Halloween Skull Cookies with Vanilla Pumpkin Jam

Ingredients

• 250 g All‑purpose flour (Sift before use)
• 100 g Almond powder (Unsweetened)
• 80 g Powdered sugar (Divided: 50 g in the dough, the rest for decoration)
• 1 c. à café Ground cinnamon
• 120 g Unsalted butter (At room temperature, slightly soft)
• 1 Egg (At room temperature)
• 500 g Pumpkin (or butternut squash) (Cut into small dice)
• 150 g Granulated sugar
• 60 ml Fresh orange juice
• 15 ml Lemon juice
• 1 Bourbon vanilla bean (Madagascar) (Seeds scraped, pod split and returned to the pot)
• 225 ml Water (Divided: 125 ml then 100 ml)

Instructions

1. Prepare the shortcrust dough

   In the robot bowl, pour the flour, almond powder, powdered sugar and cinnamon. Mix for 30 s.

   Time: PT1M

2. Incorporate the butter

   Add the soft butter cut into small dice. Mix until a sandy texture is achieved.

   Time: PT2M

3. Add the egg

   Pour the egg and mix until the dough gathers around the robot's paddle and detaches from the bowl walls.

   Time: PT2M

4. Dough rest

   Form a ball, wrap it in cling film flattening it, then place in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

   Time: PT2H

5. Prepare the pumpkin jam

   In a saucepan, place the diced pumpkin, granulated sugar, orange juice, lemon juice, vanilla seeds and the split pod. Mix for 2 min.

   Time: PT2M

6. Jam cooking – first phase

   Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium‑low and simmer for 30 min, stirring regularly until the pumpkin becomes translucent and tender.

   Time: PT30M

   Temperature: Moyen-doux

7. Macerate and smooth

   Mash the dice with a potato masher, add 125 ml water, mix, remove the vanilla pod, then blend with the immersion blender to obtain a slightly smooth texture.

   Time: PT4M

8. Jam cooking – second phase

   Add the remaining 100 ml water, bring to a boil and cook an additional 3 min to finalize the consistency.

   Time: PT3M

   Temperature: Moyen

9. Cool the jam

   Remove the saucepan from the heat, cover and let cool to room temperature (about 30 min).

   Time: PT30M

10. Roll out the dough

    On a lightly floured parchment sheet, roll the dough to 3‑4 mm thickness with the rolling pin.

    Time: PT5M

11. Cut the discs

    Use the 7.5 cm round cutter to cut circles, discard the excess and repeat until the dough is exhausted.

    Time: PT5M

12. Chill the discs

    Place the discs on a tray, put them in the freezer for 10 min to firm up.

    Time: PT10M

13. Form the skulls

    With the same cutter, cut two notches on each side, pierce two eyes with a piping tip and hollow out the nose and mouth using a wooden skewer.

    Time: PT10M

14. Assemble the cookies

    Stack a holed disc on a solid disc, repeat the cuts for each pair to obtain two identical cookies to assemble later.

    Time: PT5M

15. Bake the cookies

    Preheat the oven to 170 °C. Arrange the cookies two by two on a parchment‑lined tray and bake 10‑12 min until lightly golden.

    Time: PT12M

    Temperature: 170°C

16. Cool the cookies

    Allow the cookies to cool completely on the tray, then transfer to a wire rack.

    Time: PT10M

17. Dust with powdered sugar

    Dust the holed cookies with powdered sugar using a sieve.

    Time: PT2M

18. Fill and assemble

    Place a small spoon of pumpkin jam in the centre of the solid cookie, then gently place the holed cookie on top, powdered sugar side up.

    Time: PT10M

19. Final rest

    Arrange the assembled cookies on a serving platter and let rest 15 min before serving.

    Time: PT15M

Nutrition Facts

Calories

150

Protein

2 g

Carbohydrates

25 g

Fat

5 g

Fiber

2 g