Recipe Ingredients

Bean Layer

2 cans (16 oz each) lowfat refried black or pinto beans

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

2 Tbsp lime juice

1 Tbsp hot Mexican chili powder

1 tsp minced garlic 

3 large plum tomatoes, sliced

Middle Layer

1 1/2 cups thick and chunky salsa

1 cup (4 oz) shredded Mexican cheese blend

Guacamole Layer

4 ripe Hass avocados 

3 Tbsp lime juice

2 Tbsp minced red onion

2 large jalapeno chiles, seeded and minced

1 tsp salt

Web

1 cup reduced fat sour cream

Decoration: a clean plastic toy spider

Serve with: blue, yellow, red corn tortilla chips

Recipe Preparation

Bean Layer: Scrape the mixture onto a 12- to 14-in. round serving plate and smooth into a 10-in. circle with a spatula. Arrange tomato slices around edge of bean layer to make a border.

Drain salsa in a strainer to get rid of excess juice. Spread over bean mixture, leaving some of the bean layer showing around the edge. Sprinkle cheese over salsa, leaving some of the salsa layer showing.

Guacamole: Halve avocados; remove seeds and spoon flesh into a medium bowl. Add lime juice, onion, jalapeños and salt, and mash until fairly smooth. Spoon over cheese layer and spread into an even layer.

Place sour cream in a ziptop bag; seal bag and snip a small tip off one corner. Pipe a spiderweb design over guacamole and onto the plate. Decorate with toy spider. Serve with tortilla chips.

You can make 4 hours ahead, cover and refrigerate.

pretzel sticks 
white chocolate/bark candy coating
chocolate
raisins
bag­gie or pas­try bag
wax paper

Lay out your pret­zels on the wax paper in “star­burst” arrange­ments of 6 or 8 pret­zels (it’s a good idea to put it on a cookie sheet for trans­port stability). 

After melt­ing your white chocolate/bark coat­ing, place in a bag­gie and cut the cor­ner off (or use a pas­try bag). Start pip­ing your choco­late in the mid­dle of the pret­zel arrange­ment, mak­ing sure to coat all the pretzels. 

Con­tinue pip­ing out­ward around the pret­zels, until you have a web. Then, place two raisins in the mid­dle for the body of the spider. 

Melt your reg­u­lar choco­late and pipe over the raisins. I found that the spi­ders turned out bet­ter when I piped the legs of the spi­der first and then did the body. Place in the fridge for a few min­utes until the choco­late is hard. Then, gen­tly peel back the wax paper.…and eat!

Ingredients
For the Crust
Vegetable oil, cooking spray
18 ounces chocolate wafers (about 90), finely ground (4 1/2 cups)
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
6 ounces (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon coarse salt
For the Ganache
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate (preferably 61 percent), finely chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream
For the Filling
32 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 cups heavy cream, cold
Candy Spiders, optional
Directions
Make the crust: Coat a 10-inch springform pan with cooking spray. Mix wafers, sugar, butter, and salt in a medium bowl. Pat mixture into pan, pressing firmly into bottom and all the way up sides. Cover, and refrigerate until ready to fill.

Make the ganache: Place chocolate in a food processor. Bring cream to a simmer in a small saucepan, then pour over chocolate. When chocolate begins to melt, process until smooth. Reserve 2 tablespoons ganache for decorating, and spread the remainder evenly on bottom and all the way up sides of crust. Cover, and refrigerate until ready to fill.

Make the filling: Beat cream cheese with a mixer on medium speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low, and slowly add sugar and salt. Raise speed to medium-high, and beat until very fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in lemon juice.

Whisk cream until medium-stiff peaks form. Whisk 1/4 of the whipped cream into cream cheese mixture, then fold in remaining whipped cream. Pour filling into crust, and spread evenly. Gently tap bottom of pan on counter to release air bubbles.

Transfer reserved ganache to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4-inch round tip. Starting in the center of the cheesecake, pipe a spiral, spacing lines about 1/2 inch apart. Pull the tip of a paring knife in a gently curved line from the center of the spiral to outer edge. Wipe knife clean, and repeat every inch or so to form a web.

Cover, and freeze for at least 1 hour or overnight. Unmold cheesecake, garnish with candy spiders if desired, and serve immediately.