Gluten Free Halloween Cookies: “Cookies and Scream” Spiders
My Gluten Free Halloween Cookies taste like Millie’s (chewy middles, crunchy edges… yum!), are marbled with gluten free “Oreo’s” and are topped with a cheeky spider!
Completely gluten AND dairy free but you’d never, ever know it!! Easy recipe for all ages.
FAQ: Yes, Oreo’s aren’t gluten free, but most supermarkets have an own brand free from “cookies and cream” version that taste the same… and double up nicely as spiders!!
Pre-coeliac days, I used to LOVE the cookies in little paper bags in the bakery section of the supermarket. You know the ones…thin, chewy cookies with crunchy edges that you can smell from a mile off, “Millie’s style”. I get jealous every time I see them on the shelves. So I set about developing a recipe and a few months later, I was finally happy! Using this base, I firstly created my Gluten Free White Chocolate and Raspberry Cookies . Second up was my “Oreo Cookies” and now I’ve added the spider, ready for Halloween!
Ingredients
Here’s a pic of all the bits you’re going to need to make my Gluten Free Spider Cookies
Replacements/Comments:
- Light Brown Sugar – you can replace this with Caster Sugar, although the light brown sugar will improve the colour and give a more caramelly taste to the cookie
- Plain Flour – I always use Doves Farm FREEE Gluten Free Plain Flour
- Stork – stick to Stork!!! It’s the best!!!! The one in a foil block, NOT A TUB!!!! Pic below.
- Gluten Free Oreos aka “Cookies and Cream” – you could use any darker coloured biscuit but if you’re after gluten free Oreos, you’ll find a supermarket own version in the free from aisle of most supermarkets. You can also buy official gluten free Oreos from online American stores but be warned, they’re very expensive! If you want to save more £, only buy 1 pack of “oreos” and just add the spiders to the top of the cookie, rather than in the mix.
- Bicarb & Baking Powder – make sure yours are gluten free!!! Annoyingly some supermarket own brands contain wheat.
- Sprinkles – make sure you check they’re gf!! There’s quite a lot online but if you’re after a supermarket option, I think Asda is the best.
- White Choc Chips – optional, leave them out if you want
- Writing Pens – I got these in Asda too! Most supermarkets have a writing icing set though. If you cant find them, melt some milk chocolate and use a spoon to drizzle that on instead.
- Edible Eyes – the brand below is good! Also available in Asda
Questions about my Gluten Free Oreo Cookies
Q. Can I skip the fridge/freezer time?
A. Chilling them serves two purposes for my Gluten Free Oreo Cookies (1) it develops the flavour and (2) it makes the dough easier to work with. The dough will be far too runny to mould into balls if you skip it so, no, you can’t I’m afraid!
Q. Can I swap the brown sugar for caster sugar?
A. Yes! The cookies won’t be quite so brown or caramel tasting – so if you can get light brown sugar it will be better, but if not golden caster or regular white caster will work too. More details on substitutes for all the ingredients used in the “Ingredients” section above.
Q. How long will they keep once cooked?
A. 3-4 days in an airtight container.
Q. Can I make the dough now and bake the cookies later? Yes, make the balls and keep them in the fridge until you want to cook them. If its going to be longer than a day or so, I’d freeze them. Cooking from frozen: Increase cooking stage 1 to 8 mins in the oven. After this stage, your cookies a bit taller and less spread out than you’ll want them to be, but that will soon be fixed when you press the “Oreo” in for the spiders body.
“Cookies and Scream” Spider Cookies
Ingredients
- 275 g Gluten Free Plain Flour
- 120 g Stork – the block that comes in foil - see picture in "Ingredients" above
- 110 g Light Brown Sugar
- 90 g Caster Sugar
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/2 tsp Baking Soda - aka bicarbonate of soda
- 1 Whole Egg
- 1 Egg Yolk
- 2 packs of gluten free "Oreos" - usually weighs 160g and you get 9 "Oreos"
Optional
- 100 g white chocolate chips
- Tube of Halloween coloured sprinkles - check yours are gf. Asda has some great options this year
- Packet of eyes
- Tube of black food writing icing
Instructions
Make the Dough
- Melt the Stork butter in a pan on a very low temperate. Set aside.>Do not allow it to boil/burn!
- Put both types of sugar into a large mixing bowl. Add the melted butter and mix until its fully combinedI use a wooden spoon to mix it together. No need for an electric whisk here.>Takes 15 seconds of stirring.
- Add the whole egg and egg yolk. Mix that in too.>Takes about 5-10 seconds.
- Add the flour, baking powder and baking soda and stir together.>It'll look very floury but if you keep whisking it will come together. You’re looking for the white from the flour to have all gone
- Take 1 packet of "Oreos" and crush into tiny pieces like the picture>I put them in a bowl, break them up with my hands. You could also seal them up in a sandwich bag and bash them up with a rolling pin.
- Add the oreos, white chocolate chips and as many sprinkles as you'd like to the mix and stir in until combined.
- Cover the mixing bowl with cling film and place into the fridge for at least 1 hr>Don't worry if its looking quite runny at this stage – it firms up loads in the fridge! >You can put it in the freezer rather than the fridge if that's easier, reducing the chill time to 45 mins.
Make the Cookie Dough Balls
- Scoop out 1 golf ball sized portion of cookie dough and mould into a smooth(ish) ball>I weigh the balls so they all cook evenly – mine are 50g each. >They should be very easy to scoop and mould. If its sticky and not holding its shape, it hasn't been in the fridge for long enough.
- Place them onto a plate/tray and into the fridge until you're ready to cook them, or move straight onto the next step if you're ready to go!
Cooking: Stage 1
- Pre-heat your oven to 175oC (fan).
- Whilst your oven is reaching temperature, line your baking trays with baking paper/tin foil. You'll need 1 tray per 4 cookies (max) so you may want to use multiple trays or cook them in batches.>Top tip: you need the baking paper to be as flat as possible, otherwise your cookies will come out a funny shape. If you're struggling: take a bit of baking paper slightly bigger than your baking tray, scrunch it up into a ball, flatten it out again and by some kind of miracle it will now stay put! (that's what I've done in the pic)
- Place a maximum of 4 cookie balls onto each baking tray and put them into the oven for 7 mins.
Cooking: Stage 2
- Split the remaining "oreos" in half (twist the two discs apart)
- Remove the cookies from the oven. Take 1 "oreo" half and push it into the top of a cookie. Repeat for the others.
- Place the cookies back into the oven for 5 mins. >I recommend turning the tray around from how it was positioned last time because most peoples ovens are hotter at either the front/back so this gives the most even bake.
- Remove the cookies from the oven. They should have lightly browned around the edges.
- Don’t try to move them from the baking tray until they’re completely cool.
Decoration – you can do this whilst they're cooling or wait until after. If you do it straight away, be careful as the cookies will be soft and easy to break and the tray will be hot!!
- Take a black icing pen and draw on 8 legs to each spider.
- Add a small amount where you'd like the eyes to go and place the eyes ontop. The colouring should act like glue.
- Leave to set for at least 10 mins (or until they're easy to remove from the baking paper) then eat!!!!
