A girl at work made these last year and hers were so good I took a picture of one with my phone and sent it to my husband and he actually thought I broke one of MY nails! I remembered she made these and asked her for her recipe so I could make some for my Halloween party this Friday. Here is how they turned out! Not bad for my first attempt. Next time I will use half the salt and make them much thinner because they rise. I may also use the raspberry jam instead of the red piping gel.
Creep Witches' Fingers
Yield: 5 dozen
1 cup butter (softened)
1 cup powdered sugar
1 egg
1tsp almond extract
1tsp vanilla
2 2/3 cups flour
1tsp baking powder
1tsp salt (I'd use 1/2 instead)
3/4 cup almonds sliced
1 tube red decorator gel or raspberry jam
In bowl, beat together butter, sugar, egg, almond extract and vanilla. Beat in flour, baking soda, and salt. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes. Working with one quarter of the dough at a time and keeping remainder refrigerated, roll heaping teaspoon full of dough into finger shape for each cookie. Press almond firmly into 1 end for nail. Squeeze in center to create knuckle shape. Using paring knife, make slashes in several places to form knuckle.
Place on lightly greased baking sheets; bake in 325 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until pale golden. Let cool for 3 minutes. Lift up almond, squeeze red decorator gel onto nail bed and pres almonds back in place, so gel oozes out from underneath. You can also make slashes in the finger and fill them with "blood."
