Creepy Crawly Brownie Spider Bites Recipe 455

CREEPY CRAWLY BROWNIE SPIDER BITES RECIPE - (4.5/5)

Steps:

• BROWNIES: Preheat oven to 350°F and grease an 8-inch square baking pan. Heat butter and chopped chocolate in microwave on low. Microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring in between until melted and smooth. In a mixer, add sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Mix until combined. Add the melted chocolate and butter to the sugar mixture and mix until combined. Add flour and mix until combined. Spread the brownie batter in greased pan and bake for about 40 minutes or until done. Let cool. If you want, you can also use brownies from a box mix and just follow the decorating instructions below. Makes 25 spider bites, more if your roll into smaller balls. After the brownies are cooled, (they can be still be slightly warm) cut 25 equal brownie squares, trimming off the outside edges first. This will help when you start to roll them. These brownies were so moist and moldable already, I decided to try rolling them without using any frosting. And it worked out just fine. DECORATE: Prepare the licorice legs first. Unroll one licorice wheel at a time and cut it into as many 2 3/4 inch sections as you can. See how the strand is doubled up in the picture above. You can separate each strand of licorice by pulling apart the two pieces. Start on one end and pull the two pieces apart, leaving them attached at the other end. Repeat until you have four pairs of legs for each spider body. (totaling eight licorice legs each.) Set them aside until ready to use. Prepare the raspberry gumdrop eyes second. All you do for these is cut small pieces of the leftover licorice and press directly into the tops of these raspberry candies. The candies are soft, so don't be afraid to press down firmly to get the licorice pieces to stay. Start dipping! Place the candy coating in a small, deep microwave safe bowl. Heat in the microwave on low in 30 second intervals, stirring in between. Repeat until melted and smooth. Don't overheat the chocolate. Drop the ball in the bowl of chocolate coating. Don't stir or move it around. Then cover it by spooning more melted chocolate over the top, completely covering the brownie ball. Then, using the same spoon, lift it out of the chocolate and tap the handle of the spoon on the edge of the bowl. This will force any excess chocolate off the ball and back into the bowl. When most of the excess has fallen off, transfer the ball to a wax paper covered cookie sheet and immediately sprinkle a few black non-nonpareils on top. Repeat with remaining brownie balls. Let the spider bodies dry completely before applying the rest of the decorations. Use the remaining chocolate candy coating to attach the licorice legs and candy eyes. You won't need much, so just reheat what is left in the bowl that you used for dipping. Place the top (attached) part of the licorice leg pair in the coating and then attach it to the side of the spider body. Hold in place for a few seconds while the chocolate sets. Repeat with remaining legs. Don't move the spiders until the coating has completely set with the legs attached. Then, use more candy coating to attach the raspberry candy eyes and let dry. For the finishing frightening, touch, insert two sprinkles for fangs (I used white confetti color stick sprinkles). Just push them right in and have a frightfully Happy Halloween!

CRISPY CREEPY CRAWLY SPIDER BITES

Steps:

• For the crunch: Place the milk chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. Fill a medium saucepan with a couple inches of water and bring to a simmer over medium heat. (Alternatively, use a double boiler.) Turn off the heat, set the bowl of chocolate over the water to melt and stir until smooth. Remove from the heat and stir in the cookie crumbs, peanut butter and butter. Reserve 1/2 cup of the mixture and set aside. Form twenty 1/2-inch balls with the remaining crunch. Press your thumg into the center of each ball to make a hollow center. With the reserved 1/2 cup crunch, sculpt thin spider legs and twenty 1/2-inch round discs to use as the bottoms. Set aside at room temperature until you are ready to assemble the spiders.
• For the chocolate ganache: Place the dark chocolate in a small heatproof bowl. In a small saucepan, bring the cream to a boil and pour over the dark chocolate. Let stand without stirring for a couple of minutes in order to let some of the chocolate melt. Stir in the butter, corn syrup and rum. Mix until smooth. Let sit at room temperature until you are ready to assemble the spiders.
• For the strawberry jelly: Mix 1 tablespoon of sugar with the pectin in a small bowl and set aside. Bring the strawberry puree to a boil in a small saucepan and slowly stir in the pectin sugar. Bring this mixture back to a low boil and add the corn syrup, lemon juice and remaining 2/3 cup sugar. Boil for approximately 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer the jelly to a small stainless mixing bowl and cover with plastic wrap to let cool.
• To assemble: Place the milk chocolate in a large heatproof bowl. Fill a large saucepan with a couple inches of water and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Turn off the heat, set the bowl over the water to melt and stir the chocolate until smooth.
• Transfer the strawberry jelly and chocolate ganache to two separate pastry bags and snip the ends off. Fill each hollow crunch ball with equal parts jelly and ganache and cover with the bottom pieces of crunch to form the spider bodies. Refrigerate for about 20 minutes.
• Lay a sheet of parchment paper over a flat surface. Arrange the spider legs on the parchment, dip the bodies in the melted chocolate with the rounded side facing up. Attach the spider body to the arranged legs. Dust with cocoa powder, if desired.