emmakitchen Allow me to set the super-spooky stage: a tender, oatmeal cookie base with rich peanut butter swirled in and colorful M&Ms studded throughout. This, topped with a melty peanut butter cup as well as a dark chocolate ganache. That all sounds delicious, but the taste isn’t even the best part⏤ these Peanut Butter Spider Cookies also happen to be the most adorable Halloween cookies ever.
This Halloween, I really wanted to make something special. Everyone’s spirits (haha, get it?) have been a little down this year because of COVID-19, and Halloween is one day of the year where you’re supposed to let go of your problems (heck, you don’t even have to be yourself). So when I got invited to a socially-distanced costume party at a friend’s house, I thought these Peanut Butter Spider Cookies would be much more fun than your average chocolate-chipper. Not only are they delicious, but so cute that you’ll feel bad eating them.
I baked them alongside my Brown Butter Double-Chip Pumpkin Cookies, in what I called a Halloween Cookie Bonanza. The recipe turned out perfectly, and I will oh-so-humbly divulge that there were none left by the end of the party. They added the perfect touch of whimsy to the night! Here’s how I created the recipe.
designing these cookies
Now, there are quite a few peanut-butter-cup-spider-cookie recipes floating around, but these are different. Instead of the traditional sugar cookie base that is often used, my Peanut Butter Spider Cookies are heightened by the addition of oats, peanut butter, and M&M’s to the dough, effectively mimicking Monster Cookies. I’m not sure if those are just a midwest thing, but they are crazy good.
When designing these cookies, I basically just smashed two ideas together. I saw the peanut butter cup spider decor all over Pinterest and fell in love with how cute it was. However, I didn’t want to make them with a plain cookie base; that’s what Peanut Butter Blossoms are for. Furthermore, monster cookies are a Halloween classic, so I felt obliged to bake those as well. I was all over the place!
But then, I got to thinking and wondered if I could elevate both breeds of cookie by combining them. It was a hit! The oats give these cookies a nice chew, and the peanut butter in the dough compliments the toppings without being overwhelming. A perfect mix, brought to us by good ‘ole cookie engineering.
Here’s how you can make these cookies the best possible version of themselves.
ingredients & technique
These cookies are pretty simple, but each culinary component still plays a necessary role. I’ll tell you what I used, and some tips & tricks to elevate the final product.
- Brown sugar: As I say in all my cookie recipes, I definitely recommend using dark brown sugar. The boosted molasses flavor comes through nicely and makes for a chewier crumb. However, light brown will work, too.
- Vanilla: I use organic Madagascar vanilla extract for all of my baking, and the high-quality taste is definitely worth the price. It has an ethereal, full-bodied flavor that makes every dessert delectable, but any real vanilla extract is suitable for these cookies. I don’t recommend imitation; in my experience, it just doesn’t bake up as nicely and leaves an artificial flavor.
- Peanut Butter: Using natural peanut butter in these cookies would be a mistake. I’m all for unprocessed nut butter, as it’s much healthier, but here you’re gonna want Jif (or something similar) in all its high-fructose, sugary glory.
- Oats: When I baked these Peanut Butter Spider Cookies, I simply used quick-cooking oats and it turned out chewy and good. I’m sure any type of oats will yield the same results, but steel-cut is a bit trickier; if that’s all you have, up the baking time so your cookies aren’t straight-up crunchy.
- Candy-coated Chocolates: In a happy accident, I originally made this recipe with peanut butter M&Ms in the dough. It was super tasty and upped the peanut butter flavor, but I would use normal M&Ms next time as it was a bit clunky.
- Decor: The fun part! The star of these cookies is their decor. An overturned peanut butter cup acts as the body of the spider. Spindly dark-chocolate legs are then piped sprawling out from the center, four on each side. Finally, while the chocolate of the peanut butter cup is still melty, two pearly white sprinkle ‘eyes’ are pressed in and finished off with a dot of red gel icing as the pupil. They are simply adorable! I’ll get into the method in the process section, but those are all the ingredients you’ll need. I used individually wrapped mini Reese’s cups for the spiders.
- Bake: Beware of the bake on these cookies! Too long in the oven and you’ll lose that delectable tender texture (a mistake I made on my second batch). The cookies are a bit larger to accommodate for the toppings, but do not bake them for longer than 15 minutes. Without flour in the dough, they can quickly become crunchy and brittle if overbaked. Take them out while they still seem slightly gooey and let rest on the hot baking sheet.
Now for the process. These Peanut Butter Spider Cookies are delightfully simple.
process for peanut butter spider cookies
dough
The dough for my Peanut Butter Spider Cookies begins by beating the eggs with a mixer until combined. Then, it really couldn’t be simpler. Add in the rest of the ingredients as listed. I found it easiest to go in batches and threw in the sugars, baking soda, butter, salt, & vanilla first. This way, the sugars are thoroughly coated in the wet mixture and can shine through in the finished cookie. It’s also imperative that your butter is softened so that the cookies will be light and fluffy.
dough, moreso
Next up for the dough is the fun stuff. After the sugars, butter, and egg are mixed, beat in the peanut butter and oats. The dough will be kinda wet, but never fear. The baking soda ensures that it puffs up just fine in the oven, even without flour. The lack of flour also makes for a melt-in-your-mouth texture, so it’s definitely worth a bit of a sticky batter.
mix-ins
Time for the stuff that gives these cookies moxie: the mix-ins! Pour in the semisweet chocolate chips and candy-coated chocolate pieces and work it into the batter. Scoop generously, with a cookie scoop or heaped tablespoon, onto a lined baking sheet. Once this is completed, flatten the dough mounds with your hand, as the top needs to be level to hold all the toppings! Speaking of…
decoration & toppings
As I said before, the decor makes these cookies so cute that you’ll barely want to eat them! Start off the process by gently pressing the back of a small spoon into the tops of the still-warm cookies. This leaves ample room for the peanut butter cup. Be careful not to press too hard or you may breach the bottom of the cookie (yikes)!
Next, allow the cookies to cool for 5-10 minutes. When you’re placing the peanut butter cups on top, you want them to be still slightly warm so the chocolate melts and sticks, but too hot and you’ll have a melty mess on your hands (literally). If that happens, quickly refrigerate the cookies; your spiders might be droopy, but still wicked cute. Press the peanut butter cups into the indented surface of the cookies and move on to the eyes!
Now, soon after placing the peanut butter cup on the warm cookie, gingerly press the pearled sprinkle eyes into the bottom of the cup, where the cookie meets the chocolate and creates a melty lip. You’ll see that my spiders got a little too melty, but I think that makes them even cuter! Certainly the most charming cookies I’ve ever seen.
The next step in this fairly elaborate decorating process is to pipe the legs. Do this by melting the remaining chocolate chips in the microwave for about a minute or until fully melted. Allow to cool briefly, and once no longer hot, pour into a piping bag (or, my favorite baking secret, a gallon Ziploc) and snip the corner off sharply, leaving a thin hole that’ll make for spindly spider legs. Then, pipe away!
creepy crawly
To wrap up the long decorating process, carefully squeeze a dot of red gel icing onto the eyes! You can take a lot of freedom here and make these little guys as expressive as you want. I’m personally a big fan of the both-eyes-looking-different-directions look, but no matter what you do, these cookies will look adorable. I even turned some spiders into Black Widows with my remaining icing.
We’ve walked through the process, so here’s the official recipe for my perfectly Halloween-y Peanut Butter Spider Cookies.
recipe
Peanut Butter Spider Cookies
Equipment
- Oven
- Baking sheet
- Cookie scoop
Ingredients
cookies
- 1 1/4 large eggs
- 2/3 cup brown sugar dark is best
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 4 tbsp butter softened
- 2/3 cup peanut butter
- 2 cups oats any kind except steel cut will work
decoration & mix-ins
- 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips divided
- 1/4 cup candy coated chocolates, or M&Ms I used peanut butter, by happy accident
- 24 mini peanut butter cups I used Reese's
- 48 silver pearl sprinkles
- red gel icing
Instructions
cookie base
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line two baking trays with parchment paper.
- Beat the eggs until frothy, using a hand/stand mixer or wooden spoon.
- Add the sugars, baking soda, and vanilla. Mix well.
- Beat in the softened butter, peanut butter, and oats, and combine thoroughly.
- Stir in half of the chocolate chips (1/4 cup) and the candy-coated chocolate pieces.
- Scoop cookie dough onto parchment-lined trays and bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.
- Remove cookies from oven, and quickly indent the top of the cookies with the back of a metal spoon, big enough for your peanut butter cups. Be gentle!
the spiders
- Take cookies off baking sheet and let cool briefly on a wire rack. While still warm (but NOT hot; cookies should be firm and stable), press one peanut butter cup into the center of each cookie. They will melt a bit, which sticks them to the cookie, but if the cookies are too hot, the cups begin to lose their shape. If this happens, immediately refrigerate the cookies until the peanut butter cups are firm.
- While the bottoms of the peanut butter cups are melty, press two silver pearls into the chocolate so they stick. These will be the eyes!
- Melt the other 1/4 cup of chocolate chips for 30-60 seconds. Pour into a piping bag and snip the corner off. Make sure you don't cut too much or else your legs will be thick.
- Pipe 8 lines of melted chocolate onto the cookies (4 legs on each side of the peanut butter cup). Your spiders should look super cute!
- Squirt red gel icing onto the center of the "eyes", for the pupils. Let dry.
- Serve & enjoy!
Notes
- Recipe from www.SoCosmopoliteen.com
And there you have it, all the resources you need to make these gleeful Peanut Butter Spider Cookies! These are so so so fun to make for the Halloween season and perfect for kids. We handed some out to the trick-or-treaters in our neighborhood and they loved them! I cannot recommend these cookies enough.
As always, if you have any questions about substitutions or the process please let me know, and if you make these, send me a photo and leave a review! I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Au revior for now! Hope everyone had an incredible Halloween.
I seriously hope you love this,
I can attest that these are super good!
hahahaha, you’re the best! <33