Witchy fingers cookies

These Halloween cookies are wicked to the bone.

Hello October! It is finally well into the fall season and the leaves are changing color and falling everywhere. Jack o’Lanterns guard doorsteps against ghosts on the prowl and a cool autumn wind brings a chill to the air. Soon it will be Halloween!

This month, for Blogger C.L.U.E., the theme is autumn and my assigned blogger is Kim at Liv Life Blog. Kim lives in California and writes a healthy recipes blog for her family. She has an amazing collection of over 500 recipes to choose from, ranging from Blueberry Chia Jam to Roasted Chicken with Smoked Paprika to Bony Witch’s Fingers and much much more. I settled on the witch’s fingers of course,  not just because it is autumn and bearing down on Halloween, but because it is an amazingly clever idea.

I followed Kim’s recipe very closely, although I chose to add a different flavor and color the nails a bit different. You can see her original recipe here.

Witchy fingers cookies
Makes 3 dozen cookies

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 egg
25 drops green food coloring
1 teaspoon vanilla paste or vanilla extract
1 tablespoon orange extract
2-2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
36+ whole raw almonds
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
red food coloring
few drops water or milk
toothpicks (as needed)

1. Place softened butter, confectioners sugar (1 cup), egg, green food coloring, and extracts in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on low until smooth.

2. Slowly add flour, baking powder, and salt, mixing into a stiff dough.

3. Refrigerate dough for 30 minutes.

4. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

5. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

6. Take 1 tablespoonful of dough and  roll into a cigar shape, spreading your fingers as it thins to give a lumpy, knobbed appearance (for knuckles).

7. Place cookie onto parchment, and using a wet toothpick, press the toothpick into the thicker part and twist, to make finger wrinkles.

8. Press a whole almond into the end.

9. Bake cookies for 20 minutes or until firm; allow to cool about 10 minutes.

10. Flip off the almonds (they don’t really stick).

11. Mix the remaining 1/2 cup confectioners sugar with a few drops of red food color and enough milk to make a pasty icing.

12. Using a couple toothpicks, dabs some icing into the hollow where the almond was and press the almond back on. Scratch a little extra red icing on top of nut for a scary look.

13. Allow frosting to set, then store cookies in an airtight container.

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