Please Pass the Nair . . .

...do they even make Nair anymore?  I now have the "we wear short-shorts" jingle stuck in my head...and I think I'm dating myself with that admission.

Hairy-Legged Spider Cookies.


I shared the tutorial for these over at TidyMom last year and thought I'd show them to you here this year.  

My sister cut this idea out of Family Circle magazine for me a few years ago. I love having friends and family on the lookout for cute cookie ideas!  Thank you, Molly!  These are fun!


I'm pretty sure these are girl spiders and their husbands are on a business trip.  Not that I speak from personal experience, it just seems like that might be a time when a girl would skip a day shaving her legs.

{Again, totally hypothetical example.}

To make them, you'll need:

• sugar cookies in a spider shape (I bought my cutter from Sweet Baking Supply, here)
• royal icing in brown and white (I used AmeriColor Chocolate Brown mixed with Super Black for the brown and Bright White for the white.)
• decorating tips in #2, #1 and #7
• disposable piping bags
• squeeze bottles
• toothpicks
• chocolate jimmies

First, using a #2 tip and brown royal icing, pipe the outline of the spider body.


Change the tip on the piping bag to a #7 tip (or another larger round tip) and pipe on the spider legs.

Add water to the remaining brown icing, stirring in a bit at a time, until the icing is the consistency of thick syrup.  Cover with a damp dish towel and let sit several minutes.

Uncover the icing and stir gently with a rubber spatula to pop the bubbles that have formed on top.


Transfer to a squeeze bottle and fill in the outline.  Use a toothpick to guide around edges.

Let the cookies sit for 1 hour.


Using a #1 or #2 tip, pipe the spider's eyes in white.

Let the cookies dry overnight.

The next day, mix equal parts of meringue powder and water together.  Set up a "spider leg station" like this:

I use a coffee filter as a funnel to reuse sprinkles/jimmies that have fallen off the cookies.

Time to add the hairy legs!

With a small paintbrush, paint on the meringue powder mixture where you want the sprinkles to stick.  Sprinkle on the chocolate jimmies.

That's it....hairy-legged spiders, ready for Halloween!


{{{This weekend the photography for the book starts...can I tell you how nervous and excited I am?  VERY.  I have a couple fantabulous guest posters lined up for next week.  Just you wait...you are going to love them! }}}