Brown Widow Spider Cookies

I like cookies that are relatively simple to make, but still pack the “I made these and they are cuter than whatever you made” punch. Ya know? Makes me feel petty and good all at the same time 😏

I used a peanut butter cookie recipe for these, but obviously you can make any cookie you want and then top them with the brown spider malt balls. Scroll down for the recipe.

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter

1 cup crunchy peanut butter

1 cup white sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

Malted Milk Balls (Whoppers)

Chocolate Frosting

Red Frosting

Wilton candy googley eyes

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

2. Cream butter, peanut butter, and sugars together in a bowl; beat in eggs.

3. In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; stir into butter mixture. Put dough in refrigerator for 1 hour.

4. Roll dough into 1 inch balls and put on baking sheets. Flatten each ball with a fork or your hand, (if you use a fork it will make a crisscross pattern. I used my hand for these.) Bake in a preheated 375 degrees F oven for about 10 minutes or until cookies begin to brown.

5. Remove cookies from oven and place on a wire rack until cool.

6. While your cookies are cooling, cut your malted milk balls in half. I used a large sharp knife and the trick to cutting them is to fold a kitchen towel and cut each one quickly on the towel. If you cut them on a cutting board they shatter more. This way they don’t shatter as often and they don’t get smashed on one side when you cut. Don’t use a serrated knife or saw them. Just slice them quickly with the Center top of your knife and be really careful.

7. Fill a pastry bag with a small round tip. (Use a small tip so you can make skinny legs.) then fill it with chocolate frosting. The best way to frost the spiders is to hold one up in the air and start at the center of the spider then pipe the leg outwards and let it drag over the edge of the cookie then press it down to the edge. It’s the easiest way to getting smooth legs that look they grab the cookie. Do all 8 legs on each side, making they sure they puddle together in the middle so your malt balls have something to stick to.

8. Once you have the legs piped, press down a smaller half of the malt bal towards the front of the cookie and a larger ball on the backside. Then adhere the googley eyes with a tiny bit of frosting.

9. If you wish to make the red spot on the back I simply used white frosting with some red food gel because that’s what I had and I used a super fine round tip and piping bag.

Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe is from All Recipes.