Most of my Halloween recipes are pretty easy to prepare and consists of everyday food with well placed garnishes and whole lot of creative plating to make it Halloween ready. I try to avoid recipes that have too many steps because honestly, I want folks to make my recipes and if they are overly complicated, people just won’t make them…or worse they will make it and it won’t turn out well. So after saying this, I apologize in advance for these Crystal Ball Cookies. Truth be told, these cookies are NOT easy to make. Correction…the cookie part is easy, the gelatin globes are NOT. These globes will test your sanity, so you must have the WILL to try them and the will to KEEP trying them, coupled with hefty doses of curses, balloons, gelatin packets, glittery tears, time, and still more curses. And be ready for the commentary from your family… “What’s that?”…”I thought you did that last week?”…”Again?” Like I said these are not easy, but your persistence will be rewarded with a dozen way-cool-looking chocolate shortbread cookies topped with decorations shaped like skull crystal balls, that despite being bland and hard enough to break a tooth, are completely edible. However, I recommend dropping the skull crystal ball into your coffee to sweeten your drink and eat the cookie first! Enjoy!
Crystal Ball Cookies
Take a look into the future and discover the delicious fun to be had on Halloween with Crystal Ball Cookies.
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Servings: 12 cookies
Equipment
- mini skull molds
- 1 ¼" round cookie cutter
- 5" balloons
- bamboo skewers
Ingredients
Gelatin Crystal Balls
- 12 5" balloons
- shortening (to grease the ballloons)
- 2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
- 4 tbsp. cold water
- pinch blue luster powder I used Wilton
- 1-2 drops orange extract
- purple and white luster powder I used Wilton
White Chocolate Skulls
- ½ bag white melting chocolate
- mini skull mold
- 1/2 tsp black cocoa powder and 2 tsp vodka (to age the skulls)
Chocolate Shortbread Cookies
- ⅓ cup salted butter, room temperature
- ⅓ cup powdered sugar, sifted
- ⅔ cup all purpose flour, sifted
- 2 tbsp black cocoa powder, sifted
- black decorating frosting and cookie icing (I used store bought)
- silver sanding sugar and edible star glitter
Instructions
Gelatin Crystal Balls
- Blow up 12 balloons so that they measure about 1 ½" in diameter. They will be small so push the air down to the bottom of the balloon leaving a long end to tie the balloon off. Tie the balloon. Put a small amount of shortening on your hands and rub each balloon to lightly to coat the outside of the balloons, and rub off any excess with a paper towel. If there is too much, the gelatin won't stick very well, but a light coat makes it easier to release the balloons from the gelatin bubbles. Tape the balloons to the end of bamboo skewers.
- Add powdered gelatin, water and a small amount of blue luster powder to a small bowl. You want just a hint of color so that you can see the skull through the gelatin. Stir and let sit for about 5 minutes to bloom. Microwave for 10 seconds to melt the gelatin. Add a drop or two of orange extract and then roll each balloon in the gelatin mixture and let excess drip back into the bowl. Stick the bamboo skewers into a piece of Styrofoam or into tall glasses where it can drip and air dry, but ensure they do not touch. Repeat with each balloon, reheating the gelatin a few seconds if the gelatin thickens. While the gelatin balloons are still wet, spray the outside with white and purple luster powder to add marbling of colors.
- Note: I used a combination of these products from Wilton to create the variation of color in the Crystal Balls. The star glitter was added to sanding sugar to coat the cookie base.
- Add a fan to help speed up drying. Once the first layer of gelatin has dried a bit, it will still be tacky and rubbery, reheat the gelatin and dip each balloon again for second coat of gelatin. (Make a new batch of gelatin if needed) Let dry completely, usually overnight. It may not seem like enough gelatin is coating the balloons, but it is and the gelatin will be rigid and hard once completely dry.
- Gently pull up on bamboo skewer to break a little opening to the bottom of the gelatin. Then push the skewer into the balloon to loosen the balloon from the inside top of the gelatin globe, then snip a small hole to pop the balloon. Use the skewer end with the balloon attached to work the balloon down the inside of the gelatin, alternating between pushing the balloon down and pulling it up through the hole to release it from the gelatin. Once the balloon releases, use scissors to trim the bottom of the globe.
White Chocolate Skulls
- Heat melting chocolate according to package directions, place in a plastic bag and squeeze out into 1 inch skull molds. Tap mold to level out chocolate and let harden. (Reserve leftover melting chocolate)
- Add aging to the chocolate skulls by mixing 1/2 tsp of black cocoa powder and a little vodka and paint the skulls with it. Let dry overnight. The vodka will evaporate and leave the cocoa behind.
Chocolate Shortbread Cookies
- Cream together butter and sifted powdered sugar. Sift together cocoa and flour and add to the butter sugar mixture.
- Pour cookie dough out onto plastic wrap and shape and roll out into a flat rectangle that is about ½ inch thick. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.
- Preheat oven to 325°. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Use 1¼ inch round cookie cutter to cut out twelve ½-inch thick cookies and place on the prepared cookie sheet. Use a ¼ teaspoon to scoop out a small amount of the cookie to create a thumbprint of sorts. This is so the gelatin balls can sit down into the cookie. Bake at 325° for 12-15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely before assembly.
Crystal Ball Cookie Assembly
- Pour silver sanding sugar and edible star glitter onto a small plate. Coat sides of cookie with decorating frosting and roll in sanding sugar to coat.
- Heat up leftover melting chocolate to glue the skulls to the middle of each cookie. Let set. Use scissors to cut a small opening to bottom of the crystal balls, big enough so that the ball can easily slide over skulls. Squeeze a small amount of cookie icing around the skull. This will act as the glue to hold the gelatin ball to the cookie once dried. Cover skull with Crystal ball and sprinkle with additional glitter to cover in any missing areas.
- Let dry completely and *serve (see recipe note).
Notes
Skull molds from Shapem.com
Inspiration for these Crystal Ball Cookies came from a Halloween Tree ornament from the Crafty Lumberjacks
*Gelatin crystal balls are decorative as well as completely edible, however they're not very tasty. I suggest dropping them in hot coffee and eat the cookie first. Happy Halloween!
These are adorable, I want to use the crystal ball decoration on a cake, just wanted to know how long the gelatin crystal component will last so I know how long I can make ahead? Thank you :)))
Hi Amanda
The crystal balls will last a long time. I made these over a few weeks a stored them in a ziplock bag and they were good, honestly they are hard a rock. From personal experience… these little buggers are very frustrating to make but make for very cool decorations 😉
🖤Lori
Hi! Thanks for this great treat! Just wondering if your mini skull head is half a head? I can only find the half and not the whole head mini mold. 1”?
Thanks
Hi Robin
Yes it is only half a head. I used the plastic mini skull candy mold they are about 1″ in height. Hope that helps.
Lori
Thanks! I’m having a difficult time blowing up these balloons! Stretching them helps?😬
Thanks! Ok I’m using agar for gelatin so it’s an experiment. I found out you need 1/3-1/2 the amount of agar.
Making these for a neighborhood block party bake-off competition! I truly don’t think the internet properly prepared me for the scent of unflavored gelatin. I’ve gone my whole life thinking it smelled like “berry blue” and that is definitely NOT the case lol! So far so good, about to do the 2nd coat. I used food grade color shifting luster dust (shifts pearl green to purple) and the effect looks so cool! Thank you for the recipe and easy instructions!
Hi Michelle
Yes you are so right! Unflavored gelatin is horrendous, you can definitely tell it’s made from animals. Good luck on your bake-off! Make sure to warn folks about how hard those gelatin globes are. They will break a tooth if they try to eat it. Best to drop the globe in hot coffee and just eat the shortbread and white chocolate skull. Have fun!
Lori🖤