sweet severed fingers
 
sweet severed fingers

I love treats with a theme - these scary severed fingers might look ghoulish, but they're actually quite sweet and mild-mannered..and delicious!

ingredients:

  1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  1 cup confectioners' sugar
  1/8 cup granulated sugar1 egg
  1 teaspoon vanilla
  2 ½ cups all purpose flour
  ¼ cup rice flour
  1 teaspoon baking powder
  1 teaspoon salt
  ½ cup sliced almonds
  1 egg white or a small amount of royal icing

directions:

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter until smooth and creamy. Add the sugars, egg and vanilla and mix well.

2. Add the flours, baking powder and salt and beat until completely mixed. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

3. Preheat oven to 325 F. Roll about a tablespoon of dough between your hands to form a finger (or toe!) shape for each cookie. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet about an inch apart.

4. Slightly flatten the front of the finger to create a nailbed and use a butter knife to make knuckle marks on your fingers. Brush the nail bed with egg white or royal icing and press an almond slice into each one to make a nail.

5. Bake for 20 minutes or until fingers are slightly golden. Remove from oven and cool. Serve with chocolate ice cream, a mud pie or just atop cocoa and turbanado "cemetary earth".

after-thoughts:

I have made these cookies so many times and everytime I do, they surprise me with how ghastly and "life-like" they end up looking. The slightly yellow tinge of the shortbread looks so icky and sickly they look just like severed fingers. YUM!

recipe origin: Based on two different recipes: Clare Crespo's ("The Secret Life of Food") and Martha Stewart's