Forget Candy — This Iconic Cookie Is the Best Halloween Treat
While, yes, I have been known to toss a family-sized bag of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups in my shopping cart come October (especially if there’s a sale), my favorite Halloween treat isn’t candy. You read that right. Even during peak candy season, I can’t help but crave cookies — particularly, Pillsbury Ready to Bake Pumpkin Shape Sugar Cookies.
Before I get into my unadulterated love for these iconic cookies, I had to do some research on them. It turns out, I’ve been enjoying them for pretty much as long as they’ve been around.
Pillsbury invented Slice ‘n Bake in 1957 as part of a holiday cookie-decorating kit designed to make baking easier. “The original kits included two rolls of Slice ’n Bake cookie dough in various flavors, and free stencils and decorating ideas printed inside the wrapper,” says Tiffany Seelen, senior manager, brand experience at Pillsbury.
It wasn’t until 1992, however, that Pillsbury created the cookie-within-a-cookie (the one I’m obsessed with), rebranding “Slice n’ Bake” to today’s “Shape” cookies. These days, Pillsbury offers fifteen different options, from characters like Snoopy or Scooby-Doo to seasonal shapes like reindeer, hearts, shamrocks, and pumpkins. “We often see these cookies representing a lot of nostalgic memories. They remain one of our most iconic products,” says Seelen.
While Pillsbury has plenty of seasonal “shapes,” the Halloween pumpkins were what I exclusively made as a kid growing up in the ’90s. Even a messy kid like me, who couldn’t reach the countertops without standing on a chair, could bake these. I’d stand on my tiptoes to turn on the oven, slide the rolls of dough from the long blue tube, and slowly slice the dough on each marker. In went the cookie sheet, smiling jack-o’-lanterns face-up.
No less than 10 minutes later, I’d have myself a perfect cookie. Warm, with a crackly crust around the edges — but melt-in-your-mouth soft in the middle, so that each bite delivered big crunches of sugar crystals between my teeth.
In a year when so much is uncertain, nothing has brought me more joy than the return of these familiar (jack-o’-lantern) faces to grocery store shelves. I can throw a batch in the oven in between Zoom calls and fill my kitchen with simple, nostalgic goodness, and forget about what’s going on in the world — even if just for a minute.
If you got through this story without planning a trip to find them in the refrigerated aisle immediately, congratulations! For those who suddenly have a craving, though, let us help you.
Buy: Pillsbury Ready to Bake Pumpkin Shape Sugar Cookies, $2.69 for 24 cookies at Instacart
Do you wait for these cookies to hit grocery store shelves too?