an overly hard bite.
Divide the icing between three bowls.
Leave one portion white. Color a second portion with black gel food coloring and tint a smaller amount bright green.
How to Decorate Black and White Pumpkin Cookies
Make sure your cookies are completely cool before decorating.
Place the black, white, and green icing into separate piping bags.
Starting near the pumpkin stem, pipe alternating sections of black and white icing, following the natural curved shape of the pumpkin. Continue the stripes all the way to the bottom edge of the cookie.
Use a toothpick or cookie scribe to gently spread the icing into the corners and smooth any gaps.
Finish the cookie by filling the pumpkin stem with the bright green icing.
You don’t have to make every stripe exactly the same size. In fact, slightly different widths help give the pumpkin more character.
Allow the decorated cookies to sit uncovered until the icing is completely dry. I like to leave mine for 6–8 hours or overnight before stacking or packaging them.
How to Get Really Black Icing
Black icing can take quite a bit of food coloring, but there’s an easy trick: make it ahead of time.
Tint the icing until it’s a very dark gray or charcoal color, cover it, and let it rest. The color will continue to deepen as it sits.
Always use gel food coloring rather than liquid food coloring so you can get a deep black without adding too much extra liquid to the icing.
Decorating Tips
Keep your icing covered whenever you’re not using it because meringue powder icing can begin to crust quickly.
If your icing becomes too thick while decorating, stir in just a tiny amount of water. If it becomes too thin, add a little powdered sugar.
And don’t worry about making the stripes perfectly straight. These pumpkins actually look better when the lines curve naturally with the shape of the cookie.
Can I Make These Halloween Cookies Ahead of Time?
Absolutely. The undecorated sugar cookies can be baked ahead and stored in an airtight container until you’re ready to decorate.
Once decorated, allow the icing to dry completely before storing the cookies. Place parchment or wax paper between layers if you need to stack them.
These are especially convenient to make a day or two before a Halloween party because all of the decorating can be finished ahead of time.
Jennie’s Thoughts
I wanted these pumpkin cookies to look completely different from the traditional orange pumpkin cookies you see everywhere for Halloween, and I love how they turned out.
The black and white stripes with that bright green stem are so striking, especially when they’re sitting next to colorful orange and purple Halloween cookies. They’re playful and spooky without being scary, which makes them perfect for just about any Halloween celebration.
I think an entire platter of black-and-white pumpkins mixed with ghosts, witches, bats, and a few bright orange cookies would be adorable for a Halloween party.
