Spider Leg Donuts
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Who’s ready to get spooky? These sweet creepy crawlies are the best way to kick off the haunting Halloween season.
Halloween is one of my favorite holidays because I get to take all of the ‘normal’ recipes I normally make and put a creepy twist on them.
These donuts have chocolate donut holes fixed in the center with spindly chocolate legs and candy eyeballs.
For the spider bodies, I used a cake-pop maker with my donut batter. Use about three fourths of the donut batter in the actual donut tin, then stir in dark chocolate (and a touch of black food coloring for a more convincing black color). The cake-pop maker does the rest!
You can make the icing for the donuts in any color that you want. I opted for green, orange and purple – and attempted a black icing (which turned more grey-ish purple, so I made it into a creepy purple people eater).
The legs are made from tempered chocolate piped into “L” shapes and then dried. To affix the legs onto the donuts, use a touch of melted chocolate on the tips and hold in place until the chocolate sticks. No matter which way you decorate your spooky spiders, they are the perfect way to start a crisp Halloween morning.
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Spider Leg Donuts
- Number of Servings: 12
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Ingredients
- FOR SPIDER BODIES & LEGS:
- 1 cup flour
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp salted btuter, melted
- ⅓ cup whole milk + more as needed
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla
- ½ cup dark baking chocolate (powder)
- 1 ½ cups chocolate chips
- candy eyes
- FOR MIRROR GLAZE ICING:
- 3 cups powdered sugar + more as needed
- 2 cups whole milk + more as needed
- 1 tbsp meringue powder, optional
- food coloring of choice
Mouth Feel
SaltyInstructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Stir in the milk, melted butter, egg and vanilla extract.
- Grease a donut tin. Transfer three-fourths of the batter into a large baggie and snip the corner. Use the filled baggie to pipe the batter into the donut tin. Bake for 8-12 minutes, until the donuts are golden brown and just beginning to pull away from the sides of the tin. Let the donuts cool completely.
- Meanwhile, with the remaining batter, add the dark chocolate and stir to combine. You may need to add 1-2 tablespoons of milk to get the batter back to the right consistency. It should be thick but smooth.
- Preheat a cake-pop/donut-hole maker. Spoon the batter into another baggie and snip the corner. Pipe the batter into each of the cavities, about half way full. Bake for 3-4 minutes, until the donut holes are puffed up and cooked through. Set aside and cool completely.
- While the donuts cool, temper the chocolate. Melt about half of the chocolate in the microwave in 30 second intervals. Stir until smooth then add in the remaining chocolate chips. Continue to stir until the chocolate chips are melted and the chocolate is glossy.
- Transfer the melted chocolate into a smaller baggie. Arrange parchment or a silicone mat on a baking sheet. Snip the corner of the chocolate baggie and pipe “L” shapes on the lined baking sheet – enough so that each spider can have 8 legs. Chill until the chocolate is set – about 15-30 minutes.
- When the donuts are cooled, make the icing. Mix the powdered sugar, meringue powder (if using) and milk until a very thick white icing forms. If the icing is too thin, add more powdered sugar. It should be thick and stick to your spoon while holding its shape. If it’s too thick and there are still dry bits of powder, add milk one teaspoon at a time and stir until it reaches the desired consistency.
- Separate the icing into smaller bowls. Color as desired, leaving a couple tablespoons of white icing for attaching the eyes to the donut holes.
- Assemble the donuts by dipping the tops of each donut in your desired color. While the icing is still wet, place a single donut hole in the center.
- Melt 1 tablespoon of chocolate chips. Dip the tip of each “L” chocolate and then attach it next to the donut hole like a leg. Chill the donuts until the chocolate has set and the icing is dried. Serve at your next Halloween-themed breakfast. Enjoy!
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