These Halloween Cockroach Chocolate Chip Cookies are the creepiest, crawliest treat for your spooky dessert table! Soft, chewy chocolate chip cookies are topped with a chocolate-dipped date and a brown candy head, then finished with piped chocolate legs and feelers. Don't worry, there are no real bugs here, just dates and chocolate!
If you love Easy Halloween Baking Recipes, don't miss these Black Velvet Halloween Cupcakes, these Monster Halloween Cookie Sandwiches, or these Ghost Meringues.
Why This Halloween Cockroach Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe Works
- Recipe name: Halloween Cockroach Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Ready in: 50 minutes (including chilling time)
- Serves: 8 large cookies
- Main ingredients: Butter, demerara sugar, cake flour, egg, dark chocolate chips, dates, and brown candies.
- Perfect for: Halloween parties, gross-out dessert tables, school treat days, or a fun decorating activity with the kids.
- Why I love it: These cookies look wonderfully scary but taste like a proper chewy chocolate chip cookie, and the sweet, caramel-like dates make the perfect cockroach bodies.
- Calories: 371kcal
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If Halloween baking means pumpkin, then you have to try these incredible Pumpkin Loaf Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting, these Pumpkin Halloween Cupcakes, or this Pumpkin and Carrot Cake with Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting.
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Key Ingredients
- Demerara sugar - This coarse, golden-brown sugar adds a deep caramel flavor and slightly crisp edges to the cookies. If you can't find it, use light brown sugar, muscovado, or turbinado sugar instead.
- Cake flour - Cake flour gives these cookies a soft, tender bite. If you can't find it, all-purpose flour works too.
- Dates - The dates are what make these cookies look like cockroaches! Choose soft, plump, pitted dates, as they are easier to halve, dip in chocolate, and press onto the cookies than dry, firm ones.
- Brown candies - I used brown Smarties, the chocolate-coated candies popular in South Africa and the UK, for the cockroach heads. In the US, use brown M&M's instead. Please don't use US Smarties, which are a different tablet-style candy.
- Melted chocolate - You'll use this to glue the dates to the cookies and to pipe the legs and feelers.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Variations
Swap the dark chocolate chips for milk chocolate chips or chunks for a sweeter cookie. You can also bake the cookies without the cockroach decorations for a classic brown sugar chocolate chip cookie.
You can decorate my other Easy Cookie Recipes with these cockroaches if you'd like! Try these Bacon Grease Chocolate Chip Cookies for something different, or these Milk Chocolate Chunk Cookies if you love more cakey-style cookies. These Heart-Shaped Sugar Biscuits make the perfect simple cookie for Halloween decorating.
How to Make Halloween Cockroach Chocolate Chip Cookies
Instructions for Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Step 1: Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and line two large baking trays with parchment paper. Add the melted butter and both sugars to a large mixing bowl and stir together using a wooden spoon.
- Step 2: Add the egg and vanilla to the mixture and mix again until well combined.
- Step 3: In a bowl, sift together the baking soda, salt, and flour. Add the flour mixture to the cookie dough batter and mix with a wooden spoon until a homogeneous dough forms.
- Step 4: Add the dark chocolate chips to the dough and mix through. Chill the dough in the fridge for 20 minutes.
- Step 5: Portion the dough into eight large cookies using an ice cream scoop. Place the cookies onto the parchment-lined baking sheets, giving the dough balls generous spacing.
- Step 6: Bake one tray of cookies at a time in the center of the oven for about 8 minutes, or until the cookies are light golden brown, their edges are crisp, and they have spread slightly. Allow the cookies to cool completely before decorating.
How to Decorate Cockroach Cookies
- Step 1: Dip the cut side of a halved date in melted chocolate, then position it in the center of a cookie. Place a brown candy at the top of the date to form the "head" of the cockroach.
- Step 2: Fill a piping bag with the remaining melted chocolate and pipe feelers at the top of the date and legs along the sides. Allow the chocolate to set, then serve and enjoy!
Storage
Store any leftover decorated date cockroach cookies in a single layer in an airtight container at room temperature for about 3 days, out of direct sunlight. Layering them on top of each other can squash the decorations. If the weather is particularly hot, store them in the fridge and bring them to room temperature before serving.
Undecorated cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days, or frozen for up to 2 months.
Expert Tips
- Don't skip chilling the dough date cockroach cookies. This recipe uses melted butter, so the dough needs time to firm up, which helps the cookies hold their shape.
- Use an ice cream scoop to portion the dough so that all the cookies are the same size and bake evenly.
- Give the dough balls generous spacing on the tray, as these large cookies spread while they bake.
- Check the true temperature of your oven with an oven thermometer, and bake one tray of cookies at a time in the center of the oven.
- Only decorate completely cooled cookies; otherwise, the melted chocolate won't set properly, and the dates may slide.
- Let the melted chocolate cool slightly before piping so that it holds its shape and creates thin, neat legs.
Halloween Cockroach Chocolate Chip Cookies FAQs
Soft, pitted prunes are the closest substitute, as they have a similar size, shape, and sticky texture. Choose soft ones, as dry or firm fruit is harder to dip in chocolate and press onto the cookies.
Brown Smarties are the chocolate-coated candies popular in South Africa and the UK. In the US, use brown M&M's, which are a very similar size and shape. Don't use US Smarties, as they are a different, tablet-style candy.
Yes. Bake the cookies up to 2 days ahead and store them in an airtight container at room temperature. Decorate them on the day you plan to serve them so that the dates and chocolate legs look fresh.
Yes. Freeze undecorated baked cookies in an airtight container for up to 2 months and thaw them at room temperature before decorating. You can also freeze the portioned dough balls for up to 2 months and bake them as usual, adding a minute or two to the baking time if needed.
The dough was probably too warm, or your oven wasn't at the right temperature. This recipe uses melted butter, so chilling the dough for 20 minutes is important. Also, space the dough balls generously on the tray and check your oven temperature with an oven thermometer.
More Easy Halloween and Fall Baking Recipes
If you're baking for Halloween, in my opinion, one scary cookie is never enough! If you agree, see my round-up on Easy Halloween Cookie Recipes and don't miss these Chocolate Gingerbread Skeletons or these No-Bake Halloween Chocolate Bat Truffles.
Happy Baking, With Love, Kitty
Please leave a star rating and comment below if you tried this recipe! And if you're wondering what to try next, have a look at these Black Velvet Halloween Cupcakes!
📖 Recipe
Halloween Cockroach Chocolate Chip Cookies
Equipment
- 2x large cookie tray
- 1x disposable piping bag
Ingredients
Halloween Cockroach Chocolate Chip Cookies
- 110 g unsalted butter
- 50 g white sugar
- 100 g demarera sugar
- 1 egg extra-large
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 200 g cake flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 100 g dark chocolate chips
- 4 dates
- 8 brown smarties
- 30 g melted chocolate
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and line two large baking trays with parchment paper.
- To a large mixing bowl, add the melted butter and both sugars. Stir together using a wooden spoon.
- Add the egg and vanilla to the mixture and mix again until well combined.
- In a bowl, sift together the baking soda, salt, and flour. Add the flour mixture to the cookie dough batter and mix with a wooden spoon until a homogeneous dough forms.
- Add the dark chocolate chips to the dough. Mix through. Chill the dough in the fridge for 20 minutes.
- Portion the dough into eight large cookies using an ice cream scoop. Place the cookies onto parchment-lined baking sheets, giving generous spacing between the dough balls.
- Bake one tray of cookies at a time in the center of the oven for about 15 minutes, or until the cookies are a light golden brown, their edges are crisp, and they have spread slightly.
- To decorate the cookies, dip the cut side of a halved date in melted chocolate, then position it in the center of the cookie. Place a brown Smartie or M&M at the top of the date to form the 'head' of the cockroach.
- Fill a piping bag with the remaining melted chocolate and use it to pipe the feelers and legs at the top and sides of the date. Enjoy!
Notes
- Wait for the cookies to cool before piping the chocolate details onto the cookies. Otherwise, the chocolate will melt.
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