Severed Witches’ Finger Cookies

Ding dong, the witch is dead,

The wicked witch is dead!

And, we’re eating her severed fingers for dessert! This recipe is a staple in my Halloween repertoire. These cookies – adapted from this recipe – are delicious, with just the right amount of sweetness, and are a breeze to make. In fact, I made a batch of these while wearing Baby ACD in her carrier and she quite seemed to enjoy the process!

What you’ll need:

• Flour – 2⅔ cup
• Baking powder – 1 tsp
• Salt – ½ tsp
• Shortening* – 1 cup
• Brown sugar – 1 cup
• Egg – 1
• Almond extract – 1 tsp
• Vanilla extract – 1 tsp
• Sliced almonds – ½ cup
• Green and red food colouring, optional

*I prefer to use shortening for cookies instead of butter because they spread less. Shortening has a higher melting point than butter, so the flour and sugar have more time to set in shape.

Steps:

1. Add eggs, sugar and shortening to a bowl, and beat well with an electric mixer. Add in almond and vanilla extracts, and the green food colouring, and beat again. Slowly add in the flour, salt and baking powder, and beat until combined. Refrigerate dough for at least an hour. (I’ve left it in the fridge for a full day without consequence.)

2. When you are ready to make cookies, preheat oven to 325F (165°C). Take a tablespoon of dough in the palm of your hand and shape into a thin log shape. Flatten slightly, and then press in at two points, each about a third of the way from either end to form knuckles. Use the flat edge of a knife to make indentations at the knuckles (see pictures). Place a sliced almond at the tip of the finger to make the nail.

Arrange in cookie sheet, leaving about half an inch space between cookies. Bake for 25 minutes, or until the edges are golden. Remove carefully and let cookies cool on rack.

3. Right before serving, place some jam in a small bowl. I used a teaspoon of strawberry jam mixed with 2 teaspoons of apricot jam, and it was delicious! Add a few drops of red food colouring to make it look like blood. Remove the almond from the tip of each finger and place some blood around the nail bed. Place the almond back on the tip. Dip the other end of the finger in jam so the stub looks covered in blood. Arrange bloody fingers on a plate or serving dish, then spatter some of the jam blood over the fingers in a haphazard manner.

Or, if you’re going for more of a dead zombie finger style, you can make a duller green colour by adding in some red food colouring along with the green and then leave them bare or drizzle some melted chocolate over them. I prefer the latter because the chocolate doesn’t make leftover cookies soggy like the jam does and stores better.

Enjoy, if you can stomach them! 😉