Chocolate Halloween Cauldron Cookies

I have had an idea in my mind of combining lolly snakes with witches' cauldrons to make them look like snakes are cooking in the cauldron for a while now.  I thought they would make a creepy, spooky Halloween treat.  Here is the results!  I would love to hear what you think.

I used my go to chocolate cookie recipe which I have added below.  I always chill this dough well as it is quite soft but when chilled it's easy to work with and you can use it to cut out even very small or fiddly shapes without trouble.  For toppings I used dark chocolate, M&M's, lolly snakes and sprinkles.

Once cooked and cooled I topped the cauldrons with melted dark chocolate.  Before the chocolate set I popped on some M&Ms.  Then I dipped the ends of some lolly snakes in chocolate and used the chocolate to attach the snakes to the back of the cookies.  The cookie sitting on the snake will ensure that when the chocolate sets it is attaching the snake to the cookie.  Add some sprinkles if you wish.  Sit the cookies onto non-stick baking paper and allow the chocolate to set completely.  You can move your snake heads so they look like they are coming out of the top of the cauldron.  If your snake just won't sit how you want it to, stretch it a little where it folds over the cookie and it should sit down much easier.   The snake attached to the back does make the cookie sit up from the plate but I think this looks pretty neat.

  

Chocolate Cookies Recipe

Ingredients:

125g unsalted butter, softened

½ cup (110g) caster sugar

1 egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 ½ cups (225g) plain flour, sifted

¼ cup (25g) cocoa, sifted

Topping:

250g dark chocolate

Toppings of your choosing

Method:

Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 6-8 minutes or until pale and creamy.  Add the egg and vanilla and beat for a further 2-3 minutes or until well combined.  Add the flour and cocoa and beat until the mixture just comes together to form a smooth dough.  Roll the dough out between two sheets of baking paper to 4 or 5mm thick and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or until firm.

Preheat the oven to 160°C.  Cut out shapes using a cauldron cookie cutter, re-rolling the dough as necessary.  Place on large lightly greased baking trays lined with non stick baking paper and bake for 10 minutes until just cooked.  Allow to cool slightly before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.  Melt chocolate and spread or pipe on to biscuits and then add your decorations before the chocolate sets.  I top with chocolate and then decorate one cookie at a time so that it doesn't set too quickly for me.  Allow chocolate to set and enjoy.

 Our cauldron cookie cutter is available here: https://cookiecuttershop.com.au/products/cauldron-cookie-cutter-c2501