Peanut Butter Reeses Spider Cookies for Halloween

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Hosting a Halloween party is one of my favorite ways to celebrate the holiday! And when it comes to throwing a fun party, you have to serve a few delicious dessserts! These fun Reeses spider cookies are the perfect sweet treat for your Halloween get-toghether. With this simple recipe, you can transform traditional peanut butter cookies into a spooky spider treat that your kids are sure to love.

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This quick and easy Halloween recipe is perfect for a party or a fun afterschool Halloween snack! That’s because you can whip them up with just a few minutes of prep work.

And you’re going to love the delicious combination of chocolate and peanut butter in these Reese’s spider cookies. In addition to the soft and chewy peanut butter cookies on the bottom, you can enjoy the classic flavors of Reese’s peanut butter cups in every bite.

Reeses Spider Cookies

Since these cookies are made using classic peanut butter cookie dough, they’re so simple to make! All you have to do is whip up the dough and bake the cookies — there’s no chilling involved in this quick and easy recipe!

But the best part about this easy recipe is its simple list of ingredients. To make your own Halloween spider cookies for your party, you’ll need:

• Flour
• Baking soda
• Baking powder
• Sugar
• Brown sugar
• Peanut Butter
• Butter
• Egg
• Vanilla extract

In addition to the basic ingredients you’ll need to prepare your peanut butter cookies, you’ll also need a few supplies to decorate your Halloween treats. To turn your plain peanut butter cookies into cute spider cookies, you’ll need:

• Reese’s peanut butter cups. The body of the spiders is made using peanut butter cups. I suggest using mini Reese’s cups because they fit better on top of each cookie than the larger cups.
• Candy eyes. Turn your peanut butter cups into spiders with the help of candy eyes. Any candy eyes will work for this spooky addition to your Halloween cookies.
• Chocolate chips. To make the spider legs, you’ll need to melt chocolate chips. I used semi-sweet chocolate chips, but any type of chocolate will work.
• Piping bags. To draw the spider legs on each cookie, I suggest using a piping bag. You won’t need a tip in the bag because you can simply snip the end of the bag off to draw a straight line.

How to Make Reeses Spider Cookies

There are three basic steps to making these easy cookies — prepare the dough, bake the cookies, and decorate the spiders. That means this quick recipe is perfect for a last-minute Halloween treat!

To prepare the peanut butter cookie dough, start by combining the dry ingredients. Add the flour, baking soda, and baking powder to a medium bowl. Whisk to combine all the dry ingredients together, then set your bowl aside while you prepare the other ingredients.

After that, add the softened butter, peanut butter, sugar, and brown sugar to another large bowl. Beat the ingredients together until the mixture is smooth and creamy.

Add the egg and vanilla extraxt to the bowl and beat to combine all the ingredients. At this point, the dough will be light and fluffy.

Then, add the flour mixture to the bowl with the peanut butter mixture. Beat the ingredients together on low until the dough begins to come together. The dough will be soft but pliable. If the dough seems too soft, you can chill it for 30 minutes before moving on to the next step.

Use a tablespoon or small cookie scooop to scoop out the cookie dough. Roll the dough between your hands to form an even ball, then roll each ball in sugar until it’s fully coated on all sides. Continue prepping your cookie dough balls until all the dough has been used.

Place each dough ball on a parchment papper lined baking sheet. If you want round cookies, leave the dough in a ball shape. But if you want your cookies to be slightly flatter, lightly press the balls down on the top to flatten them into a fat disk.

Bake the cookies for 8 to 10 minutes, until the bottom of the cookies is golden brown but the tops are still slightly soft.

Immediately after the cookies come out of the oven, press a peanut butter cup into the top each cookie. I placed the peanut butter cups upside down on each cookie to form the spiders’ bodies.

After decorating each cookie with a Reeses cup, allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for around five minutes to harden slightly, then transfer them to a wire cooling rack.

When the cookies have cooled completely, add some melted chocolate to a piping bag and cut the very tip of the bag off with a pair of scissors. Pipe four legs on each side of the Reese’s cup on each cookie.

Then, lightly place two candy eyes on top of each peanut butter cup. The chocolate on the peanut butter cups will still be slightly soft at this point, so it should hold the eyes in place. If your chocolate has hardened, use the leftover chocolate in your piping bags to secure the eyes in place.

Reeses Spider Cookies Recipe Ideas

You’re going to love how easy it is to make these adorable cookies! And since they’re so cute, these spider cookies are sure to impress your party guests.

But just because these cookies are easy to make doesn’t mean you can’t change them up for your own party! These recipe adjustments and additions will help you create a delicious dessert for every Halloween celebration:

• Make gluten free spider cookies. Since Reese’s peanut butter cups are gluten free, it’s easy to turn these Halloween treats into gluten free spider cookies. Start by using my gluten free peanut butter blossoms recipe to prepare the cookies. Instead of placing a Hershey’s Kiss on top of each cookie, use peanut butter cups instead. After that, check the label of your chocolate chips and candy eyes to make sure they’re gluten free, then decorate as described in this recipe.
• Use pretzels as spider legs. Instead of decorating your spider legs with chocolate, add a salty crunch to your cookies with pretzels. Break off the round part of your pretzels and stick them into the peanut butter cups while they’re still soft.
• Try different candy for the body. If you’re not a fan of peanut butter cups, there are a few other candy options you can choose for the body of your spider. Rolos, Ferrero Roche, truffles, or Whoppers would all work well for the spiders’ bodies.

What is the best way to melt chocolate?

Using melted chocolate for the spider’s legs is a quick and easy way to decorate your cookies. And since you’ll only need a small amount of chocolate to decorate your cookies, I have a super simple method you can use to melt your chocolate!

Place the chocolate chips directly in your piping bag. Just make sure your piping bags are microwave safe! I used Wilton bags, which are safe to use in the microwave.

After placing the chocolate chips in the bag, fold the top of the bag over to prevent the chocolate from leaking out. Then, place the bag in the microwave for 30 seconds. After the cook time is up, remove the bag and squeeze the chocolate chips a few times to mix them up. Return the bag to the microwave for another 30 seconds, then squeeze the bag again. At this point, the chocolate should be melted. You can work the chocolate chips around in the bag to melt any remaining pieces or return the bag to the microwave for 15 seconds to finish melting them.

How Do You Keep Peanut Butter Cookies from Spreading?

This recipe does not require you to chill your dough before baking your cookies. But if you notice that your cookies are spreading more than they should, placing the dough in the refrigerator before baking another batch is the best option.

After rolling your dough into balls, place the cookie dough balls in the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes. Then, transfer the chilled dough to the baking sheet and bake accoring to the recipe instructions.

More Easy Halloween Recipe Ideas:

Halloween Witch Hat Cookies Made with Oreos

Jello Worms

Graveyard Pudding Cups Halloween Dessert

Halloween Zombie Fingers

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