Slice and Bake Cookies are always a fun afternoon recipe to make with kids, but I always think that homemade sugar cookies taste better than store-bought dough, so these Homemade Slice and Bake Cookies are a delicious alternative and perfect for your fall baking.

 

Homemade Slice and Bake Cookies Recipe

Fall is a crazy busy work season for me, so sometimes grabbing a tube of slice and bake cookies is necessary if we’re going to get any baking done… but let’s be honest: they taste like a shortcut!

But the awesome thing about cookie dough is that it can be frozen, so I figured out the perfect sugar cookie recipe for freezing!

You can make this recipe in advance and then freeze it until you want to slice and bake. Or, you can make a double batch – bake half right away and freeze the second half for a future week when you’re too busy to whip up the dough.

My daycare kids love slicing the cookies off of the sugar cookie log and then laying them on the cookie sheet, and even for me it’s a lot easier than using cookie cutters and transferring them onto the cookie sheet.

Check out our quick video for how to make these DIY Slice and Bake Cookies and then don’t forget to scroll down to grab our free recipe printable:

Ingredients for Pumpkin Slice and Bake Cookies

• Unsalted butter, room temperature
• White Sugar
• Large Egg, room temperature
• Vanilla Extract 
• All-purpose Flour, plus more for rolling
• Baking Powder
• Salt
• Pumpkin spice, optional <– check out our homemade pumpkin pie spice here
• Orange food coloring, optional <– this set of food coloring has lasted me forever and I love that it creates highly saturated colors with just a drop

Scroll down to the printable recipe card for full measurements.

Tip: you can freeze the rolled cookie dough or baked cookies for up to three months, if needed.

Kitchen Tools You May Find Helpful

• Measuring cups and spoons
• Mixing bowl
• Electric mixer <– this is a great hand mixer if you don’t want to make the investment into a stand mixer
• Cutting board
• Rolling pin
• Sharp kitchen knife
• Parchment Paper
• Cookie Sheets
• Cooling racks <– I have and love these tiered cooling racks, they save so much counter space and are also oven-safe

How to Make Homemade Slice and Bake Cookies

Place the butter and sugar in a large bowl and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

Add the egg and vanilla extract, and beat to incorporate, about 2 minutes.

In a small separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add half of the flour mixture to the sugar-butter mixture, combine, and then add the remaining half.

Dye the cookie dough by adding a few drops of orange food dye (if using), mixing, and then adjusting until you reach your desired color.

Reserving about 1/2 cup of dough, form the rest of the cookie dough into a log and then make an indent on either side to shape it like a pumpkin.

Roll the remaining cookie dough into a thin (snake-like) log and press on top of the log to form a pumpkin shape.

Wrap with plastic wrap (or simply cover with parchment paper) and refrigerate for at least one hour – you can refrigerate overnight, if desired.

Note: you can slice now before refrigerating, refrigerate for minimum 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350F and remove the cookie dough log (or slices) from the fridge.

Trim off the edge (it likely won’t be too pretty) and then slice the remaining dough into 1/4″ thick slices.

Place the slices on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet (or silicone mat-lined) at least 1″ apart.

Bake for 8-12 minutes, until just slightly golden on the edges.

Allow to cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling racks, to prevent breaking.

Store the cookies in an airtight container after they are cooled until you plan to enjoy them. You can also freeze these up to 3 months in advance – or freeze the cookie dough for that time, whichever is easier.

Pin this easy Homemade Slice and Bake Cookies for Halloween:

Grab your free printable recipe card for our pumpkin sugar cookies:

These quick and easy slice and bake Halloween cookies are a delicious recipe that tastes way better than anything you can get at the store, and they are so fun to make with the kids!

For more delicious Halloween recipes, check out our Spiderweb Cupcakes or our Homemade Soft Caramel Dip.