Peanut Butter Cup Halloween Spider Cookies

Peanut butter cup spider cookies are fun Halloween cookies for kids. Adorable peanut butter cup spiders sit on top of soft, chewy peanut butter cookies topped with chocolate legs and candy eyes.

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How to Make Halloween Spider Cookies

What’s not to love about peanut butter and chocolate?

This recipe for spider cookies is a classic peanut butter blossom cookie recipe. If you were making traditional blossom cookies, you’d add a chocolate kiss. But these spider cookies use peanut butter cups instead of chocolate kisses. 

Candy eyes, available at most craft stores (or even the grocery store this time of year), are set into the still-warm peanut butter cups. 

A little melted chocolate makes the legs, and you’ve got easy spider peanut butter cookies everyone will love!

Tips For Making Peanut Butter Cup Spider Cookies

After mixing your ingredients and making the peanut butter cookie dough, follow these tips so your spider cookies come out perfectly.

Weigh the dough

While you don’t have to do this, I like to weigh the dough for consistency in cookie size, and I use grams when weighing for a more precise measurement. Another reason I weigh this particular cookie is so there are enough peanut butter cups to cookies.

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Chill the cookie dough

With most cookie recipes, I find chilling the dough for half an hour to overnight results in a better cookie. You can either chill the dough before you roll them or after.

Unwrap all the peanut butter cups ahead of time

Unwrap the peanut butter cups from the foil ahead of time and keep them chilled. Once the cookies come out of the oven, you’ll need to work quickly to press each peanut butter cup into the warm cookies.  

You could enlist a little helper, provided you don’t lose half of the peanut butter cups in the process!

Under-bake the cookies slightly

I err on the side of slightly under-baked. You’ll want the cookies to be soft enough for the peanut butter cup to sink into the cookie. If they are over-baked, they will crumble. Wait about 3-5 minutes for the cookies to cool to prevent the peanut butter cups from melting too much.

Add the eyes while the chocolate is still warm

I add all the peanut butter cups first, and then go back and press the eyes into the warm chocolate. The chocolate acts like glue and helps adhere the eyes to the cookies.

Chill again

You don’t have to chill the cookies again, but I find it easier to add the spider legs after the cookies are completely cooled.

Can I Freeze Peanut Butter Spider Cookies?

Yes! You can freeze the dough after you’ve rolled it into balls, or you can freeze the finished spider cookies. 

If you’re planning on freezing the dough, skip the final roll in sugar. Freeze them flat on a cookie sheet. When completely frozen, transfer into a zip-lock bag. The dough should be used within three months. 

If you’re planning on freezing the finished cookies, wait until they are completely cool. Lay them flat on a cookie sheet and freeze until the chocolate is hard, then transfer to a zip-lock bag or other freezer safe container.

These spooky spider cookies are just the right amount of festive for Halloween, but of course they make a delicious cookie without the eyes and legs too!

I hope you enjoy these cute and creepy cookies for Halloween!

For more fall treats, try my Pumpkin Cheesecake and my Pumpkin Ice Cream Sandwiches.

Peanut Butter Cup Spider Cookies

Cynthia

Classic peanut butter blossom cookies get a spooky twist with miniature peanut butter cups, eyes and legs.

4.84 from 6 votes

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Prep Time 20 mins

Cook Time 15 mins

Total Time 35 mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 36

Calories 147 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1/2 cup butter softened
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 2 Tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 36 miniature peanut butter cups
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels
• 1/4 cup sugar to roll the cookies in

Instructions

 

• Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter, brown sugar and 1/2 cup white sugar until blended, light and creamy, about 3 minutes.
• Add egg, 1/2 cup peanut butter, milk and vanilla, and beat until well blended, 1-2 minutes.
• In a medium sized bowl, mix flour, salt and baking soda. Slowly add flour mixture to butter and sugar, just until dough comes together. Don't over mix. For best results chill dough 30 minutes, or over-night.
• Roll dough into walnut-sized balls, about 1 Tablespoon. Or weigh the dough and divide the measurement by 36 for uniform cookies. Cookie dough can also be frozen at this stage.
• Roll each ball additional sugar, then place on cookie sheets lined with parchment or silpat.
• Bake at 375 degrees F. for 10-12 minutes, until light golden brown, but still soft.
• Remove from oven. Allow the cookies to cool about 3-5 minutes then place a peanut butter cup in the center of each cookie, pressing down slightly. While chocolate is still warm, attach candy eyes.
• In a small bowl, melt chocolate morsels in the microwave at 30 second intervals, until chocolate is melted. Pour chocolate into a plastic sandwich bag. Snip off a tiny corner and drip 8 legs on each spider cookie. Chill until chocolate sets.

Nutrition

Serving: 1gCalories: 147kcalCarbohydrates: 18gProtein: 3gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 13mgSodium: 130mgPotassium: 75mgFiber: 1gSugar: 12gVitamin A: 90IUCalcium: 14mgIron: 1mg

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

(This post was originally published on October 29th, 2015 and has been updated to contain nutritional information.)