Pretzel Spiders Food

PRETZEL SPIDERS

Steps:

• Mix yeast and sugar in a bowl. Add warm water and whisk until sugar dissolves. Let yeast bloom for about 10 minutes.
• Mix flour and salt in a bowl of an electric mixer. Mix chopped, cold butter into flour on low speed until mixture starts to resemble coarse crumbs.
• Slowly pour yeast mixture into flour mixture, while still mixing on low, until just combined. Using your hands, gather dough together. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until no longer sticky, for a couple of minutes. Place in a medium bowl and cover with plastic.
• Let dough rise in a warm, dry place for about an hour.
• Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Roll the dough into a log and divide it into 4 equal pieces.
• Divide each piece into two more pieces, one a little bigger than the other. The piece that is a little bigger, roll it into a log and divide into 8 equal pieces. That will be the spider's legs. The piece that is a little smaller, roll into an oval and then twist the top of it one time, to form the head and body of the spider.
• Repeat with remaining 3 dough pieces. Let all the pieces of the spiders rest while heating up the water and preheating the oven.
• Preheat the oven to 450 and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Bring a large, deep cooking pan of water to a boil and add baking soda, stir well. Turn the heat down to medium-high. Boil pretzel pieces in batches until puffed, about 30-45 seconds.
• Take them out with a slopped spatula onto the baking sheet.
• Gently press the legs of the spider into the body, so that they are touching each other at the base. Press very gently.
• Generously sprinkle with poppy seeds. Sprinkle a little coarse salt over the top.
• Gently press in olives for spider's eyes.
• Bake until golden brown, 10 minutes.

PRETZEL SPIDER WEBS

Steps:

• Line two sheet pans with parchment paper.
• In sets of 8, arrange the pretzel sticks into the spokes of 10 webs, with the centers touching and the outer edges spaced.
• Melt the melting wafers according to the package instructions, approximately 2 minutes in a microwave or 3 to 5 minutes over a double boiler. Transfer to a piping bag and cut the tip to create a small hole.
• Pipe a small amount of the melted candy onto the center of each web where the pretzels meet; this will hold the webs together. Then pipe a web pattern by starting in the center and spiraling out to the edges. Go around the outer edges a couple times to create a firm border. Carefully spoon over the sprinkles. Repeat with the remaining webs.
• Place chocolate spiders in the center, if using. Let set 1 hour.

SPIDER PRETZELS

Steps:

• Make a cracker sandwich with the peanut butter. Insert the pretzel "legs" into the filling. With a dab of peanut butter, set raisin eyes on top.

SPIDER BITES

Steps:

• Place parchment paper on baking sheet; set aside.
• In a large glass microwave-safe bowl combine chocolate chips and peanut butter. Melt on high for 2 to 3 minutes. Remove and stir until smooth.
• Stir in pretzel sticks. With clean hands grab pretzel sticks and drop on prepared baking sheet in clusters to look like spiders.
• Place in freezer for 5 minutes or until to chocolate is hardened. Remove and serve.