Day of the Dead Chocolate Chip Cookies

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #CelebrateLosMuertos #CollectiveBias

Who doesn’t love chocolate chip cookies?  I know everyone in my family does, which is why I decided to come up with an easy, fun, creative way to make (Dia de los Muertos) Day of the Dead chocolate chip cookies.

Day of the Dead Chocolate Chip Cookies - yoursassyself.com

How to Create a Dia de Los Muertos Altar

In case you don’t know what el Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is about, here’s a little back story. Although it sounds like a morbid holiday, it isn’t. It’s actually a day Hispanics dedicate to honoring and celebrating loved ones who have passed. It’s filled with tradition, love and all the colors, sounds and food usually associated with a celebration.

Dia de los Muertos Altars - yoursassyself.com

The most noted symbol of el Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is the sugar skull, which is why I decided to create an Americanized version using two things I love the most – NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Refrigerated Cookie Dough and NERDS® Fun Size Candy.  How easy and cool does that sound?

NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Refrigerated Cookie Dough and NERDS® Fun Size Candy - yoursassyself.com

How to make Day of the Dead Chocolate Chip Cookies

First, make sure you freeze the dough so that it’s easier to work with.  Once frozen, grease your cookie sheet, put on gloves (helps keep your body heat from melting the dough, but you can go bare handed if you prefer), and grease the gloves to make the dough shaping easier.

Greasing cookie sheet - yoursassyself.com

Grab a dough square and begin removing the chocolate chips (save in a container) to allow a smooth surface to shape the dough into the sugar skull (if you prefer, you can make the dough from scratch, mold and then add NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Morsels accordingly – your call). 

Removing chips from chocolate chip dough - yoursassyself.com

Once the dough is chip free, you can begin shaping it into a skull, by pinching the top and stretching the bottom.  Think mushrooms or broccoli florets – round top with a short stem.

Shaping dough into skull - yoursassyself.com

Once shaped, add the chips back in (saving at least 3 to make the face).

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Adding chips back into skull shaped dough - yoursassyself.com

Now turn the dough over, add in two eyes and a nose to the dough, and place on your greased cookie sheet.

Adding face to dough skull - yoursassyself.com

Repeat the process until you’ve got at least 9 on your cookie sheet (make sure to allow room for the cookie to spread, because it will). 

Skull shaped chocolate chip cookies on cookie sheet - yoursassyself.com

Bake according to the package instructions, but at the halfway point, take them out to reshape.  Don’t panic, most will have gone back to a normal round shape.  That’s ok. Reshaping them back into skull shape half way through the baking process will normally keep them that shape through the end.  All you have to do is pinch the top into shape by using your thumb and index fingers.  It’s ok if the cookie cracks, the baking process will bind it back together.

Reshaping warm cookies - yoursassyself.com

Once you’ve reshaped the batch, place back into the oven to finish the baking process.  Once baked, you’re ready to add the sugar to your sugar skull with NERDS® Fun Size Candy.

Baked chocolate chip skull cookies - yoursassyself.com

As soon as you remove the batch from the oven, start decorating.  This is when the dough is still soft enough to keep the NERDS® in place. (If the dough begins to harden, don’t worry, place it back in the oven for a few seconds to soften it again and continue decorating.)

Decorating sugar skulls with NERDS® - yoursassyself.com

I decided to go with a basic sugar skull design – placing 3 large NERDS® above the eyes and 3 small NERDS® along the mouth, but choose which ever design you like or leave your skull as is. 

Decorated chocolate chip sugar skull cookies - yoursassyself.com

How to make Day of the Dead Chocolate Chip Cookies (video)

Pretty cool huh?  So what are you waiting for?  Get your sugar skull on the easy way and head out to your local H-E-B store to buy NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Refrigerated Cookie Dough and NERDS® Fun Size Candy, or any of your other Halloween, Day of the Dead treats.  They’re stocked and ready for you! 

NESTLÉ® at HEB - yoursassyself.com

And if you happen to be shopping at the Austin Highway H‑E‑B on October 23rd or 24th, 2015 you’ll be able to sample a Pumpkin Cookie Butter dip with LIBBY’S 100% Pure Pumpkin and H-E-B Speculoos Creamy Cookie Butter – yum, yum. 

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Then bake away until your heart’s content for either a Halloween party

Skull chocolate chip cookies - yoursassyself.com

or your Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) altar.

Day of the Dead altar with sugar skull chocolate chip cookies - yoursassyself.com
This is the beginnings of one for my grandparents (pictured in the frame).

Day of the Dead Chocolate Chip Cookies - yoursassyself.com

What are your favorite NESTLÉ® recipes?

Rocio Chavez
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64 Comments

  1. Awesome candy skulls! I initially thought you used a mold to shape the skulls and then I saw the entire post. That’s so creative!

    • Thanks Elizabeth, I was hoping to use a mold, but chocolate chip cookies want to be round, so I had to come up with my own way to get them into skull shape 😉 Glad you liked them 😀

  2. Very creative! I feel like this year saw more Day of the Dead things at stores than every before! There were even super cute little baggies to put treats into. Loved this post :).

  3. Hehehe those cookies are so cute and look so tasty I would eat the entire plate so fast. Maybe I should share…maybe?

    NAH!!!!!! =]

    Danielle | FollowMyGut.com <3

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