(Also: a closeup and a picture of what they looked like before being baked.)
Look, they turned out just as well as the ones I saw on the internet!! (linked on BoingBoing, originally from eGullet, and with the easiest-to-follow recipe pasted in at Diane’s) I highly recommend this recipe – easy to make and lots of fun. My ten year old assistant cooks also had fun. Oh, and the cookies are tasty too.
We followed the recipe just as we found it except for the application of the fingernails. The recipe says to do it afterwards, gluing them on with hot jam. The girls thought this a silly idea and stuck them on before cooking. I did about half the way the recipe said and while both ways turned out fine, I prefer sticking them on before cooking. It looks a little more authentic and it saves some time. Oh, and we used strawberry jam instead of raspberry jam, which was fine.
"Finger" Cookies (use them for air quotes!)
makes ~ 5 dozen
Yield: 5 dozen
Please note, this is not a nut-free recipe!
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 egg
1 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla
2 2/3 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup whole blanched almonds
raspberry jelly
In bowl, beat together butter, sugar, egg, almond extract and vanilla. Stir dry ingredients together, then add to wet and stir thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes.
Working with one quarter of the dough at a time and keeping remainder refrigerated, roll a scant tablespoon full (I used a 1 oz. cookie scoop) of dough into a thin log shape about 4" long for each cookie. Squeeze clost to center and close to one end to create knuckle shapes. Press almond firmly into the end of the cookie for nail. Using paring knife, make slashes in several places to form knuckle. You want them a bit thin and gangly looking, since they’ll puff a little when you bake them.
Place on lightly greased baking sheets (or use silicone sheets or parchment); bake in 325F oven for 20-25 minutes or until pale golden. Let cool for a few minutes.
Meanwhile, melt jelly over low heat in a small saucepan.
Carefully lift almond off of each finger, spoon a tiny amount of jelly onto nail bed and press almond back in place so the jelly oozes out from underneath. You can also make slashes in the finger and fill them with "blood.
You can also form toes – just make the cookies shorter and a bit wider and only add one joint instead of two. No almonds for these, just indent where the nailbed should be and add a bit of melted jelly to highlight once they are baked.
Posted by Jill on 2006-10-30 19:58:52
Tagged: , Halloween , baking , biscuits , cookies , scary , fingers , recipe , almonds
