Best Witch Finger Cookies Recipe - How To Make Witch Finger Cookies

Each Halloween, I go perhaps a bit too hard in the dessert department. Simply put, I want thrills! Gasps! Perhaps moans of disgust! Because why not bust out all the special effects for your costume, décor, and your treats, amiright? Never satisfied by merely baking a batch of ghost or Jack-O-Lantern cookies, I just gotta outdo myself each year. Well, my latest creation may have gone…too far. Meet: these delectable, slightly gore-y, yet incredibly edible witch finger cookies.

If these sound exactly like your preferred flavor of freakiness, then all you ghouls, goblins, and witches come to the front, please! Spooky season is here, and you’re going to want to eat literal handfuls (sorry) of these scary (yet delicious!) witch finger cookies. These Halloween treats require a little effort and some freezer time, but trust me—they're worth the effort. The finished cookies make for a gruesome, eye-catching dessert table centerpiece at your Halloween party, but these cookies aren’t all flash (er, flesh) —they’re nutty, tender, and perfectly sweet.

What People Are Saying:"These turned out delicious! Everyone at our halloween party loved them and took pictures. Will be making again for this weekend's halloween party!" - jenkrout23

"Took these to a party and they were a hit. They look so real!" - jfm7571

A witch finger cookie is exactly what it sounds like: a shortbread cookie dyed green, shaped into a severed finger, and adorned with an almond nail and perfectly drippy bit of blood-red jam. For a little added texture and flavor, I added chopped pistachios. Believe it or not, pistachio chunks make for frighteningly accurate witch warts. Who knew?!

As you’ll quickly find out, you don’t want to skip the dough chilling step for these shortbread cookies. Getting your dough freezer-cold before shaping and baking means that the butter in the dough melts slowly in a hot oven, which will help the dough keep its shape instead of spreading. Plus, cold dough is way easier to shape and decorate, so you can have perfectly scary cookies with way less effort.

First things first, you'll want to ready either the large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or a large bowl using an electric mixer. In the bowl, beat the confectioners' sugar and butter until pale and fluffy, which will take about 2 minutes on medium speed. Add an egg and continue to beat until incorporated and fluffy, about 1 minute more. Then add the almond extract, vanilla extract, and food coloring and beat until combined and that witchy green is evenly distributed.

In another small bowl, whisk some flour and salt until fully incorporated, then add this dry mix to your butter mixture, beating on low speed until just combined. Once combined, fold in those pistachios for texture. Cover your bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 30 minutes or up to 2 days, if you're in major party planning mode. Once your dough is chilled, line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment. Remove one-quarter of the dough from the refrigerator and portion it into 12 to 13 (1-Tbsp.) balls. Roll each ball between your palms until it starts to form a finger shape, about 3" x 1/2", or the length of your pinky finger (but ever so slightly thinner).

Now, it's time to really make these finger cookies look almost too realistic. Arrange the finger-shaped logs on one of your prepared sheets and press an almond slice into each cookie, roughly where the nail would be on a finger. Next, carefully pinch dough just below the almond sliver and halfway down log to create a knuckle. Using a sharp knife, carve horizontal lines of varying lengths to form knuckle grooves, then place 1 or 2 pistachio pieces in the “finger” to make the "warts." Repeat with remaining dough, then freeze for 30 minutes.

At long last, we bake! Preheat your oven to 375° and bake the cookies, rotating trays front to back halfway through, until edges are firm and tops of cookies are dry, which will take 7 to 9 minutes, and allow the cookies to cool slightly.

Once cooled down, gently lift off the almond fingernail. Add a tiny dab of jam to the tip of the “finger," then replace the almond fingernail, pressing down to make the jam ooze out. Spread jam onto bottom of each finger. Let cookies cool completely, and you'll have your hands literally full of gloriously gore-y Halloween treats.

If you want to get ahead of your party planning, you can make the dough up to 2 days in advance and keep refrigerated, or store it in the freezer for up to 3 months. Once baked, store the cooled cookies in an airtight container in flat layers separated by parchment paper at room temperature for up to 3 days.

(145 g.) confectioners' sugar

(2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

large egg

almond extract

pure vanilla extract

to 6 drops green food coloring

(330 g.) all-purpose flour

kosher salt

finely chopped pistachios (about 70 g.), plus more for decorating

sliced almonds (about 85 g.)

(135 g.) cherry, strawberry, or raspberry jam

Let us know how it went in the comments below!

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