Donna’s Day: Make Spider Rolls For A Creepy Treat

By Donna Erickson
Signal Contributing Writer

Combine a child’s love of playing with dough and a fascination with spiders, and you’ll have both a “hit” activity and a healthy treat when Halloween partygoers come to your house.

Pre-party prep is a snap with prepared bread-roll dough. Simply clear the kitchen counters and let the kids work out their wiggles as they shape dough into balls and snakes to create their own creepy spiders.

And they’ll love “painting” them with an egg wash before you pop them in the oven.

Here are the simple ingredients you’ll need:

—Prepared frozen white dinner rolls such as Rhodes brand (available in the frozen-food section of grocery stores)

—1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon of water for several spiders

—Poppy seeds or sesame seeds

Here’s the fun:

1. Each large spider requires two dinner rolls. Thaw the number of rolls you plan to use.
2. Slice one-third off of one roll and let your child form a ball with his hands. Form a second, larger ball with the remaining two-thirds. Set aside. Slice the second roll into four equal parts. Roll each part into a 5-inch-long snake. To form spider legs, place two of the “snakes,” one inside the other, in a U-shape on a cookie sheet coated with nonstick cooking spray. Allow space between the spider legs to distinguish one from the other.
3. With the remaining two snakes, form another U-shape going in the opposite direction, joining them together with the first two snakes at the curve. Place the two balls next to each other on top of the curve for the head and body.
4. Let rise about 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees while dough rises.
5. Brush some egg mixture on top of the spider. Sprinkle with seeds. Bake for about 20 minutes or until light brown. Remove and set on cooling rack.

For extra fun when serving, squeeze jam or honey from a plastic bottle into a web design directly on a plain plate. Or, squeeze mustard and enjoy the spider roll with a hot dog or bratwurst.

* “The grandkids are coming!” tip: Keep frozen dinner-roll dough on hand year-round and let your grandkids shape and bake creatures when they come to visit. Get inspired by a picture book or by an animal you observe on a trip to the zoo.

Donna Erickson’s award-winning series “Donna’s Day” is airing on public television nationwide. To find more of her creative family recipes and activities, visit www.donnasday.com and link to the NEW Donna’s Day Facebook fan page. Her latest book is “Donna Erickson’s Fabulous Funstuff for Families.”