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Halloween Spider Cookies
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5 from 4 votes

Easy Peanut Butter Spider Cookies

Peanut Butter Spider Cookies are super easy to make and are cute beyond imagination! By themselves, the peanut butter cookies are amazing. Top them with Reese's Miniatures for the spider bodies, candy eyes, and spider legs and you have a Halloween treat that is sure to WOW family and friends.
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time42 minutes
Allow Chocolate to Harden30 minutes
Total Time1 hour 42 minutes
Course: Cookies, Halloween
Cuisine: American
Servings: 24 Spider Cookies
Calories: 197kcal

Ingredients

Peanut Butter Cookies

  • ½ cup (4-ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • ½ cup (3.5-ounces) granulated sugar
  • ½ cup (3.75-ounces) light brown sugar, packed
  • 1 large egg, room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¾ cup (7-ounces) creamy peanut butter (See Tip 1)
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
  • 1 ¼ cups (6.25-ounces) all-purpose flour
  • 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar to roll cookie balls in (optional)

Spider Cookies

  • 24 Peanut Butter Cookies
  • 24 Reese's Miniatures, unwrapped and liner removed
  • 48 candy eyes
  • ¾ cup Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate Melting Wafers

Instructions

Peanut Butter Cookies

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line three large baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
  • Beat together butter, sugars, egg, vanilla, peanut butter, baking soda, and salt until creamy, 1 to 2 minutes. Scrape down the bowl with a silicone spatula. Add flour. Beat on low just until combined, 1 to 2 minutes.
  • Scoop out cookie dough using a heaping tablespoon cookie scoop. Roll cookie dough into a ball and roll the ball in granulated sugar. Place on prepared cookie sheet; flatten slightly with fingertips. (See Tips 2 and 3)
  • Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 12 to 14 minutes or until the edges just start to brown. Remove from oven and make spider cookies as described below.

Spider Cookies

  • As soon as the cookies are removed from the oven, place a Reese's Miniature upside down in the center of each cookie; press down slightly. Remove from cookie sheet to a wire rack to begin cooling. After about seven or eight minutes, the chocolate on the Reese's Miniature will have started melting from the heat of the cookie. Carefully place two candy eyes on the vertical part of the Reese's Miniature. (See Tips 4 and 5)
  • Place chocolate melting wafers in a pastry bag or Ziploc bag. Melt the wafers in the microwave according to package directions. Snip off a very small part of the end of the pastry bag or Ziploc Bag. Pipe 4 legs on each side of the Reese's Miniature for the spider's legs. (See Tip 6)
  • Allow the chocolate to harden and store in an airtight container. Yield: 24 Peanut Butter Spider Cookies (See Tip 7)

Notes

  1. May use crunchy peanut butter or creamy low-fat, low-salt peanut butter if desired. I would however recommend against using natural peanut butter. 
  2. I used a 4-teaspoon or #40 cookie scoop (1 ½-inch diameter) to produce the perfect-sized cookies. 
  3. I flattened the cookie dough to about ¾-inch.
  4. When the chocolate on the Reese's Miniature cools, it will harden and will hold the candy eyes in place.
  5. At this point, you can place the spider cookies in the freezer for about 10 minutes to speed up the hardening of the chocolate. Otherwise, let the cookies sit at room temperature to allow the chocolate to harden. 
  6. May also use a #3 piping tip fitted to the pastry bag. In this case, melt the chocolate melting wafers in a microwave-safe container and transfer to the piping bag. You don't want to put the piping bag with a metal tip into the microwave.
  7. I was actually able to get 27 peanut butter cookies out of the recipe. Enjoy the extra peanut butter cookies plain!

Nutrition

Calories: 197kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 17mg | Sodium: 164mg | Potassium: 93mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 16g | Vitamin A: 132IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 16mg | Iron: 1mg