Looking for a kid-friendly halloween dessert? These spider cookie pops, full of the rich flavor of chocolate chips and the sweetness of raisins, are the perfect way to treat your little spooks this season. The cookies bake up just firm enough to support a popscicle stick, but not too firm so as to be chalky. The frosting on top offers a perfect canvas for Halloween decorating. Spiderwebs are an ideal not-too-freaky look for the holiday, but you can certainly pass an icing bag to your tots and letting them design their own haunts.
Chocolate Chip Raisin Cookies
For a variation on this recipe, visit the Sun-Maid Raisin website to learn how to turn these cute cookies into little green monsters.
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1-1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
6-ounces (1 cup) semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2-1/2 cups quick oats
1 cup Sun-Maid Natural Raisins
3 dozen craft sticks or popsicle sticks
Decorating glaze (recipe below) or 1 tub vanilla frosting
Colored icing tubes or pens
Heat oven to 350 F. Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper. Combine butter, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla; beat until well blended. Stir in melted chocolate, flour and baking soda. Mix well. Mix in oats and raisins. Space sticks 4-inches apart on baking sheet. Drop a rounded 2-inch ball of dough onto the end of each stick. Butter the bottom of a glass, dip in flour, and gently press cookie dough to 1/2-inch thickness. Repeat with remaining dough. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on pan 3 minutes. Remove with spatula to cool on wire racks.
Decorating Glaze
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup milk
1 pound (about 3-1/2 cups) powdered sugar
Melt butter in medium saucepan. Add milk. Gradually whisk in powdered sugar. (Sift sugar first if it is lumpy.) Stir vigorously with a fork for 3 to 4 minutes until mixture turns white and opaque. Mixture should be thick, smooth and pourable; add ore milk or sugar if needed. Working quickly before glaze stiffens, generously spoon glaze over cookies allowing excess to run off edges. Let set until dry to the touch. Decorate.