Witch Finger Cookies
Get ready for Halloween with Witch Finger Cookies! Easy to make and perfectly spooky for your Halloween celebrations.
If you want some more spooky recipes for Halloween, try my Nutella Spider Brownies or my Pretzel Witch Brooms.
Recipe Summary: Witch Finger Cookies
- ✅ Recipe Name: Witch Finger Cookies
- 🕒 Ready In: 30 minutes
- 👪 Serves: 28 (easy to scale)
- 🍽 Calories: 127 per serving
- 🥣 Main Ingredients: All-purpose flour, powdered sugar, butter, strawberry jam, almonds
- 📖 Dietary Info: Kid-friendly, vegetarian
- ⭐ Why You'll Love It: These spooky green finger cookies make the perfect treat for Halloween parties, and are super fun to make!
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It's October y'all!! And what is the best part about October? Halloween, of course!
It was actually a couple of months ago when I asked my boyfriend what his favorite holiday was, and he said Halloween. I'm not really sure why. He doesn't dress up, he doesn't go to Halloween parties, he doesn't even drink. It must be for the candy.
And since I am not skilled enough to make candy (and also because candy is so cheap this time of year that it would probably cost me more to make it than buy it) I opted to make witch fingers cookies.
Now these Witch Finger Cookies are my kind of cookie! Not too sweet, easy to make and looks like a severed finger, making them the perfect Halloween treat for spooky season. And since I am in the Halloween spirit right now, I am already planning on making my Oreo Mummies and my Eyeball Buckeyes to celebrate.
Key Ingredients
- All-purpose flour: provides the structure for the dough so that the fingers hold their shape while baking.
- Powdered sugar: adds sweetness and creates a smoother texture than granulated sugar, which helps the cookies maintain the details such as the knuckle indents.
- Baking powder: acts as a leavening agent to give the cookies a slight lift without causing them to spread too much and lose their shape.
- Butter: adds moisture and structure to the cookies, and binds the dry ingredients together into a workable dough.
- Egg: binds the ingredients together, and prevents the dough from crumbling when shaped.
- Vanilla extract: enhances the flavor, and balances the sweetness. Can also replace with almond extract.
- Whole almonds: to create the illusion of the fingernails!
- Strawberry jam: helps the almonds stick, and gives it that spooky "bloody" red visual.
- Green food coloring: gives the dough a creepy, signature witch-skin color.
How To Make Witch Finger Cookies
Step 1: In a large bowl, beat together the butter, powdered sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour and baking powder. Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until combined, then refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Step 2: Roll the dough into fingers, pinching the dough in two places to create knuckles. Place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet, then use a knife to create knuckle indents. Dip the almonds in strawberry jam, and press into the tip of each finger cookie. Bake at 325˚F for 20 minutes.
Witch Finger Cookies Expert Tips
Storage: Store these witches' fingers cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for around 3 days. You can also store them in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Make the almond finger nail extra spooky. For extra creepy witch finger cookies, use a blanched almond or a sliced almond for the almond fingernails. This will give the almond nail a more natural appearance. And for some final touches, you can add some red decorator gel around the fingernails. While I find jam the most convenient and works great, the red gel will make the bloody nails extra spooky.
Making the finger shape: make sure you make the knuckle part a little bigger than the rest of the cookie. Next, using a sharp knife, make small indents to give it that knuckle shape. It may lose its shape after baking. If it does, reshape it while the Halloween finger cookies are still warm.
Frequently Asked Questions
Chilling the dough is essential! If the dough gets too warm before baking, the butter will melt too fast causing the cookies to spread. Chilling the dough for at least 1 hour before baking will ensure they do not spread.
Yes! You can prepare the dough and wrap it in plastic wrap, then store it in the fridge for up to 2 days before shaping and baking.
The strawberry jam, raspberry jam or red decorating gel under each almond acts like glue to stick them on the cookies. Make sure you add enough, and press the almonds down into the cookie so it stays in place.
More Fun Spooky Cookies To Bake
If you try this recipe, let me know! Rate it, leave a comment and tag me with #atasteofmadness on Instagram! I always love seeing what you are creating!
Witch Finger Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup salted butter, softened
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ⅔ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 28 whole almonds
- strawberry jam
- green food coloring
Instructions
- In a large bowl, beat together the butter, powdered sugar, egg, and vanilla until fully combined.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the flour and baking powder. Slowly mix in the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until fully combined. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 325˚F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Form the dough into fingers, pinching each piece of dough in two places to create knuckles. Use the back of a paring knife to create the appearance of the surface of a knuckle.
- Dip the almonds in the strawberry jam and press into the tip of each finger cookie.
- Bake for around 20 minutes. If the cookies have lost shape, gently reform while still warm.
My toddlers love helping me make these cookies! They love putting the almond fingernails on these spooky cookies 🙂
Thanks Cathleen! Will make these my trick or treat sweet for the neighborhood kiddies!
Just about how many fingers does this recipe yield? And how long will they keep? They're fantastic but I'd need to make them 2 days before the kids come round...
It all depends on how big you make the cookies. This made around 20 cookies, but if you made them skinnier, I can imagine they can make up to 30-40.
Stored in an airtight container, they can keep for up to 5 days, so making them 2 days ahead would work no problem.
Holy cow, these are so creepy!!! haha. I can't believe how realistic they are. So perfect for Halloween.
That's pretty inspiring, I'm always looking for some creepy and scary Halloween treats - this one is pretty wicked and would love to veganise that one day!
These are really cute and fun!
They look really creepy, such fun!
Love the green color it adds the perfect scary touch.
Oh wow! I'm impressed! Creepy but tasty, I bet!
Scary! But an amazing idea 😉 Thank you for the visit, this way I got to know your blog, that I must say is very interesting!
Have a nice Sunday!
These are so spookingly cute 🙂
They look so darn spooky. Love the idea.
They look so fun!
These cookies are crazy!! Definitely perfect for Halloween.