Christine McConnell’s Creepy Eyeball Cookies
Ever since I can remember, I’ve been on the see-food diet (I see food and I eat it.) But what if my food saw me first??!! That’s definitely true for these cookies, they’ll stare right into your spooky soul. First things first, I did not come up with this idea. I saw these cookies on the Netflix show The Curious Creations of Christine McConnell. In this post, I’m going to share how I made them, and the ways I stayed true to the show’s instructions, and how I improvised and made them my own. Of course, I recommend watching S1:E2 Gifts for Nosy Neighbors of The Curious Creations of Christine McConnell to see the true genius work. She begins making the cookies at about the 20 minute mark. Now let’s make some cookies!
1. First, assemble your supplies. I used cookie dough, white fondant, gum paste, dark brown icing color, yellow icing color (not pictured) a rounded sculpting tool, and a small food-safe brush.
**You don’t need a giant tub of fondant, a small package will suffice. You can also use any small rounded object or even your fingertip instead of the scultping tool, I just happened to have one.
2. Next, bake your cookies. Like Christine, I chose chocolate chip, however you can choose whatever kind you like. I like using chocolate chip for this particular craft because the color of the cookie is pretty easy to match to the fondant which helps for a more realistic result.
3. Once your cookies come out of the oven, you will immediately make a cavity using the round sculpting tool, or other small round object, in the center of the cookie. This is where you will be placing the eyeball.
4. While your cookies cool, begin assembling your eyeballs using gum paste. In Christine’s instructions, she uses white modeling chocolate which is probably the better choice. My craft store didn’t have it, so I substituted with gum paste and it worked well. However, I do think modeling chocolate would offer a nicer flavor.
5. Roll small balls of gum paste, or modeling chocolate, between your palms to create a small eyeball about the same size as the cavity in your cookies.
6. Using your brush and edible paints, begin to paint on the iris. You can get creative here and use whatever colors you like or have on hand. I made a light brown iris by combining some yellow and dark brown. Once your irises dry, paint on a pupil using a very dark color. I used my dark brown again, and layered it a few times to create a very dark, almost black pupil.
7. Now that your eyeballs are ready, dye your fondant by mixing a few drops of dark brown color into the fondant and roll it around in your palms to create a small brown ball.
8. Place an eyeball in the cookie’s cavity, and break off two small pieces of the dyed fondant. These will be your eyelids. Sculpting with your fingers, create an eyelid around the top and bottom of your eyeball. Here is another place you can play around as small tweaks can create different expressions.
**In this section I chose to use fondant to create eyelids instead of royal icing like the show suggests. I thought fondant would be easier to sculpt since royal icing is a liquid base. If you don’t want to buy fondant, or you prefer royal icing, go for it!
9. Once you’ve found eyelids you like, start blending the fondant into the cookie to create a realistic effect. And Voila! A creepy-ass eyeball cookie!! Christine recommends using a clear piping gel all over the eye as the last step as it will create a shiny effect similar to a real eye. I highly recommend doing this, I just couldn’t find any clear piping gel at the store.
I’ve made these cookies a few times now and they never disappoint. I hope you try this recipe and let me know in the comments how your cookies turn out and if you find any clever substitutions or adjustments. Stay spooky 👻