Spooky HERSHEY's Smore's Spiderweb Pudding Cups Tutorial

Momma Told Me: Snack time should be fun time.

When I was a young girl there were 2 things I looked forward to most in my lunches; special notes scribbles on plastic baggies and wrapper seams from my father, and a pudding cup. There was something so simply satisfying scooping that plastic spoon into the river of velvety pudding that could wash away even the most dreadful of days. And, while the nature of daily fiascos have changed from getting watercolor on my favorite Jansport backpack to watching my hard-drive eat an entire folder of photos, the comfort of a pudding cup timeout has not wavered one bit.

As a lifelong, self-proclaimed, 'Chocoholic,' I like to reach for unique, full flavored chocolate treats that tempt even the staunchest weekday grumbles to run away. And, with the introduction of all new Hershey's ready to eat pudding cups I can pack a little slice spoonful of sweet, silky, chocolate heaven for enjoyment just about anywhere. These little ready-to-eat pudding cups are individually portioned and refrigerated for the freshest texture and decadent snacking experience to satisfy even picky chocolate lovers. After all, it has the namesake of one of the most recognized chocolate brands; Hershey's and is made with real Hershey's cocoa.

And I'll let you in on a little secret- you can not only find delicious Hershey's ready to eat pudding varieties in the refrigerated yogurt and snack cases of your local Walmart, but you can pick up an exclusive ready-to-clip coupon in the September/October issue of ALL YOU Magazine. If you're unfamiliar with the ALL YOU periodical you're going to want to grab a copy from the checkout lines on your way into the store. This month's issue is just $1.99 and packed with valuable coupons, such as the exclusive $0.55/1 Package of Hershey's Ready to Eat Pudding (4 Pack) coupon, and seasonal recipes! That's what I call a win/win scenario

In fact I was so inspired by all of the amazing recipes and Halloween projects featured in this month's ALL YOU that I also picked up some special ingredients to make a truly spooktacular Hershey's pudding cup creation for our upcoming Halloween party! Playing with the delicious S'mores flavor palette of my favorite Hershey's pudding cups, I decided I would craft some edible white chocolate cobwebs and mini s'mores spiders to decorate my pudding cups. And, for that extra flair of seasonal fun, I planned to decorate the outside of my Hershey's cups with white yarn to recreate a spiderweb motif.

The first step in making my silly s'mores spider cups is to print out the FREE Chocolate Spiderweb Template found HERE. I've gone ahead and put this printable together just for you so you don't have to fuss with hand drawing your webs, or playing with sizing. These are the perfect fit for laying over your Hershey's pudding cups, or displaying in the rich layer of chocolate pudding. The Hershey's S'mores pudding cups have a gooey marshmallow creme layer on top that blends perfectly with these cobwebs for an eerie decorative effect that doubly delicious.

Place a piece of semi-translucent wax paper over your FREE printable chocolate spiderweb printout, on a cookie sheet, and prepare your white chocolate by melting 6oz of white chocolate morsels/chips with 1/2 TBS of vegetable oil shortening. Add shortening in between stirs until the chocolate has reached a 'flowing' consistency that coats the back of a spoon but trails evenly off in a thick drizzle when lifted. Place your melted chocolate in a piping bag, or plastic baggie with the corner snipped, and trace over the spiderweb templates. Place the cookie sheet directly in the freezer or refrigerator to harden.

Next, to make my bite-sized s'mores spiders, I used mini marshmallows, character shaped graham cookies, and semi-sweet melting chocolate. While any type of graham cracker will work for this I prefer character shaped cookies that offer rounded shapes that better suit a spider theme. You'll often find animal and cartoon character shaped graham cookies in boxes nearby traditional graham crackers.

 Preparing the chocolate in the same manner as the white chocolate above I created a 'dipping station' with a small bowl and slotted serving utensil. Place 1 or 2 mini marshmallows on the graham cracker cookies/pieces and microwave for 20 seconds on HIGH. This will cause the marshmallows to puff up a little and give more of a shape to your spider's body. Immediately place the 'spider' bodies on your dipping utensil and submerge them in the prepared chocolate. Place the dipped spiders on a piece of parchment paper and add eyes or markings as desired. Refrigerate or freeze them until they have set.

Because pudding cups tend to have a lip/ledge around the top where the foil lid peels back I thought it would be fun to dress up my Hershey's pudding cups with a spider web yarn decoration. I cut about 6-8 notches into the lip of the cups and spend a few moments criss-crossing the yarn around and under the cup to create a web effect.

Next all that was left to do was to put all the elements together into one frightfully delightful Halloween snack display. Laying the larger webs across the top of my Hershey's ready-to-eat pudding cups, and overlapping the smaller webs to create depth I balanced my mini s'mores spiders over the river of gooey marshmallow. Because these Hershey's S'mores pudding cups are kept refrigerated the marshmallow layer has a fun sticky, yet foamy, texture that really plays well with the creepy web and spider theme!

For a completely one-of-a-kind ready to eat pudding cup experience you simply must try Hershey's new refrigerated pudding cups. The creamy, sticky, fluffy 's'mores' marshmallow is the perfect companion to the beloved Hershey's chocolate flavor. It's a classic chocolate bar flavor in a favorite childhood treat, with a campfire twist- does it get more nostalgic? Make sure to keep an eye out for the Chocolate and S'mores varieties on your next shopping trip to Walmart!

While I've highlighted just one fun way to dress up these delicious ready-to-eat Hershey's pudding cups for the upcoming Halloween holiday, you'll be sure to enjoy these convenient cups all year round. Pack one with your loved one's lunch as a nice midday surprise, take a time out with some graham crackers dipped in Hershey's S'mores, or take it way back to school-day memories with the classic flavor of Hershey's. Just when you thought pudding couldn't get any more comforting, Hersheys pudding cups are in stores at your local Walmart- grab the September/October issue of ALL YOU and save today with the exclusive $0.55 coupon! Do you have a favorite way to dress up or enjoy pudding?

What Daughter Says: Combine the comfort of ready to eat chocolate pudding with real Hershey's cocoa for snack time smiles, any time.