Double Chocolate Halloween Spider Cookies

I watched a short home video last night of when the boys were 2 and 4. The footage was taken shortly before we embarked on an adventure to move out east outside of the Washington D. C. area. They were playing with the neighbor kids.
Back when I lived in a neighborhood with young kids, I used to make a greater effort with special holiday baking- especially for holidays like Halloween. This year, despite my kids being older, I'm bringing out some recipes I haven't made in a lot of years and some new ones I've recently seen.
The fall we moved out east was filled with transitions. The kids had to transition from having friends and neighbors to play with to spending more time with just each other. They did this well. B took the lead and Y was happy to follow along. B would ask "Do you wanna play cars?"
Y always answered with an enthusiastic "yeah!!" usually while extending both arms in the air.
No matter what B would choose for an activity, Y would follow along. Y was B's wing-man, his shadow...even his Robin...So it fits that they were Batman and Robin for Halloween.
Get your kids, friends and neighbors excited for Halloween this year by making these Spider Cookies.

Double Chocolate Spider Cookies

Begin by making a double batch of Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies. I omitted the chocolate chips.

While they are cooling, dip a pretzel stick 3/4 of the way into melted chocolate. Tap gently and lay on waxed paper to set.

For assembly:
Frost the bottoms of the entire double batch of cookies.
Then place 8 spider legs (dipped pretzel sticks) -non-chocolate end in the frosted side of a cookie.
Put another frosted cookie (frosting side down) on top to form a sandwich cookie.
Finish with mini M&Ms for eyes on a dot of frosting.

Chocolate Chocolate Cookies

In the neighborhood where we bought our first home, we were blessed with great neighbors. As the years passed, they all moved on and out of our starter home neighborhood. We added a couple of extra bedrooms and a large family room to the house and thus had plenty of room for our growing family. The dynamics of our neighborhood changed, and I felt a little lonely. When the house next door again sported a "For Sale" sign, I prayed for good neighbors that could provide friendships for me and my kids. God smiled on us and an amazing family moved next door. Their oldest daughter learned to bake these chocolate cookies at an early age. We would often hear the doorbell ring and answer the door to see her with a warm plate of cookies. Life was perfect!

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 chocolate cake mix (devils food, triple chocolate, chocolate fudge)
1/2 cup buttered flavored Crisco
2 eggs
1 cup chocolate chips

Mix the cake mix with the eggs and Crisco until well blended. Stir in chocolate chips.
Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Don't over bake. They will set as they cool.
Fancy them up by drizzling cooled cookies with 2 melted Hershey bars (1.55 oz. size). Immediately sprinkle them with holiday sprinkles, or chopped nuts.

I have used many different brands and versions of chocolate cake mixes. I've never heard a complaint. This is a quick, simple recipe resulting in a fantastic chocolate indulgence.
Our perfect neighbors and friends are now someone else's blessing far across the state. However, every time I make Rylee's cookies, our family's friends don't seem so far away.