Halloween Peanut Butter Spiders

No-bake peanut butter balls get a spooky makeover with this simple, delicious 5-ingredient peanut butter spiders recipe – A perfect Halloween potluck & party snack!

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Looking for a super EASY Halloween party snack to add to a Halloween snack board, party spread, and bring to Halloween potlucks? Let me introduce you to these no-bake peanut butter spiders. This quick and easy no-bake treat requires only 5 ingredients and a few minutes of prep for a super low-effort treat that tastes great.

These critters are creamy, addictively sweet and salty, and even quite versatile – swap out the nut butter, add vegan chocolate, add extra protein, and more. They’re also naturally vegan, can be made gluten-free, and are enthusiastically child-approved.

You might also enjoy savory Halloween spider bagel bites. Prefer peanut butter spider cookies? Try adding pretzel legs to my peanut butter sandwich cookies or baking a batch of my vegan peanut butter cookies, topping them with a mini vegan peanut butter cup, and piping melted vegan chocolate ‘legs’ on either side. Add some candy eyes, and voila!

The Ingredients

Refer to the recipe card for the full list of ingredients, substitutes, and quantities.

• Peanut butter: Use a thick, creamy peanut butter – not a drippy natural one (as it’s too soft and will require additional thickening ingredients).

Recipe Variations

There are several ways to adjust this vegan Halloween peanut butter spider recipe to any occasion.

• Vanilla extract: Just a little for added warm flavor depth.
• Shredded coconut: Added for extra thickening and texture.
• Dried fruits: Like raisins, dates, or cranberries, broken down in a processor.
• Other nut butter: Use almond butter, cashew butter, or even nut-free sunflower seed butter or tahini. You may need to adjust the amount of sugar & thickening ingredients.

You could also use a separate peanut butter ‘base,’ like my:

• 3-Ingredient peanut butter oatmeal balls
• No-bake chocolate peanut butter balls with Rice Krispies
• Edible peanut butter cookie dough

How to Make Peanut Butter Ball Spiders

Step 3: Transfer the peanut butter balls to the freezer for an hour, then remove and carefully press 3-4 halved pretzel sticks on either side of the ball (the spider legs!) and place vegan chocolate chips for the eyes (see photos for reference). Chill in the refrigerator once more, if preferred – enjoy!

FAQs

Pro Recipe Tips

• Use creamy peanut butter: If it’s too drippy/soft, you’d need to add a thickener to make a dough stiff enough to roll into balls.
• Chill the dough: This makes it easier to roll into balls.
• Enjoy chilled: If possible, serve these out of the fridge. The more they sit at room temperature, the softer and stickier they’ll become. To avoid mess, serve in mini cupcake cases, with napkins nearby.

Serving Suggestions

Enjoy these no-bake peanut butter balls with these regular snacks that you can easily transform to fit this spooky holiday with simple recipe tweaks, like:

• Peanut butter and chocolate covered banana ‘ghosts’ (use dairy-free white chocolate and make a ghost face with melted vegan chocolate or mini chocolate chips)
• Chocolate covered trail mix peanut butter ball ‘pumpkins’ (roll the balls in orange sprinkles, using a small pretzel stick at the pumpkin stem)
• Halloween peanut butter chocolate bark/ vegan peppermint bark (top the bark with Halloween sprinkles, pretzels, candy, and googly eyes and/or use vegan white chocolate to draw ‘ghosts’)
• Easy biscoff fudge (decorate the top similar to the above vegan chocolate bark)
• 3-Ingredient chocolate coconut ball ‘mummies’ (use dairy-free white chocolate to drizzle and googly eyes)
• Chocolate dipped strawberries (either add googly eyes or use dairy-free white chocolate and paint over ghost faces in dark chocolate)

Storage Instructions

Store any leftover spider peanut butter balls in an airtight container in layers separated by parchment paper. Store them in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

You can also freeze this spider dessert in an airtight container for up to 3 months. I usually freeze just the plain, no-bake peanut butter balls, leave them to thaw in the fridge overnight, then add the pretzel legs and vegan chocolate chip eyes.