With Halloween fast approaching, I decided to have a little fun in the kitchen and got into a festive and ghoulish mood! I spied a loaf of frozen bread dough in the freezer, and that poor dough didn’t stand a chance! It was going to be pulled, twisted, stretched, rolled and tortured into something frightfully fun!

The scariest thing for me? Spiders. I HATE spiders. I hate spiders more than anything. And the older I get, the worse I seem to be about it. I have definitely crossed the bridge to arachnophobia. So what more appropriate for me to make for Halloween than a spider? Only, this spider is harmless! And actually kind of cute!

It literally took me only 15 minutes to make all of the pieces! It really couldn’t be any easier than this. And this is one that the kidlets can actually do themselves! Don’t worry about trying to make it look perfect. The odder the shapes and sizes the more fun, I say! 😉  

Here are the “legs” all ready rolled, risen, seasoned and headed for the oven!

I “decorated” mine with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese, seasoned salt, garlic powder, red paprika and black poppy seeds, but you can use whatever seasonings you’d like that will go well with whatever dip you decide to make.

Here’s the body and head already risen, seasoned and ready to be baked…

 The cute little breadstick legs baked to a light golden brown!

And here’s the main part, the body and head, looking absolutely gorgeous! The center of the body will be cut and hollowed out to hold the dip…

And here we are! Tah-dah! All assembled and awaiting a nice creamy, cheesy warm dip!

Any dip will work well for this be it hot or cold. Cold Spinach Dip (Knorr recipe is best), Ranch-style, pizza-style, salsa or marinara, french onion, spinach artichoke, bacon swiss or any of your own favorites. I went with a simple, cheesy, Rotel and Ranch because that’s what I already had on hand.  And what better to dip spider leg breadsticks into than a warm, spicy, cheesy sauce? 

If wanting to take this to a party, simply assemble it when you get there, because it takes less than 10 minutes! And you can bring the dip along in a container, (microwave safe for warm dips), and fill at the party so the bread doesn’t get soggy and warm dips are served hot!

If absolutely wanting to assemble first, for cold dips, you can always line the hollowed space with purple-edged lettuce or kale first if you’d like. But not necessary. You can also actually place a small bowl into the center if desired, too. 

You can also serve this as a lunch and fill it with chicken, crab, ham or tuna salad. So much more fun to eat than plain ol’ sandwiches! And if you don’t have the heart to eat it and would rather use it for a centerpiece, you can always fit a bowl inside and fill it with Halloween candy such as candy corns and pumpkins! Or go floral with fall-colored mums! 

Just have a blast and go crazy with it! Your family and guests are really going to enjoy this! You’re going to be the hit of the party and it’s easy-peasy to boot! Hope you have fun making this and have a boo-tiful day! 🙂   

Yield: 10-12 servings

Spooktacular Halloween Spider Bread Dip Bowl

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Ingredients

For Spider:

• 1 loaf frozen bread dough such as Rhodes, thawed in fridge overnight
• butter-flavored cooking spray
• Seasonings (first and second amounts):
• 2 Tbl. & 1 tsp. Kraft finely grated parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp. & 1/2 tsp. seasoned salt
• 3/4 tsp. & 1/4 tsp. paprika
• 1/8 tsp. & 1/16 tsp. garlic powder
• 2 tsp. & 1 tsp. poppy seeds
• 2 slices green olive with pimiento for eyes, optional

For Dip:

• 1 (10 oz.) can Rotel Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies, mild or hot
• 16 oz. Velveeta, cubed, (*can sub cream cheese for a nice variation if desired)
• 1 Tbl. dry Hidden Valley Ranch Dip Mix
• 2 sliced green onions, green and white part
• 1/2 - 1 lb. cooked and drained hot italian sausage, as much as desired

Instructions

For Spider:

Spray frozen loaf of bread dough with butter-flavored cooking spray, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and thaw in fridge overnight.

The next day, unwrap bread and place onto a cutting surface. With a long, very sharp knife, slice bread in half crossways. Slice off about 1/4 of one end for the head. Pinch cut side back together and form into a small ball. Place onto sprayed baking sheet seam side-down. Use the rest of that half and shape into the body the same way making it 4" in diameter and a little flat, like a disk. Place next to head, touching, also seam side-down. Spray with cooking spray.

Slice second half of loaf lengthwise into 8 equal pieces. Roll and stretch into 12-14" in long ropes. Place onto second sprayed baking sheet into hairpin shapes for legs. Spray with cooking spray.

Lightly cover each baking sheet with plastic wrap and place into oven to rise with the light on for warmth. Let rise for 30 minutes, remove both trays, heat oven to 350 degrees, remove plastic wrap from the baking sheet with the legs only. Sprinkle them evenly with the first amount of the seasonings and bake them for 15-18 minutes until browned on the bottoms and light golden brown on top. Remove pieces to a wire rack to cool. Leave oven door open to cool. If cool enough, place body and head back into oven to continue to rise or in another draft-free warm place. Let body and head rise for an additional 1 1/2 - 2 hours or until doubled in bulk. (Store breadstick legs, when fully cool, in an airtight container.)

When fully risen, sprinkle evenly the second amount of seasonings onto head and body, and re-preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pop into oven and bake for 22-25 minutes until deep golden brown. With spatula, remove to wire rack to cool.

To assemble, with small sharp serrated steak knife, cut 4 little "x"'s on each side of body in a sawing motion up and down and stick one side of each leg down into body. Cut a 4" circle out of top of body and remove chunk of bread. Hollow out a little more picking out pieces carefully. Dice bread into cubes for dipping and place into a festive bowl. Make dip and fill body cavity full. (Replenishing as needed.) Decorate with olive eyes if desired.

For Dip:

Place all ingredients into large microwave-safe bowl and heat, stirring every 1-2 minutes, until cheese has melted. About 5 minutes total. Spoon and pour into spider. Garnish with more sliced green onion if desired. Rewarm and refill as needed. (Makes enough dip to refill 1 -2 times depending on size of cut-out.)