Halloween is here!! I mean, technically it’s still two days away, but Halloween parties and potlucks are upon us. I absolutely love making themed foods at the holidays. On Halloween, we always do a little potluck party with our neighbors before taking the kids around the block for trick-or-treating, and everyone usually brings a fun Halloween-themed food to share. We’ve come up with some pretty creative things over the years, and one of my favorite things to make is these spooky eyeball cookies. I mean, how fun is this?
They are kind of like cake pops, minus the pop stick. Even though they look like a lot of work, they really aren’t too hard at all. In fact, they don’t even have to be baked! I guess that’s the difference between a truffle and a cake pop (I have actually never made cake pops…but all of this talk of cake pops makes me want to try it now!)
So to get started, you’re gonna need a few ingredients.
I use almond milk just because we have some dairy allergies in our family, but you can use any milk. The cake mix isn’t dairy free though so I don’t know if I’m really smashing that goal of dairy free. Oh well; you can’t win them all!
Anyway, to get started, beat your butter and sugar together in a mixing bowl or kitchen aid until it is combined well.
Add 1 1/2 cups of your favorite flavor cake mix and 1 1/2 cups flour. Then add your salt and vanilla. Mix thoroughly.
Add in 3-4 tablespoons of milk, until it reaches a thick, cookie dough-like consistency. You don’t want your batter runny or sticky, so don’t overdo the milk.
Roll your dough into 1″ balls and place them on a wax paper-lined cookie sheet. Stick your cookie balls in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes, just to chill them out a bit before dipping them in the candy melt.
While the dough is chilling, prepare your eyeballs. Take a chocolate chip and place it through the opening of a gummy lifesaver. Make sure that you use the flat side of the gummy saver as the outside of the eyeball (the other side has writing on it) and make the chocolate chip flush with the gummy.
Every now and then you’ll come across a dud gummy saver. The best thing to do with these is to eat them right away. Don’t even think twice about it!
Set your eyeballs aside in a dish. When the dough is close to being chilled, you can start melting your candy/white chocolate melts. You don’t want to prepare your chocolate too soon because it will dry out. Make it right when you are ready to use it. I use the candyquick white chocolate melts that are in my grocery store baking aisle (pictured above); they are super easy to use. Place the candy in a glass bowl and stick it in the microwave for 1 1/2 minutes, stopping to stir every 30 seconds.
Now you are ready to dip your eyeballs. With a fork (or two), dip your truffle into the chocolate, covering it completely. Tap the fork onto the side of the bowl to shake off the excess chocolate.
Place your cookie back on the wax paper and press an eyeball on the top. As the chocolate dries, your eyeball will dry with it and stay in place.
Don’t worry about all of the excess chocolate around the eyeball. Once it dries, you can easily cut/break it off.
Make sure to keep your eyeball cookies in the fridge until you are ready to serve them! Otherwise, the truffle part gets a little soft (it’s the butter in them!) and they taste best when they are chilled.
To make it extra fun and festive, serve your eyeball cookies in a jar! Kids always love to see them displayed this way!
I suppose if you really wanted to be creative, you could add some red lines on the side of the chocolate to look like veins in the eyes. I’m not that detail oriented, but I think it would be fun! Let me know if you try that one out!
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| Prep Time | 20-25 minutes |
| Servings |
cookies
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Ingredients
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- Beat together butter and sugar until combined.
- Add cake mix, flour, salt and vanilla and mix thoroughly.
- Add 3-4 TB of milk slowly, until you reach a good consistency. The dough should be firm enough to roll into balls.
- Roll into 1" balls and place on a wax paper-lined cookie sheet. Chill in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes to firm up.
- While the dough is chilling, prepare your eyeballs by placing a chocolate chip in the center of lifesaver gummy. Be sure to use the back side of the gummy (there is writing on the front side) and the flat side of the chocolate chip should be flush with the back of the gummy saver. Make 30 eyeballs to be safe.
- After the dough has been chilling for close to 15 minutes, melt the almond bark. Melt in the microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring between intervals, until melted.
- Using a fork, drip truffles into almond bark and shake off excess bark by tapping the bottom of the fork on the side of the bowl. Place truffles back on cookie sheet and place your eyeballs on top.
- Chill in the fridge until serving. To make it extra fun and spooky, serve truffles in a large mason jar.
- Makes between 24-30 eyeballs!
