Spider Web Brownies

1 box brownie mix (Family Size for 9x13 pan)

Spiderweb mixture:
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon flour
1 large egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Spider:
2 Oreo Cakesters
pretzel sticks (you could use black licorice - but I don't like it)
white chocolate chips
chocolate syrup

Prepare brownies according to Fudge Brownie recipe, and spread the batter in 2 8" cake pans (mine were actually 9"). I put parchment paper in the bottom to make them easier to remove. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Combine the cream cheese, sugar and flour in a small bowl, and mix until smooth. Add the egg yolk and vanilla, mixing until smooth once again. Transfer the mixture to a ziplock bag, and cut just the very tip off the end.

Place a small pool of the mixture in the center of the brownie batter. Draw circles around this pool, about 1 inch apart, moving out from the center each time. Once the circles are drawn, take a table knife, wet the tip, and draw it back and forth through the circles.

The knife will draw the cream cheese filling into arcs. Once you've gone all the way around the circles, take up your pastry bag again. Use the remaining filling to trace the path where the knife travelled, to create the spokes of the web.

Bake the brownies for 20-25 minutes, until the brownies just barely pull away from the edge of the pan. The center will rise while baking, but will sink back level once the brownies are cool. Remove them from the oven and cool before cutting.

To assemble the spider:  Stick the pretzel sticks around the cakester to make legs (4 on each side).   Push in two white chocolate chips for eyes, and use a toothpick to apply a little chocolate syrup to add eyeballs. You could also use a little white frosting and push a mini chocolate chip into it for eyes.

Adapted from King Arthur Flour