Kids can easily assist in making this enjoyable Halloween treat. I changed a Pinterest-inspired concept to make it more affordable and simple to put together.
| Prep Time: | 45 mins |
| Cook Time: | 10 mins |
| Total Time: | 55 mins |
| Servings: | 48 |
| Yield: | 48 cookies |
Ingredients
- ½ cup shortening
- ½ cup peanut butter
- ½ cup packed brown sugar
- ½ cup white sugar
- 1 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
- 24 chocolate candy spheres with smooth chocolate filling (such as Lindt Lindor Truffles), refrigerated until cold
- 48 decorative candy eyeballs
- ½ cup prepared chocolate frosting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Line baking sheets with baking parchment.
- Beat shortening, peanut butter, brown sugar, and 1/2 cup white sugar together with an electric mixer in a large bowl until smooth. Beat egg into the creamy mixture until fully incorporated. Stir milk and vanilla extract into the mixture until smooth.
- Mix flour, baking soda, and salt together in a small bowl; add to the wet mixture in the large bowl and stir until completely incorporated into a dough. Divide and shape dough into 48 balls.
- Spread 1/4 cup white sugar into a wide, shallow bowl. Roll dough balls in sugar to coat and arrange about 2 inches apart onto prepared baking sheets.
- Bake in preheated oven until golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove cookies from oven and quickly press a dimple into the middle of each cookie using the blunt end of a wooden spoon. Cool cookies on sheets for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
- Cut each chocolate sphere into two hemispheres. Put one piece atop each cookie with the rounded side facing upwards.
- Spoon frosting into a pastry bag with a small round tip or a plastic freezer bag with one end snipped off. Dab a small amount of frosting onto the back of each candy eyeball and stick two onto each chocolate candy to resemble eyes. Then pipe frosting in four thin lines, starting at the base of the candy, on each side atop the cookie to resemble spider legs.
- Let frosting harden at room temperature, about 30 minutes. Store cookies in an airtight container.
- I have a wooden citrus reamer that works great for making dimples in the cookies.
- Keeping the chocolate candy chilled makes it easier to slice in half. The centers are on the soft side and will bend or crack if too warm.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 117 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 14 g |
| Cholesterol | 7 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 0 g |
| Protein | 2 g |
| Saturated Fat | 2 g |
| Sodium | 78 mg |
| Sugars | 10 g |
| Fat | 6 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
These were a HUGE hit with 5 year old grandson – the cookies are much better than my go to peanut butter cookie I’ve used for years and years (glad I used this recipe because from now on it’s my new go to peanut butter cookie) and they are CUTE CUTE CUTE (jaw aching sweet though….) Next time I’ll try whoppers malted milk balls and just make smaller cookies to accomodate the smaller “bodies” for 3 reasons – the truffles are hard to cut in half without crumbling , some of the truffles “leaked” at both ends overnight on the table (much to his delight as they only leaked at the front and back, not the sides for some reason, and it looked exactly like an organic mess if you get my meaning, lol) and the truffles are really sweet. But for the first time ever I made a new holiday cute recipe and mine turned out looking like the picture, not “sort of” like the picture!
This is my favorite thing to make with my kids! It is so easy and as the Mom of 2 kids especially with their 3 year age difference, it can sometimes be hard to get them to get along, but this brings us all together for a fun time!
Great!!!
I have an impatient 4 year old, so I did these semi-homemade style. Used premade peanut butter cookies (Recee’s break apart cookies from Publix). Put two of the cookies together and rolled into a ball, and dredged in sugar. Baked 12 minutes on 350, took out, made a dent with the back of a tablespoon, and put back in for 3 more minutes. Waited for them to cool, and used premade chocolate decorating frosting, and pipped a circle blob to make the truffle stick (tried adding tuffle while cookies were hot, and they just melted). Used same store bought frosting (the kind in a bag with a tip attached), to attach eyes and make legs. Turned out good enough for family and friends, although dont think they’d be good enough for a bake sale. 4 year old had a blast, and didnt ruin the kitchen. Also, was super speedy.
Me and my boyfriend made these cookies to get into the Halloween spirit and they were delicious! We used milk chocolate truffles and they turned out great. The recipe is really easy and they’re so fun to make!
Had a blast making these with my four year old!
Amazing! Very cute! My friends loved them! The life of my Halloween party! And truly delicious at that!
A big hit at my grand daughters Halloween party at school! The cookie is a very good peanut butter cookie. I used mini peanut butter cups for the body, and mini marshmallows cut in half for the eyes. We used a dot of chocolate icing for the center of the eyes. Adorable and tasty!
I didn’t make any changes. I’ll make it again
These turned out REALLY cute, but they have turned into kitchen Halloween decor because nobody is eating them. I followed the recipe to a “t” and they are dense and cakey.
These were adorable! I did everything as written, and the cookies on their own are just okay. I might use my own cookie recipe next time. Thanks for a cute idea!
These turned out very good. I found Dove “Ghosts” at the store today, which turned out perfect because they’re already in half. Not sure whether these are always available, but they worked perfect. Also put the eyes in when the cookies were out of the oven after about 7 minutes. The chocolate was nice and soft, and the eyes went on perfectly. Used a tube of pre-made chocolate cookie frosting by Betty Crocker for spidey legs.
I only made the cookies (without decorating them) really yummy, yes I will make them again.
We had trouble cutting the truffles when they were cold-they shattered. It worked better at room temp.
Cookies were great! I made it simpler by pressing a mini Reese’s peanut buttercup into the center right when they were out of the oven and using store bought black decorating frosting for the legs!
Huge hit! I used malted milk balls for the centers so that I would not have to cut anything. Got 1 tub of white frosting, put about 1/4 of it in a piping bag for the eyes, the other 3/4 of the frosting, I added cocoa powder and about 1 Tbl milk and put that in a piping bag for legs and eye dots. Wanted the frosting a little “stiff” to look like leg hairs. Ewww. Worked great!
OMG, my cookies came our so good and the whole family enjoyed eating them.
The end result was OK, but, cutting those truffles in half was a pain! A lot of waste! I would use mini Reese Cups next time for sure! I just thought the truffles would be better – not! Taste was good!
These were fun to make with the kids! They taste a lot like peanut butter blossoms we make every year at Christmas. They do take some time, but worth it once a year.
Error in recipe: calls for making “48 balls” but only 24 cookies. Actually 24 balls is correct, not 48. That said — PERFECT cookies, and I’ve never liked peanut butter cookies. Will be making them AGAIN in a week for my grand kids. The “kids” at the office LOVED them.
Error in recipe: calls for making “48 balls” but only 24 cookies. Actually 24 balls is correct, not 48. That said — PERFECT cookies, and I’ve never liked peanut butter cookies. Will be making them AGAIN in a week for my grand kids. The “kids” at the office LOVED them.