This post was brought to you by Collective Bias, Inc. and it's advertiser. I received compensation to write this post … but, all opinions expressed are my own. #CelebrateLosMuertos #CollectiveBias

A while back now I had made these yummy little cookies for my daughter's birthday, and called them 'Fairy Bites'. They were more so a snack on the trip that we were taking to her fairy themed birthday destination. With Halloween and Dia de los Muertos coming up soon, I wanted to take those cookies and make them again with a few special changes!

Halloween is actually my favorite holiday. I think it has to do with the cooler weather and the fact that people get to prance around in costumes and pretend to be someone or something else for a while. Here in Texas, Dia de los Muertos or 'The Day of the Dead' is a pretty big holiday too. In fact, my mom is in love with sugar skulls. They seem to be becoming quite trendy, not just here either. There's even a neat little shop in down town Austin here that actually sells full sized sugar skull inspired skeletons year round. They are amazingly intricate while being bright and colorful too.

Sugar skulls and their bright beautiful colors were my inspiration for these fun little Boo Bite cookies! To keep with the sugar skull colors, I used festive sprinkles and some NERDS®. I really love the addition of the NERDS® candy since they added a little pop of tang and flavor among the otherwise soft and subtle shortbread style cookies.

These little bites of cookie are super yummy and rather easy to make (unless you flub up the recipe like I did today - oops!) Yes, even I mess up in the kitchen sometimes. So this here would be batch number two!

My little one couldn't seem to keep her fingers off these cookies today, and I couldn't really blame her either - they are so good! Thankfully since they are better-for-you, I don't feel guilty about letting her sneak a few extra.

Looking for more inspiration for your Dia de los Muertos or Halloween spread? Check out more fun Halloween and Day of the Dead recipes.

Also, be sure to look for a demo at your nearest HEB store, check out the list for locations and dates HERE. They will be sampling Pumpkin Cookie Butter dip with LIBBY'S 100% Pure Pumpkin and HEB Specaloos Creamy Cookie Butter!

Skinny Boo Bites
TheSkinnyFork.com

The Skinny:
Servings: 94 • Size: 1 Boo Bite • Calories: 14.2 • Fat: 0.7 g • Carb: 2 g • Fiber: 0.1 g • Protein: 0.2 g • Sugar: 0.4 g • Sodium: 16.4 mg

Ingredients:
1/2 C. Light Butter, Slightly Softened
2 Tbsp. Sugar
2 Tbsp. Natural Sweetener
1/4 Tsp. Almond Extract
1/4 Tsp. Vanilla Extract
3/4 C All Purpose Flour
1/2 C. White Whole Wheat Flour
1/4 Tsp. Salt
1 Tbsp. Colored Jimmies/Sprinkles
1 Tbsp. NERDS® Candy (1 'Fun Size' Box.)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. and line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.

Line an 8x8 square baking dish with cling wrap, allowing for some overhang; also set this aside.

You're not baking in this dish, it's just to mold the dough later.

In a large bowl beat together the butter, sugar, sweetener, almond extract, and vanilla extract until smooth and creamy ad a medium speed.

Add in the flours and salt and beat on a low speed until well combined.

The mixture will be very dry and crumbly.

Stir in the nerds until evenly distributed.

I was able to find the NERDS® and everything that I needed for my Halloween treats at my local HEB store.

Carefully transfer the dough to the prepared baking dish and press it down into the dish to sort of mold the dough into the square shape and get it all as even and level as possible.

I added some extra halloween sprinkles on top for extra dramatic Halloween/Dia de los Muertos effect!

Carefully lift the dough out of the baking dish using the overhang of cling wrap.

Set aside and use a pizza cutter to cut the dough into even squares, just under an inch in size.

I got about 94.

If any start to crumble apart, just use your fingers to reshape them a bit. They don't have to be perfect!