Spider Cookies

Source: American Dairy Association

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 egg
3 (1 ounce) squares semisweet chocolate,
    melted and slightly cooled
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cups cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Black licorice whips, black jellybeans, black
    decorating gel, assorted Halloween candies

Cream butter and sugar in mixing bowl until fluffy. Beat in egg and then melted chocolate. Beat in flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt until combined. Divide dough in half and shape each half into a roll about 8 inches long. Wrap in wax paper or plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cut rolls into 1/4-inch slices and place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake until cookies are set when lightly touched, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool completely.

Cream Cheese Frosting:
2 (3 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
2 cups confectioners' sugar

Combine cream cheese and confectioners' sugar. Spread about 1 teaspoon of frosting on half of the cookies. Top with remaining cookies and spread additional frosting on top.

Decorate the cookies with "spiders," using jellybeans for bodies and licorice for legs. To make cobweb cookies, squeeze a small amount of black gel on the middle of the cookie. Use the end of a toothpick to draw gel from the middle of the cookies to edges. Then put gel across to connect the gel lines in a cobweb pattern. Cookies can also be decorated with a variety of ready-made Halloween candy decorations. Once frosted, keep cookies refrigerated.

Yields 32 servings.