White Chocolate Candy Corn Cookies — These Halloween cookies are PACKED with candy corn and white chocolate chips. They’re easy to make and are always a hit with the kids!
Creating These Candy Corn Cookies
Candy corn. Oh, the memories of a few pieces clanking against the bottom of my trick-or-treating bucket. On Halloween, houses that ran out of fun-sized Snickers, or so-called ‘good’ candy, used to toss out candy corn.
After seeing it recently appear in stores for the season I promptly tossed it into my cart not knowing for sure what I was going to make with it. I baked it into the most soft, tender, buttery cookie dough base in my cookie arsenal. And then I added white chocolate chips.
I used a dough base I haven’t used in about a year. It’s one I used for both my Maraschino Cherry White Chocolate Cookies and my Cranberry and White Chocolate Cookies, which are cookies inspired by my Cranberry Bliss Bars. I like this dough base for recipes where I want a softer, lighter, more delicate and tender dough, and when white chocolate is involved.
This dough is slightly sweeter and creamier than my trusty chocolate chip cookie dough base. Candy corn would have been fine in that base too, but it really shines in this dough. The dough is reminiscent of Lofthouse cookie dough, minus the cake flour. It calls for 2 tablespoons of cream or half-and-half which isn’t much, but the milk really tenderizes the dough and it just melt in your mouth.
When I had previously used this base, I hadn’t yet hopped on the cornstarch bandwagon. So this time around I added two teaspoons, like I do with most of my cornstarch cookies. It helps create a softbatch-style cookie that’s so soft and supple, without turning cakey.
I had no idea my 6-year-old loved candy corn as much as she did until she went nuts over it these cookies. Growing up with more sugar in our house than in many bakeries, she’s usually pretty immune to what I make. Like me, it takes quite a bit to get her excited anymore.
After one of these she said, “Mom, I’m going to be thinking about these cookies all day tomorrow at school.”
I said, “Well sweetie if you want another one now, go for it.”
If I had a 6-year-old metabolism, I’d have seconds when fresh cookies were involved.
But she said, “No, I’d rather not so I can dream about them all day tomorrow.”
What’s in These Candy Corn Cookies?
To make this candy corn recipe, you’ll need:
- Unsalted butter
- Light brown sugar
- Granulated sugar
- Egg
- Vanilla extract
- Cream or half-and-half
- All-purpose flour
- Cornstarch
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Candy corn
- White chocolate chips
How to Make Candy Corn Cookies
To make these Halloween cookies, you’ll first need to cream together the butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients to the mixture and stir until just combined, then gently fold in the candy corn and white chocolate chips.
Then, scoop out the dough. I made 20 mounds of dough, each about 2 heaping tablespoons of dough. Because the candy corn and white chocolate chips are bulky, the raw dough mounds look quite large before being baked, but in the oven and as the dough cooks down around the candy corn and chips, the cookies flatten and turn out to be of average size.
Once you’ve formed the cookie dough balls, they need to chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours. Once the dough has been chilled, you’re ready to bake the cookies.
I bake these candy corn cookies for just over 9 minutes. They’ll look very pale, glossy, and underdone, but they set up dramatically as they cool. Because this dough base is so buttery, baking longer than about 10 minutes could result in the undersides become overly browned.
Can I Freeze Candy Corn Cookie Dough?
Yes, absolutely! I would freeze the dough itself once rolled into mounds, and from there it will keep for probably 3 to 4 months in the freezer. You can bake the cookie dough balls from frozen (no need to thaw).
Can I Add Other Mix-Ins?
Yes, but I wouldn’t add more than 2ish cups of mix-ins total. Otherwise your cookie dough will be impossible to shape into balls.
Can I Make These Cookies Gluten-Free?
I haven’t tried that myself, so I can’t say for sure. Try making these with a gluten-free flour blend intended for baking and see how they turn out!
Can I Make These as Cookie Bars?
I haven’t tried this exact recipe as candy corn cookie bars, but I do have a recipe for Candy Corn White Chocolate M&M’s Blondies you might like.
Can I Omit the Cornstarch?
Technically, yes. However, I can’t guarantee that your Halloween cookies will turn out exactly like mine did if you omit the cornstarch. If you make these candy corn cookies without the cornstarch, please leave me a comment down below letting me know how they turn out!
Can I Scale Back the Amount of Mix-Ins?
Yes, feel free to add less chocolate chips and candy corn, if desired. I like these cookies as is, but I know everyone has different tastes, so tweak this recipe as desired.
Tips for Making Candy Corn Cookies
This is very, very important. Do NOT allow the candy corn pieces to lay directly on your baking tray and shield the candy with a pinch of dough. Candy corn is prone to burning, melting, and turning into a hot, crispy, lacey mess if baked directly on a hot tray. The candy corn that’s in the interior of the cookies should not melt or run, provided your dough was chilled before baking. After baking, it takes on a slightly chewier texture that’s scrumptious.
To make sure none of the candy corn is touching the baking tray, I simply check the bottom of the chilled cookie dough balls and push any stray candy corn pieces into the center of the dough as needed. Exposed candy corn on top of the cookie dough balls should be fine, but you don’t want any coming in contact with the hot baking tray.
Also note that you can use salted peanuts in place of the white chocolate chips. Peanuts balance out the sweet candy corn perfectly and make these Halloween cookies salty-sweet.
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White Chocolate Candy Corn Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter, soften
- ¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons cream or half-and-half
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons corn starch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
- 1 ½ cups candy corn, 10 to 11 ounces
- 1 cup white chocolate chips, or salted peanuts
Instructions
- To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or large bowl and electric hand mixer), cream together the first 5 ingredients (through vanilla) on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
- Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the next 5 ingredients (through optional salt), and mix on low speed until just incorporated, about 1 minute; don’t overmix.
- Add the candy corn, white chocolate chips (or peanuts), and mix until just incorporated.
- Using a medium 2-inch cookie scoop, form heaping two-tablespoon mounds (I made 20). Place mounds on a large plate, flatten mounds slightly, cover with plasticwrap, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, or up to 5 days, before baking. Do not bake with warm dough because cookies will spread and bake thinner and flatter.
- Important note – Strategically place candy corn so that it’s not baking directly on cookie sheet because it will melt, burn, or turn runny if it is. The candy corn pieces need to be in the interior of the cookies, shielded and buffered by dough.
- Preheat oven to 350F, line a baking sheet with a Silpat or spray with cooking spray. Place mounds on baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart (I bake 8 cookies per sheet) and bake for about 9 minutes, or until edges have set and tops are just beginning to set, even if slightly undercooked, pale and glossy in the center. Do not overbake because cookies will firm up as they cool. Baking longer than 10 minutes could result in cookies with overly browned undersides.
- Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooking.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Halloween Desserts:
Lofthouse Soft Sugar Sprinkle Cookies — The texture of these cookies is similar to Lofthouse-Style sugar cookies. They’re buttery soft and light, without being airy or cakey.
Candy Corn and White Chocolate Blondies — The blondies are super soft, slightly chewy, and buttery. The candy corn stays chewy after it’s baked and the contrast of the dense, moist, tender bars against the chewy candy corn is great.
Soft and Chewy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies — Between the molasses, pumpkin pie spice, and pumpkin pie spice extract, the cookies beautifully showcase the flavors of fall.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Candy Bars — The bars are no-bake, easy, loaded with bold peanut butter flavor, and plenty of chocolate. There’s both a layer of melted chocolate and assorted candy bar pieces adorn the top.
Chocolate Chip M&M’s Halloween Cookies — Super soft, perfectly chewy, BROWNED BUTTER cookies that are LOADED with M&M’s and chocolate chips!
Loaded Halloween Cream Cheese Brownies – Ultra fudgy, rich brownies topped with a layer of orange cream cheese, sandwich cookies, and chocolate chips!
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Brownies – Rich, fudgy brownies topped with pumpkin and chocolate chips!
Originally posted October 6, 2013 and reposted October 30, 2020 with updated text.
Sigh, I made these and they completely fell apart. Not one of them would retain their shape. I don’t think I let them sit in the fridge long enough. BUT, that said, they were really delicious and the candy corn is like this yummy, chewy toffee. I just wish I knew what I did wrong.
Silpat, King Arthur flour, chilled dough, and more of my tips for success here https://www.averiecooks.com/2014/02/the-best-soft-and-chewy-chocolate-chip-cookies.html
Thanks for trying the recipe and glad the parts that worked tasted great!
I baked these up today, and while they baked up great, I am sad to say I wasn’t crazy about them :( The cookie dough is amazing, and I liked the candy corn, but I thought the white chocolate overpowered the cookies. We thought the dough to stuff ratio was off too, too much stuff for the amount of dough. I think they would have been perfect for me if I had left out the white chocolate chips.
Thanks for trying them and if you thought the white chocolate was the only thing standing in the way of these being totally perfect, that’s an easy fix to omit next time given your personal preferences…everyone’s different and while I love it as do so many others who’ve tried these, just make that tweak next time and you’re set!
These cookies changed my life.
AWESOME!! Thanks for trying the recipe!
I’m still waiting for my cookies to cool completely, but I had to eat a broken one already (darn). It was delicious! I really thought that I had inspected every cookie to make sure no cc was showing, but almost all had melted cc when I took then out. Do you think that it was because my cookies were in ball form in the refrigerator, and then when they warmed in the oven the cc became exposed or fell to the side? Fortunately, no burning, but the were really tough to get off of the cookie sheet, even with a lot of spray. Any tip you could give for shielding? Maybe a layer of dough sans cc under each cookie?
Maybe a layer of dough sans cc under each cookie? = yes, exactly! That is what I instructed in the recipe. Good luck and enjoy your cookies!
Somehow I didn’t understand that when I read shield with a pinch of dough. I think my pinch was too small. What I really needed was a thicker layer across the entire bottom. Next time for sure. These are more complex than most cookies I make, so I need the extra guidance. Thanks for your reply. I’m sure it must take a lot of your time. Best wishes!
It takes a crazy amount of time to answer all the baking questions I get, yes! :) Hours and hours per day!
What I really needed was a thicker layer across the entire bottom. = YES. No exposed candy corn touching the baking sheets, that’s what I wrote and if you do that, you will be just fine. Enjoy!
I made these cookies, which were not difficult at all because I followed all your directions. These will be a new autumn favorite. I will note one practical tip — some of the candy corns did melt on my PAM-spray infused cookie sheets. I boiled water, filled the sheets with it, and used a scrub-brush. The sheets came out perfectly clean in 1 minute.
Thank you, Leslie, for trying the recipe (as I wrote it..haha!) and glad that it worked out perfectly for you! Great tip and since candy corn is water-soluble (it’s just sugar really) not surprising it came off pretty easily with a little boiling water. I use Silpats and really NOTHING sticks to those, so I don’t even recall what cleanup was like on these other than maybe just wiping with a paper towel? Glad these are a new fall favorite for you!
These candy corn cookies sound really great but I wish there was a printable recipe. My printer keeps balking at printing one page out of 58 so I guess I won’t
There is a print button within the recipe section itself. A small circular icon in the right hand corner. Perhaps you’d like to try that. It should be 1-2 pages, max.
Yum!!! These were the Best cookies I have ever made!! I followed the directions and made sure NO candy corn touched the pan. I doubled the batch and my family devoured them!!! Thank you!!!
Thank you for the glowing review and so happy they’re the BEST cookies you’ve EVER made! Such high praise and thank you for letting me know they were a big hit!
Your Candy Corn Cookies were featured in this blog:
https://friggle-fraggle.blogspot.com/2014/10/thirty-one-days-of-halloween-day-2-for.html
Averie, I just wanted to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for this cookie post. I made them this week, and they turned out perfectly. I appreciate that you take the time to teach how to do things, and the reason behind why you do them. I have been very frustrated by flat cookies for so long. Your insight was extremely helpful.
What an awesome comment – thank you!!! The minute I opened this comment I was like, oh gosh, where’s the but… And then, there wasn’t any! So thank YOU! Glad my little tips have helped and I also went on, at length, about cookie making tips in this post
https://www.averiecooks.com/the-best-soft-and-chewy-chocolate-chip-cookies/
I recommend reading all of the instructions before starting lol. I skipped right to the ingredients, went out and bought what was required and began. It wasn’t until my first batch failed miserably that I looked over the instructions to see that the dough is to be refrigerated before. Thus, I attempted again later after the dough how been refrigerated. Unfortunately it still did not work for me. The cookies were stuck to the wax paper like crazy, even when I used Pam. I’m not the most skilled baker and I guess I would call myself a beginner so maybe this recipe is for the more slightly advanced. I can’t argue with the taste of the cookies though. The bits I managed to scrape off the pan were delious and I wish they worked out for me!
The cookies were stuck to the wax paper like crazy, even when I used Pam. <--- EEK! WAX PAPER is not what you should ever bake on. Parchment paper, fine. Wax, never. The wax will melt and everything will stick to it. So I surmise that this was a 'beginner baker' (as you called yourself) error and not an error with my recipe. Now you know and probably won't ever do it again. Glad you at least got a few good little bites!
These are very very good cookies! I ran across them while in Pintrest, and just had to try them. I have to play around with how big the cookies are because my first batch was a little under done. This is definitely something I will make again.
Glad you’ll make them again and yes, based on size of dough balls, oven variances, etc 1 to 3 minutes can really impact things and so always tweak as necessary!
These amazing cookies are baking as I type. I just couldn’t wait to share how delicious they are. I used butterscotch chips instead of white chocolate chips and completely omitted the drizzle on top. I will be making these again this weekend. Thanks Averie!!
Oh I’m so happy you love them! Thanks for writing to tell me and that you’re going to make them again! Butterscotch would be great in these I bet! They sound wonderful!
These cookies turned out nothing like the photo. After 2 pans of the candy corn melting all over the place and struggling to get them off the pan despite following the directions, I trashed them. I’m so disappointed :(
Sorry that you didn’t have good luck. Did you read the part where I discussed making sure the candy corn wasn’t touching the baking sheet? That really is key in making sure the candy corn doesn’t melt and to have it shielded with dough. It takes a little bit of time to strategically place the dough and tuck the candy corn inside, but it’s really a big secret to make sure the candy corn doesn’t melt all over.
I am freaking out on these cookies! They look amazing–I need them NOW! :-)
Candy Corn is my favorite vegetable…looking forward to baking these in the fall when the 1st harvest of Candy Corn appears!
It’s my favorite veggie, too! Can’t wait til I see the harvest. Should be any day now, knowing Target and the grocery stores. They’ll have Xmas decorations out any minute, too :)
Hi Averie! I mad these cookies today and needless to say they were a big hit! Although I forgot to put them in the fridge… They still turned out great!!!
Glad to hear that they still turned out great even w/out chilling the dough – excellent :)