Jack-o'-Lantern Tea Cakes
Description
Adorable cut-out jack-o'-lantern tea cake cookies decorated with frosting and candy for a kid-friendly Halloween treat.
Ingredients
•
2 1/3 cups baking mix (such as Bisquick®)
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1/2 cup milk
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3 tablespoons white sugar
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3 tablespoons butter, softened
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1 (5 ounce) package black shoestring licorice
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1 (11 ounce) package candy corn
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1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
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1 tablespoon milk, or more as needed
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1/2 teaspoon orange extract
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1 drop green food coloring, or as needed
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1 drop orange food coloring, or as needed
Directions
1
Gather all ingredients. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2
Stir baking mix, milk, sugar, and butter together in a bowl until a soft dough forms. Smooth dough gently into a ball on a floured cloth placed over a cutting board. Knead dough 8 to 10 times only, as dough will get tough very quickly if overkneaded.
3
Roll dough to 1/4-inch thickness on the floured cloth. Cut dough using a floured 2-inch circle cookie cutter. Cut circles to form pumpkins; cut stems from scrap dough using a knife.
4
Attach stems to the underside of the circles using a dab of milk and pressure. Place cookies on a baking sheet.
5
Bake in the preheated oven until lightly golden around the edges, about 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool 10 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely, 15 to 30 minutes.
6
While cookies cool, cut licorice in 3 different sizes: 1/4-inch pieces in sets of 3 to form triangle eyes, tiny dots for the pupils, and 1- to 2-inch curved or straight segments to form mouths.
7
Mix confectioners' sugar, milk, and orange extract together in a small bowl for frosting. Reserve 1 tablespoon of the frosting to dye with green food coloring in a bowl. Use orange food coloring to dye remaining frosting as desired.
8
Frost green stems and orange pumpkin faces onto cooled cookies and decorate with cut licorice and candy corn while frosting is still wet.