Chocolate Spiders Recipe

Chocolate Coconut Macaroons take very little time to prepare. They start by combining egg whites with sugar, cocoa powder, salt, and vanilla extract. Then all you need to do is to fold in melted semi-sweet chocolate and sweetened coconut. Once the batter is chilled, place spoonfuls on a cookie sheet and bake just until the cookies are shiny. Now the two main flavors in these cookies are chocolate and sweetened coconut so choose these two ingredients carefully. Use a semi-sweet chocolate that children enjoy eating out-of-hand. The sweetened coconut should be fresh so check the date on the package. Sweetened coconut comes packaged either in plastic bags or cans and it is available shredded or flaked (use whatever type you like in this recipe). (Canned sweetened coconut will keep about 18 months, packaged coconut will usually keep about six months at room temperature. Once opened it is best to store the coconut in the refrigerator.)

Once the cookies are removed from the oven, the fun begins. This is a great time to get the kids involved, as their small hands make quick work of pressing two candy eyes and then four chocolate covered pretzels into each side of the still warm cookies. (You can find candy eyes at cake decorating stores or you can order them online at http://www.candylandcrafts.com/. Instead of candy eyes, you could use mini chocolate chips, currants, or M&M's^®.) (The spider legs are simply made by dipping 'stick' pretzels into melted chocolate.) These cookies can be made and decorated several days in advance of serving.