These sweet ghost biscuits sandwiched with jam are perfect for your Halloween table!
They are easy enough to cook with children, and they’re tricky to get wrong. The key is watching them while they’re in the oven to make sure that they don’t burn.
Baking Halloween treats with children is a lovely thing to do, particularly if they’re off school, and these will keep them occupied with some inexpensive and easy to get hold of ingredients. Enjoy!
Why You’ll Love These Ghost Biscuits
These Halloween biscuits are everything you want from a festive bake: buttery, crisp and just a little spooky! They’re easy to make with children, look brilliant on a party table and use simple ingredients you probably already have in the cupboard.
The Ingredients
- Unsalted butter – make sure that it is softened before trying to cream with the sugar. You can pop it in the microwave on low for a few seconds to make it softer.
- Sugar – I use a mix of dark muscovado sugar and caster sugar to give the biscuits more flavour, but you could use just caster sugar if you like.
- Egg – one large egg is all you need to bind the ingredients together.
- Plain flour – make sure you use plain flour and not any other kind of flour.
- Jam – any kind of jam will work for the filling. You could also sandwich these together with chocolate spread or peanut butter!
- Edible silver balls – these are used to make the ghost eyes, but they are optional.
- Icing sugar – to dust, this is optional.
The Ghost Cookie Cutter
My cookie cutter is an Ann Clark one, which you can find here. However, ghost cookie cutters are really easy to find e.g. in supermarkets over the Halloween season. If you can’t find one, no worries – just draw (or print off) a ghost outline onto a piece of cardboard. Cut it out, then use this as an outline to cut ghost shapes out of your dough.
Baking Tips for Perfect Biscuits
- Chill the dough: This keeps the biscuits crisp and helps them hold their shape.
- Watch the bake time: They can go from golden to burnt quickly — keep a close eye in the last minute.
- Don’t overmix: Once your dough comes together, stop mixing to avoid toughness.
- Cool completely: Wait until the biscuits are fully cool before adding jam — otherwise, it’ll melt.
Decorating Ideas
- Swap the jam for chocolate spread or peanut butter for a twist.
- Add a light dusting of icing sugar “ghost smoke” before serving.
- Use black royal icing or edible marker pens for different spooky expressions.
- Make mini ghosts for party platters or larger ghosts for gifting.
FAQs
UK style – they’re crisp, buttery biscuits (similar to shortbread), not soft cookies or scones.
Yes, see section above for making a template or use any Halloween-themed cutter like bats, pumpkins or cats.
Absolutely – any smooth jam or jelly works well.
Yes – use a 1:1 gluten-free plain flour blend.
Ghost Biscuits (Jam Sandwich Halloween Cookies)
Ingredients
- 120 grams unsalted butter
- 60 grams caster sugar
- 60 grams dark muscovado sugar
- 1 egg
- 240 grams plain flour plus extra for dusting
- 4 teaspoons jam
- 16 edible silver balls
- Icing sugar for dusting
Instructions
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter, caster sugar and dark muscovado sugar until light in colour.
- Crack the egg into the bowl and beat until combined. Add the flour and mix until the dough comes together.
- Use your hands to work the dough into a ball, making sure you include any bits from around the edge of the bowl. Divide this ball into two equal sized balls. Wrap each in cling film and put in the fridge for an hour to firm up.
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Prepare two baking trays by lining them with baking paper.
- Remove your dough from the fridge. Dust your work surface and rolling pin with flour. Unwrap one ball and roll until approximately 3mm thick.
- Use your ghost cookie cutter to cut 8 ghost shapes (you may need to reroll your dough scraps to get all the biscuits) and place them on one of the baking trays.
- Do the same with the other dough ball. When these 8 biscuits are on their tray, use a skewer to make two eye holes in each ghost.
- Put in the oven for approximately 10 minutes until firm – keep an eye on them because they can burn easily.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack.
- Dust the ghost biscuits with eye holes with icing sugar. Spread the other ghosts with jam. Place the ghosts with eye holes on top, like a sandwich. Insert a silver ball into each eye hole, then serve.
Notes
Serving & Storing
- Serve: As part of a Halloween dessert table, or tuck them into trick-or-treat bags.
- Store: Keep in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
- Freezer-friendly: Freeze the unbaked dough (wrapped well) for up to 3 months — just thaw, roll, and bake.
- Make ahead: Bake a day ahead and assemble with jam when ready to serve.
Variations & Add-Ins
- Jam flavours: Raspberry for spooky red, apricot for a golden glow, or blackcurrant for a gothic look.
- Chocolate ghosts: Add cocoa powder to half the dough for a two-tone ghost effect.
- Vegan version: Use vegan butter and a flaxseed egg (1 tbsp flaxseed + 3 tbsp water).
- Christmas twist: Use star or snowflake cutters for festive jam sandwich biscuits.
Buttery and sweetly spooky!