Spider Bites

Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C).

In a large bowl, combine shortening, sugar, water, and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Add eggs into the mixture and blend. Slowly mix in flour, cocoa, salt and baking powder using low-medium speed.

Drop tablespoon helpings of mixture onto ungreased cookie sheets and roll each helping into a ball.

Bake 9 minutes. The batch should produce around three dozen cookies.

Let cookies cool for about 10 minutes. Then using a toothpick, create four small holes in either side of the cookie.

Still using the toothpick, push one end of a piece of the cut licorice into each hole, creating the "legs" of the spider. Keep licorice pieces short so as not to harm braces. Once all eight pieces are in place, create eyes or decorate at will using the green decorating gel.