Halloween Cookie Challenge kicks off with “Cute, Creepy, and Spellbound”

Rosanna Pansino is back on our screens and she joins Jet Tila in the perfect seasonal culinary competition – Halloween Cookie Challenge. The series premiered on both Discovery Plus and Food Network, and gave us a whole new baking competition to fall in love with this Halloween. And the competition kicked off with the perfect episode all about “Cute, Creepy, and Spellbound.”

For their first challenge, our bakers had to bake up two cookies. For one cookie the bakers have to take something cute and make it look creepy, while the second cookie is the exact opposite. The second cookie has to take something creepy and make it look cute. Think turning a teddy bear into a murderer or a werewolf and making him look chic and ready to go on a date. (And yes, those are two of the designs one of our bakers, Josh, whipped up.)

While the baking started before we tuned in (that was a little weird), it didn’t feel like we missed seeing the four bakers start making their cookies or even learning what the challenge was. We got to see a lot of baking, a lot of decorating, and a bit of fumbling in the kitchen. It was everything we could have hoped for in the first challenge of the competition.

The Halloween Cookie Challenge premieres with plenty of cookie mayhem

Following the Cute and Creepy portion of the first Halloween Cookie Challenge episode, one baker was actually eliminated right away leaving us with just three bakers battling it out for $10,000. And honestly it was anyone’s game both in terms of sticking around and even leaving.

Sadly, the first baker to leave was Kim, who made a super cute spider but couldn’t bring the creepy to her bunny cookie (she was also dinged for an underbaked cookie).

For the second challenge, the bakers had to make a 3-D Spellbook made out of cookies. There need to be two different doughs, some black ingredients (black sesame seeds, black cherries, etc), and there are some size parameters and design elements that must be included.

Unsurprisingly, it is just as much about the design and details as it is the flavors of both cookie doughs.

Not only do we have a Spellbook made to look like an alligator, but one baker made their book look like it was covered in human skin with a demon hand poking out holding a human heart. Basically these bakers are next level with their work and it was amazing. And it all came down to the wire as in the last minute all three bakers were scrambling to finish those final details.

Arlene brought it with the demon Spellbook that the judges could stab with a cookie knife. And she got some really nice comments for both her design and her cookies.

The next baker was Josh who brought a Soul eating Spellbook to the judges. He also got some nice comments about his work and the cookies he made.

Finally we had Rebecca who delivered an Evil Alligator Spellbook. And her decoration work was an immediate hit. Her cookies were very interesting as well, with one bringing the heat, while the other was about bringing unique flavor combinations.

So who won the very first episode of Halloween Cookie Challenge? That would be Rebecca with her stunning Spellbook cookie creation! And we have to admit that we agree with the judges on this one because her book was truly next level.

Did you watch the first episode of Halloween Cookie Challenge? What did you think? We’re you excited to see Rosanna Pansino back on your screen too? Let us know in the comments below what you thought of the competition.