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How to Make a Gingerbread Cyclops

By: Food Network Kitchen

This spooky, one-eyed take on the classic gingerbread man is perfect for a Halloween dessert spread. Here's how to decorate your cyclops in eight easy steps.

Photo: Heather Ramsdell ©

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I Spy with My Little Eye ...

... a gingerbread cookie that stares right back. This spooky take on the seasonal cookie is party-ready in eight easy steps. Start with your favorite gingerbread cookie recipe, then whip up a batch of royal icing. Separate it into three bowls, then dye one batch black and another red, and leave one white. Then, fill up your piping bags and get to work!

By Heather Ramsdell for Food Network Kitchen

Styling by Sarah Neumeier

Photo: Heather Ramsdell ©

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Cool Them Off

Before you begin decorating your gingerbread cookies, make sure they have cooled completely.

Photo: Heather Ramsdell ©

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Start with the Eye

Fit your piping bag with a fine tip, then fill it up with white royal icing. To pipe the eye, make a large circle that almost covers the gingerbread man's entire head.

Photo: Heather Ramsdell ©

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Fill It In

Once you've created a ring of white icing, go back in with your fine tip and fill it in completely.

Photo: Heather Ramsdell ©

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The Bloodshot Effect

Dab a little bit of red icing on a toothpick and gently begin to create small, delicate swirls, working outward from the center of the eyeball.

Photo: Heather Ramsdell ©

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Keep Going ...

... until you've created a sufficiently terrifying number of veins.

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The Buttons

You could leave your cyclops naked, but we think he looks rather dapper with little red buttons. Fill another piping bag with more royal icing, dyed red. Then, using your fine-tip attachment, begin to pipe small red dots down his belly.

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The Cuffs

While you're at it, give him some ruffled cuffs.

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The Pupil

The most-terrifying detail — a big, black, shiny pupil — should be added last. Pipe a large bead of black royal icing in the center of the eye to complete your cyclops. Then, take a bite.