If you're already itching to decorate holiday cookies, why wait until Christmas?

Halloween is a great excuse to pick up some creepy cookie cutters and let the kids have fun decorating spooky kitties and ghastly ghosts. It's cheap, easy fun that can double as party food.

While any cookie dough intended for use with cutters would work, gingerbread is ideal because it stays fresh (meaning the cookies can be baked well ahead of a party) and is tough enough to stand up to rough handling by children.

To make the cookies more interesting, these are baked onto lollipop sticks. Children enjoy this novel way of eating a cookie, and you get more display options for the party (such as sticking the cookies into a pumpkin).

Because gingerbread is a dark cookie, you will need to use a fair amount of food coloring in the icing to ensure coverage. When making the cookies, bake some dough scraps to use for testing the icing later.

Gel food coloring (available online and at craft and baking stores) works best. Black provides excellent coverage, as does white (though it is essential to add white food coloring to the naturally white icing). Orange may require several coats of icing for good coverage.

This icing recipe is a poured fondant, which is a thick, soft powdered sugar and white chocolate-based icing that can be poured (easiest and smoothest results) or painted onto the cookies. It will dry firm and smooth with a matte finish.

Use the fondant icing as the base coat and plan to make one batch for each color desired.

Additional decorations can either be added while the fondant is still wet (such as candies and sugar decorations) or once it has dried (such as drawing with the icing "pens" available at many grocers).

Sugar decorations, such as tiny pumpkins, bats, skulls, eyes and ghosts, can be purchased at craft and baking stores. These cost just pennies and make decorating fast and simple.

Don't be intimidated by the length of the recipe or number of ingredients. This recipe is combined for both the cookies and the icing; both are fast and easy to make.

GHOULISH COOKIE POPS

3- to 4-inch Halloween cookie cutters

Twenty-four 8-inch lollipop sticks

For cookies:

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter

3/4 cup light or dark brown sugar

3/4 cup molasses

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon allspice or ground cloves

1 large egg

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 egg white

For icing:

4 cups (1 pound) powdered sugar

1/4 cup light corn syrup

1/2 cup hot water

1 cup white chocolate pieces

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Food coloring (white, black and orange work well)

Various icing pens or sugar decorations

In saucepan set over low heat, or in microwave, melt butter, then stir in sugar, molasses, salt and spices. Transfer mixture to medium-sized mixing bowl, let it cool to lukewarm, then beat in egg.

In large bowl, whisk baking powder and soda into flour, then stir these dry ingredients into the molasses mixture. Divide dough in half and wrap well in plastic. Refrigerate for 1 hour or longer.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Take one piece of dough from refrigerator and place between two sheets of parchment paper. Roll out to about 1/4 inch thick. Remove top sheet of parchment and use cookie cutter to cut out cookies; leave them in place.

Lightly beat egg white in a small bowl. Use pastry brush to coat one half, or 12, of the lollipop sticks with egg white, then arrange them evenly on two baking sheets (six sticks per sheet). One at a time, transfer cookies to baking sheets, placing each so that it rests on top of egg-coated half of lollipop stick. Use fingers to gently press cookie over stick; do not press hard.

Bake just until cookies are slightly brown at edges and feel firm, 8 to 12 minutes. Let cookies cool on baking sheets for several minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool. Repeat with remaining dough and sticks.

While cookies cool, prepare icing. Sift powdered sugar into large bowl, then whisk in corn syrup and hot water, stirring until smooth. Set aside.

In saucepan set over very low heat, or in double boiler or microwave, melt white chocolate, stirring until smooth. Add melted chocolate to sugar mixture, then add vanilla and color. Icing will be smooth and fluid. Keep it warm and covered, laying a lightly greased piece of plastic wrap on the surface to keep it from drying out.

To ice cookies, line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. With cookies still on it, set a wire cooling rack over baking sheet. Using spoon or spatula to control the flow, slowly pour icing over cookies. Icing should drape over cookies, covering them with a thick coating. Excess will drip onto baking sheet.

Let cookies dry for a minute or two, then drizzle additional icing as needed for even coverage. Let cookies set for several minutes, then pick up by the sticks and transfer to a clean sheet of parchment paper.

If decorating with candies or sugar decorations, add while icing is still wet. Otherwise, let them dry to the touch, then use icing pens to decorate. Makes about 24.