I made dark chocolate Halloween cookies, one of Pinterest's top 10 Halloween recipes of 2019

These dark chocolate Halloween cookies were so decadent and delicious; it was hard not to eat the whole batch by myself. The recipe made it onto Pinterest's list of its top 10 Halloween recipes of 2019. I made all 10 recipes, including treats like chocolate skulls and cockroach Boston cream donuts. This recipe was one of my favorites because it was pretty simple and also was a sweet treat. Go ahead, eat drink and be scary with this recipe this Halloween!

Dark Chocolate Halloween Cookies

Recipe IRL:

These cookies were so decadent and rich, I thought I'd eat all the batter and have no mix left to make the cookies (sadly I'm not kidding.) I followed this recipe exactly, except for the optional instant espresso powder. I also used black and orange M&M's as opposed to just orange ones, which I found harder to find. And when I did find them, they were twice the price as the black and orange ones.

The cookies were delicious, but they turned out a little flatter than I intended or expected. I think it might have something to do with the fact that when I added the dry ingredients to the wet ones, I had the standing mixer on high and about a half a cup of dry ingredients ended up in the air (and on my stove and floor). Maybe much of the baking powder and baking soda was in that half a cup, and that's why they turned out a little flat.

Otherwise, I loved how they turned out (and tasted) and I'd definitely make this recipe for any Halloween party or get together. It's also a fun and relatively simple recipe to make with kids.

I suggest pressing extra M&M's right onto the cookies too, so that the color really pops as opposed to just having them in the batter. This is definitely a Halloween recipe I'd recommend to anyone. Maybe adding a drop or two of black food dye would have made them a little spookier, but honestly, I think it's fine as is.

Ingredients
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup dark cocoa powder (such as Hershey's Special Dark®)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp instant expresso powder (optional)
• 1 cup dark chocolate chips
• 1 1/4 cups orange M&M's® (or other orange chocolate candies)

Instructions
• In a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugars.
• Mix in the eggs and vanilla.
• In a separate bowl, add the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and expresso powder, if using. Mix together well.
• Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well.
• Add the dark chocolate chips and mix in.
• Add the M&M's® and mix them in gently so they don't break.
• Line 2 cookie baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Use a 2 oz ice cream scoop to scoop the dough onto the cookie sheets. Don't press them down, just leave them.
• If you need to, gently press extra M&M's onto the cookies before baking so that bright orange candy shows!
• Bake in a 350°F oven for 8-10 minutes, or until the cookies are firm around the edges. They will still be soft in the middle and a little puffed up.
• Remove from oven and cool cookies in the pans for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Recipe reprinted courtesy of Simply Happy Foodie.