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Peanut Butter Spider Cookies Recipe

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4.1 from 82 reviews

Peanut Butter Spider Cookies are a fun and festive treat perfect for Halloween or any spooky occasion. These soft and chewy peanut butter cookies are coated in sugar, topped with rich chocolate truffles, and decorated with candy eyeballs and chocolate frosting to resemble friendly little spiders.

  • Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
  • Yield: 48 cookies

Ingredients

Cookie Dough

  • ½ cup vegetable shortening
  • ½ cup peanut butter
  • ½ cup packed brown sugar
  • ½ cup white sugar
  • 1 large egg, beaten
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ cup white sugar for rolling

Decorations

  • 24 chocolate truffles (such as Lindt Lindor®), chilled
  • 48 decorative candy eyeballs
  • ½ cup prepared chocolate frosting

Instructions

  1. Preheat and Prepare: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) and line baking sheets with parchment paper to prevent sticking and ensure even baking.
  2. Mix Wet Ingredients: In a large bowl, beat the vegetable shortening, peanut butter, brown sugar, and ½ cup of white sugar with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Then beat in the beaten egg until fully incorporated. Stir in the milk and vanilla extract until the mixture is uniform.
  3. Combine Dry Ingredients: In a separate small bowl, mix together the all-purpose flour, baking soda, and salt.
  4. Form Dough: Add the dry ingredients to the peanut butter mixture and stir thoroughly using a wooden spoon until a consistent dough forms.
  5. Shape and Roll: Divide the dough into 48 equal balls. Spread ¼ cup of white sugar in a shallow bowl and roll each dough ball in the sugar to coat evenly.
  6. Arrange on Baking Sheet: Place the sugar-coated dough balls about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets to allow room for spreading.
  7. Bake: Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes until golden brown.
  8. Create Indentations and Cool: Remove the cookies from the oven and immediately press a dimple into the center of each cookie using the blunt end of a wooden spoon. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
  9. Prepare Chocolate Topping: Cut each chilled chocolate truffle in half. Place one half on top of each cooled cookie with the rounded side facing upwards.
  10. Decorate with Eyes and Legs: Fill a piping bag fitted with a small round tip (or a resealable plastic bag with a corner snipped off) with the prepared chocolate frosting. Dab a small amount of frosting on the back of each candy eyeball and stick two on each chocolate truffle half to look like eyes. Then pipe four thin lines on each side of the chocolate to resemble spider legs starting from the base.
  11. Set the Frosting: Allow the frosting to harden at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
  12. Storage: Store the decorated cookies in an airtight container to maintain freshness.

Notes

  • Use chilled chocolate truffles to prevent melting when placing on warm cookies.
  • Ensure the frosting is slightly thick to pipe clean spider legs.
  • You can substitute vegetable shortening with unsalted butter for a richer cookie flavor.
  • Allow cookies to cool completely before decoration to keep the chocolate intact.
  • Author: Adeline
  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 12 minutes
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: American
  • Diet: Vegetarian

Find it online: https://flavorhug.com/peanut-butter-spider-cookies-recipe/