Unleash your inner witch with these eerily realistic and scrumptiously delightful Witch Finger Cookies—the ultimate Halloween treat to bring a spooky charm to your party table!
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Yields: 24 servings
Grab your pointed witch’s hat and fly on a broomstick of flavor, because we’re about to bake some downright scary (and scrumptious) Halloween Witch Finger Cookies! Consider this your official invite to my bewitching bake-off. Shaped like warty witch fingers, fitted with almond “fingernails,” and slathered, just for shock, with some strawberry “blood,” this Halloween goody has already cast a major spell on my kitchen and, not gonna lie, my heart too.
If you love sugar cookies or vanilla shortbread, or if you’ve tried my Italian pine-nut cookies, then this is right up your alley. These Witch Finger Cookies are just an amped-up, heart-stopping version of those traditional favorites. But don’t be fooled by their creepy exteriors. These babies pack a tasty surprise of almond flavor and lift the bar of deliciousness and all-out seasonal fun.
Serving Suggestions
Turn your Halloween party into a chilling feast by pairing these Witch Finger Cookies with a rich, hot chocolate (you could call it a chocolate potion!) on chilly October nights. Arrange them creatively on a spook-themed dessert table alongside bat-themed cupcakes and monster Jell-O cups to really send those chills down your guests’ spines!
Ingredients
Ready to be bewitched? Here’s what you’ll need.
- 3 ½ cups cake flour
- 1/3 cup cornstarch
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp almond essence
- ½ cup blanched almonds
- ¼ cup strawberry jam
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F.
- In a large mixing bowl, use an electric whisk or a stand mixer to cream the butter together with the sugar.
- Add the eggs and almond essence. Whisk until smooth.
- Mix in the flour, cornstarch, and salt until it stiffens up.
- Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.
- Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
- Take the dough out of the fridge. Break off pieces and form them into finger shapes.
- Press an almond into one end to resemble a fingernail. Arrange your fingers on the baking tray and use a knife to cut creases into the cookies to resemble knuckles.
- Bake for 15–20 minutes, until the fingers are slightly browned. Take them out and allow them to cool.
- Once the cookies have cooled, fill in the gaps between the cookies and the almond fingernails with jam. Strategically place more jam along the finger to simulate blood.
Tips & Tricks
- Chill the dough to make shaping the fingers easier.
- Don’t overdo the strawberry jam when creating the bloody effect.
- To create the knuckle marks, use the dull edge of a knife during shaping.
- Blanched almonds make for the best “nails”.
- Take the cookies out when they are just slightly browned for the perfect balance of soft and crunchy.
FAQs
Totally! Almond essence is just a suggestion. This is your cookie lab, so why not experiment? Swap it out with vanilla, play with lemon… the sky’s the limit!
No biggie. Just grab any whole almonds or almond slivers you have. It won’t exactly be the nail-on-head look (or nail-on-finger look, as it were), but it’s the crunch and flavor we’re after.
Our recipe here is a no-go for vegans and those sensitive to gluten. But there’s always a workaround. Try vegan butter, gluten-free flour, or other replacements like that. I haven’t tried this recipe with these substitutions, but you could be stumbling onto something delicious!
Absolutely. Flex your creative muscles and shape this dough into anything your heart desires. Just a tiny tip, though: Adjust your baking times in accordance with the size of your cookies!
Variations
Zombie Fingers: Add cocoa powder to the dough.
Festive Fingers: Use different colored icing or sprinkles, such as green for Christmas elves or red for Valentine’s Day.
Nutty Surprise: Use peanut butter instead of almond essence.
Chocolate-Dipped Delights: Dip the “fingernail” end of your cooled cookies with melted chocolate.
How to Prep and Store Witch-Finger Cookies
To prep the cookies ahead of time, whip up the dough then keep it in the fridge a day before you need them. If you have any extras come November 1, just pop them into an airtight box and stash it at room temperature. They’ll stay fresh for a week. Tip: Zap them in the microwave if you prefer your cookies warm, like they just came out of the oven.
Witch Finger Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 ½ cups cake flour
- 1/3 cup cornstarch
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp almond essence
- ½ cup blanched almonds
- ¼ cup strawberry jam
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl use an electric whisk or a stand mixer to cream the butter together with the sugar.
- Add the eggs and almond essence. Whisk until smooth.
- Mix in the flour, cornstarch, and salt until it stiffens up.
- Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.
- Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
- Take the dough out of the fridge. Break off pieces and form them into finger shapes.
- Press an almond into one end to resemble a fingernail. Arrange it on the baking tray. Use a knife to cut creases into the fingers to simulate knuckles.
- Bake for 15–20 minutes, until the fingers are slightly browned. Take them out and allow them to cool.
- Once the cookies have cooled, fill in the gaps between the cookies and the almonds with jam. Strategically place more jam along the finger to simulate blood.
Notes
- Chill the dough to make shaping the fingers so much easier.
- Don’t overdo the strawberry jam when creating the bloody effect.
- To create the knuckle marks, use the dull edge of a knife during shaping.
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