Jack-o'-Lantern Tea Cakes

1. Gather all ingredients. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2. Stir baking mix, milk, sugar, and butter together in a bowl until a soft dough forms. Smooth dough gently into a ball on a floured cloth placed over a cutting board. Knead dough 8 to 10 times only, as dough will get tough very quickly if overkneaded.

3. Roll dough to 1/4-inch thickness on the floured cloth. Cut dough using a floured 2-inch circle cookie cutter. Cut circles to form pumpkins; cut stems from scrap dough using a knife.

4. Attach stems to the underside of the circles using a dab of milk and pressure. Place cookies on a baking sheet.

5. Bake in the preheated oven until lightly golden around the edges, about 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool 10 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely, 15 to 30 minutes.

6. While cookies cool, cut licorice in 3 different sizes: 1/4-inch pieces in sets of 3 to form triangle eyes, tiny dots for the pupils, and 1- to 2-inch curved or straight segments to form mouths.

7. Mix confectioners' sugar, milk, and orange extract together in a small bowl for frosting. Reserve 1 tablespoon of the frosting to dye with green food coloring in a bowl. Use orange food coloring to dye remaining frosting as desired.

8. Frost green stems and orange pumpkin faces onto cooled cookies and decorate with cut licorice and candy corn while frosting is still wet.

Editor's Note:

Nutrition data for this recipe includes the full amount of black licorice and candy corn packages. The actual amount of licorice and candy corn consumed will vary.