So Halloween is a week away and you're starved for bloody body parts and dirty fingernails. I got your back. We made these for a Halloween party last weekend and although a lot of the kids were too scared to eat them, they were a big hit with Academy Award Nominee Forest Whitaker. They take a little time and dedication to finger craftsmanship, but the recipe is easy and the cookies are surprisingly tasty for an almond shortbread.
Bloody Finger Cookies
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
1 Egg
1 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 2/3 cup flour
1 tsp banking powder
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup almonds, whole blanched
1 tube red decorator gel
Cream the butter butter powdered sugar. Mix in egg, and extracts until creamy. Sift and add the dry ingredients. Blend to make a soft dough. Wrap and refrigerate dough until it is easy to work with (about 15-20 minutes). Roll into a finger shapes about 3” long and ½” thick (They will rise when baked so make them smaller than you'd like the finished finger to be.) Place finger on lined cookie sheet. Using a butter knife lightly press a flat nail bed shape at the end of the finger and cut 3 lines in the middle of the finger to form knuckles. Bake at 325 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for 3-5 minutes. Put a bit of red gel in the nail bed and press the almond fingernails into the end of the finger.
A terrifying triumph! A most macabre masterpiece! A grandly ghoulish gastronomic gag goody! (I love Halloweeny adjectives)
Posted by: Aaron Carter | October 24, 2006 at 07:42 AM
wow! those are very scary looking!!! pretty smart to use the almond sliver as a fingernail!!
Posted by: joanh | October 24, 2006 at 08:07 AM
Those misshapen 'fingernails' made my skin crawl (they look so real and, being misshapen, painful). They are truly a cookie to honor the season. ;}
Posted by: Scott | October 24, 2006 at 01:57 PM
If you smash two of those together with some cream filling would you have a knuckle sandwich?
Posted by: Kevin | October 24, 2006 at 02:45 PM
what is banking powder?
does it make it taste rich?
Posted by: jiminy | October 25, 2006 at 05:56 AM
i dont think I would eat that.
Posted by: xtine | October 26, 2006 at 10:39 AM
I made these for my class of second and third grade students a few years ago. They loved them. Although a few students wouldn't eat the cookies because they looked so real.
Posted by: Kami | October 29, 2007 at 04:30 PM
The fingernails are the worst, i.e. the best, part...
Spooky!
Posted by: Sue | November 05, 2007 at 06:05 PM
u could paint the finger nail with red food coloring and the nuckles 2
Posted by: alex | October 16, 2009 at 04:44 PM