Easy Cookie Maggots with Colored Dough

Looking to add a seriously creepy (but delicious) touch to your Halloween dessert table? These cookie “maggots” are the perfect trick-and-treat combination.

A view from the above, black round tray with colorful cookies shaped in to long snakes.

COOKIE MAGGOTS STEP-BY-STEP

You can make these edible maggots from as simple cookie dough. But be sure to use a dough that doesn’t spread too much. I used the dough for my mini tart shells. It’s delicious, doesn’t spread, and it works perfectly, keeping the ribbed, wormy texture intact.

THINGS YOU NEED

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Hair Comb – new, never used
Pastry Brush
Ground Cinnamon (favorite cinnamon) or Cocoa Powder
Gel Food Coloring: green, blue, pink, orange
Perforated Baking Mat
Baking Sheet

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DIVIDE AND COLOR COOKIE DOUGH

From one batch of no-spread Vanilla Cookie Dough, you’ll have an enormous amount of cookie maggots. What you can do is to use some of the dough for cookie maggots, and the rest you can use to make cut-out cookies or mini tart shells.

If you plan on using multiple colors, the prime time to color cookie dough for this project is right after you mix it. Use concentrated gel food colors instead of liquid colors.
Push the dough into the food coloring and gently knead until uniform in color.

Gloved hand kneading orange color into the cookie dough.

Hands kneading gel colors into the cookie doughs.

PREPARE HAIR COMB

To create a ribbed/wormy texture on cookies, I used a brand-new hair comb.
You want to lightly dust the comb with ground cinnamon or cocoa powder to prevent cookie dough from sticking and to add a shadowy accent.
Dip the pastry brush into ground cinnamon, gently shake off the excess (steps 1-4).

Use a pastry brush lightly coated with cinnamon to dust the comb with it (steps 1-2).

Pastry brush, dusting a hair comb with cinnamon.

CREATE RIBBED/WORMY TEXTURE

To shape the maggots, take a piece of cookie dough and shape it into a log.
Place it on the edge of the comb where the teeth start forming (steps 1-2).
Press the cookie piece down lightly with the palm of your hand, and keep rolling it until it falls off the hair comb (steps 3-5).
If needed, you can repeat this process (steps 6-7).
Transfer cookie worms onto a baking sheet lined with parchment or a perforated mat.
Give the maggot cookie movement by shaping the ribbed log into a wave or creating a snail design.