Easy Spider Web Sugar Cookies

Easy Spider Web Sugar Cookies are fun Halloween-inspired treats, using regular sugar cookies as the base for creative spider web decoration! Enjoy these as a delicious cookie treat this spooky season or gift them to family and friends!

Easy spider web sugar cookies on a black plate with Reese's pieces candy.

These spider web cookies are a great way to get the kids involved in the kitchen. Once the sugar cookies have been baked, pipe the frosting and hand over the creative reins to the kids to draw on their own spider webs and spider bodies! 

Why We Love Easy Spider Web Sugar Cookies Recipe?

These Easy Spider Web Sugar Cookies are regular sugar cookies that have been decorated for Halloween! You can easily make a larger quantity of sugar cookie dough and store half for later sugar cookie recipes while making the dough for your spooky festivities! 

The sugar cookie provides the perfect base for frosting decoration. Get creative and make some variations to these easy spider web sugar cookies with help from your kids when preparing for your Halloween parties! 

These Halloween spider web cookies are also great to hand out to trick-or-treaters instead of regular candy, or to give to your friends and family.

Hand holding a spider web sugar cookie above a black plate with additional cookies and Reese's pieces candy.

Ingredients for Easy Spider Web Sugar Cookies Recipe

Here’s a list of everything you need to make the Halloween-inspired sugar cookies:

  • Powdered sugar
  • Unsalted butter: Bring to room temperature. Margarine can be used instead. 
  • Egg: Bring to room temperature.
  • Extract: I use both vanilla extract and almond extract. You could opt to just use vanilla extract or only almond extract. 
  • Flour: All-purpose flour or gluten-free flour. 
  • Baking soda: Check the expiry date to ensure a good rise in the cookies.
  • Cream of tartar: This makes the cookies chewy and crispy. 
  • Frosting: I’ve combined unsalted butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, cocoa powder, and milk. 
  • Topping: Reese’s pieces candy.
Close up of easy spider web sugar cookies on a black plate with Reese's pieces.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some common queries to help you with the recipe:

Q. What kind of icing is best for decorating spider web cookies?

I’ve used butter frosting to coat my cookies for this recipe. You could also use a royal icing which dries hard and is good for creating intricate designs and patterns.

Q. Can I make the cookies in advance for a Halloween party?

Absolutely! These sugar cookies can be made in advance and stored in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

The frosting can also be made in advance and stored in the fridge for 1-2 days.

Q. Do I need special tools for decorating spider web cookies?

While piping bags and tips can make decorating easier, you can also use a zip-top bag with a small corner snipped off to create your spider web designs.

Easy spider web sugar cookies on a black plate with Reese's Pieces, plain sugar cookies in the background.

Q. Are these Halloween sugar cookies gluten-free?

No, I’ve used all-purpose flour to make the cookie dough. You could use gluten-free brands of flour, such as Bob’s Red Mill.

Q. How should I serve these spider web cookies?

Serve these spider web sugar cookies on a platter with other Halloween treats for parties and festive gatherings, or make them at home to enjoy with the family as an everyday treat over the lead-up to Halloween!

Easy spider web sugar cookies on a black plate with Reese's Pieces candy.

Tips and Tricks

  • Use room-temperature butter and egg for smooth cookie dough.
  • Don’t skip the chilling of the cookie dough. If you don’t have time to chill the dough for an hour in the fridge, place the dough in the freezer for 30 minutes.
  • Flour the parchment paper and the rolling pin lightly with flour to prevent the dough from sticking to anything. It’s also important to roll the cookie dough out evenly so that the cookies bake evenly.

More Spooky-Delicious Treats To Make

These Easy Spider Web Sugar Cookies could either be a little more cute or a little less spooky depending on your love or fear of spiders! Either way, these sugar cookies with spider web frosting are incredibly delicious and will add fun decoration to your Halloween parties every year!

Yield: 20 Cookies

Easy Spider Web Sugar Cookies

Easy Spider Web Sugar Cookies

Easy Spider Web Sugar Cookies are delicious sugar cookies with spider web frosting and candy spiders! They're the perfect spooky treat for your Halloween parties!

Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 7 minutes
Additional Time 1 hour
Total Time 7 minutes

Ingredients

Cookie Ingredients

  • ¾ cup powdered sugar
  • ½ cup unsalted butter (room temp) or margarine
  • 1 egg
  • ½ tsp. Vanilla extract
  • ¼ tsp. Almond extract
  • 1 ¼ cup flour
  • ½ tsp. Baking soda
  • ½ tsp. Cream of tarter

Frosting Ingredients

  • ¼ cup unsalted butter (room temp)
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp. Vanilla extract
  • 4 TBSP. cocoa powder
  • 4-5 TBSP. milk
  • Reese’s pieces candy for spiders

Instructions

    1. Add all dry ingredients to a medium mixing bowl, and mix until well combined.
    2. Add butter or margarine and egg to bowl, and mix with clean hands until well combined.
    3. Pour in vanilla and almond extracts, and continue to mix well.
    4. Form dough into a ball, wrap with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator for one hour.
    5. Remove dough from refrigerator and preheat oven to 350 degrees.
    6. Place dough on floured parchment paper, and roll out to approximately ¼ inch thick.
    7. Cut out cookie shapes using a 2-2 ½ inch round cookie cutter.
    8. Place cookies on a cookie sheet and bake for approximately 7 minutes, or until bottom turns slightly golden brown.
    9. Cool completely on a cooling rack.

    Directions for Frosting:
    1. Add butter and vanilla to the bowl of an electric mixer and mix until creamy.
    2. Pour in powdered sugar and mix well. Mixture will be dry.
    3. Add milk in one tablespoon at a time, mixing well after each addition, until frosting reaches desired consistency. Frosting should be easy to spread, but not too runny.
    4. Separate approximately ½ cup of icing into a separate bowl to be used for spider webs.
    5. Add cocoa powder to remaining frosting in mixing bowl, and beat until fluffy. Add another splash of milk if cocoa powder causes frosting to become dry.
    6. Spread chocolate frosting on each cookie.
    7. Put the white frosting in a piping bag and pipe on spider webs by creating three lines which intersect in the center (pictured). Connect each section together with two curved lines (pictured).
    8. Place a Reese’s candy on each cookie and pipe on little spider legs with any remaining chocolate frosting.
    9. Store cookies in an airtight container.

Notes

-If using butter, do not let dough sit in refrigerator for much longer than an hour, or it will become too hard and won’t be able to be rolled out.If using margarine, dough can stay in longer, even overnight.
-If cookies are pulled out of the oven before the bottoms brown slightly, they will be too soft and too fragile to decorate. Adjust cooking times accordingly to ensure bottoms are slightly golden brown before removing.

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