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Peanut Butter Spider Cookies (Perfect Halloween Treat!)

A large platter of homemade, spooky, and cute Peanut Butter Spider Cookies being served at a fun and casual Halloween party.

A festive and fun recipe for ‘Scary Peanut Butter Spider Cookies,’ perfect for a Halloween treat. This recipe features a classic, soft peanut butter cookie base. Immediately after baking, while the cookies are still warm, two ball-shaped chocolates (like malted milk balls) of different sizes are pressed into the center of each cookie to create the spider’s head and body. The spooky arachnids are brought to life with the addition of eight legs piped on with melted chocolate, and eyes made from white decorating gel.

Ingredients

  • One 5-ounce box small ball-shaped chocolates (e.g., malted milk balls)
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • Pinch of fine salt
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
  • 2 ounces semisweet chocolate
  • 1 small tube white cake decorating gel

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
  2. Separate the chocolate candy balls into larger and smaller sizes for the spider bodies and heads.
  3. Make the Cookies: In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
  4. In a medium bowl with an electric mixer, cream the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and egg and mix until combined. Add the peanut butter and mix until creamy.
  5. On low speed, add the flour mixture in two additions, mixing until incorporated after each.
  6. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and place them about 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets.
  7. Bake for about 16 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through, until the cookies are light golden brown and have spread.
  8. Decorate the Spiders: While the cookies bake, melt the semisweet chocolate over a double boiler. Let it cool briefly so it thickens but is still pipeable.
  9. As soon as the cookies come out of the oven, immediately press two chocolate candies into each hot cookie: a smaller one for the head near the edge and a larger one for the body in the center. Let the cookies cool on a wire rack.
  10. Transfer the melted chocolate to a small plastic bag and snip off a tiny corner. Pipe 8 legs onto each cookie, starting from where the two chocolate ‘body parts’ meet.
  11. Use the white decorating gel to pipe two small circles for eyes on each ‘head.’ Pipe a tiny dot of the reserved melted chocolate in the center of each white circle to make the pupils.

Notes

  • This is a creative and kid-friendly baking project, perfect for Halloween parties.
  • Pressing the chocolate candies into the cookies while they are still hot and soft from the oven is a crucial step that allows them to set into the cookie.
  • A simple plastic sandwich bag with a tiny corner snipped off works perfectly as a makeshift piping bag for the delicate chocolate legs.

Find it online: https://www.eatswithsoul.com/peanut-butter-spider-cookies/

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