Spider Donuts

🕷️Why You'll Love This Halloween Recipe

This is peak Halloween food: instantly recognizable, genuinely cute-creepy, and almost embarrassingly easy. The chocolate glaze doubles as glue for the pretzel legs, the candy eyes do the rest, and there's no baking skill required — if you can dip a donut, you can make a spider. They double as party decor on a black platter.

🍫Ingredients for Spider Donuts

• 1 can (16 oz) refrigerated biscuit dough (or 12 plain cake donuts)
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 tbsp coconut oil or butter
• 48 pretzel sticks (8 legs per donut — 4 per side)
• 24 candy eyeballs (2 per donut)
• Vegetable oil, for frying (if using biscuit dough)
• Chocolate sprinkles (optional)

👩‍🍳How to Make Spider Donuts Step by Step

1. Cook the donuts. If using biscuit dough: separate, poke a hole in the center of each, and fry at 350°F for 2-3 minutes per side until golden. Drain and cool 5 minutes. (Using ready-made donuts? Skip to glazing.)
2. Melt the chocolate. Microwave chocolate chips with coconut oil in 30-second bursts, stirring, until smooth and glossy.
3. Glaze. Dip the top of each donut in chocolate, letting the excess drip off.
4. Add the legs. While the glaze is wet, press 4 pretzel sticks into each side (8 total) so they look like spider legs. Angle them slightly outward.
5. Add eyes and set. Press 2 candy eyeballs onto the front. Let the chocolate set 10 minutes before serving.

🎃Halloween Party Serving Ideas

Arrange Spider Donuts on a black platter with fake cobwebs for a dessert-table showpiece, next to Halloween Donut Holes. Serve with cold milk or Slime Lime Punch. Browse all our Halloween recipes.

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❓Frequently Asked Questions

My pretzel legs keep falling off — help!

The glaze must be wet when you press them in. Push each leg about 1/4 inch into the chocolate and hold 3 seconds. If your kitchen is warm and the glaze sets slowly, chill the donuts 5 minutes after adding legs.

Can I use store-bought donuts?

Yes — plain cake or glazed donuts work perfectly and make this a true no-cook project. Just add fresh chocolate glaze for the legs to stick to.

Are these nut-free?

As written, yes — but always check your chocolate chips, sprinkles, and candy eyeballs for nut warnings if serving kids with allergies.