Severed Fingers by Martha

How about serving up a bowl full of severed fingers for your Halloween guests?  These cookies were actually pretty easy to make, were delicious and made quite a presentation.  The following recipe makes about 30 cookies.

For the finger nails:

Take about 20 blanched almonds and split them in half.  This was actually the most time consuming part of the recipe.  Soak them in a bowl with about 1 tsp. of food coloring ... your choice of color.  I used green and the almonds actually turned out pretty black.  I think a light shade of blue might be fun too.  When they reached the shade I was looking for, I spread them on a piece of parchment and dried them for about 10 minutes in the oven.  I had the oven set at about 250 for the shrunken heads.  You don't want to toast the almonds, just dry the food coloring.)

For the severed fingers:

1 teaspoon food coloring
20 blanched almonds
2 large eggs
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon almond extract
½ cup butter, at room temperature
½ cup confectioners' sugar
5 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 pinch salt
1 ⅔ cups all-purpose flour

1. Heat oven to 350°. Line two baking sheets with Silpats (French nonstick baking mats) or parchment paper, and set aside.
2. Separate 1 egg. Set aside the white. In a small bowl, whisk together yolk, remaining egg, and vanilla. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine butter, confectioners' sugar, granulated sugar, and salt. Beat on medium speed until well combined. Add egg mixture, and beat until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the flour, and mix on low speed just until incorporated. Wrap the dough in plastic, and chill until firm, 20 to 30 minutes.
4. Divide the dough in half. Work with one piece at a time, keeping remaining dough covered with plastic wrap and chilled. Divide the first half into fifteen pieces. On a lightly floured surface, roll each piece back and forth with palms into finger shapes, 3 to 4 inches long. Pinch dough in two places to form knuckles. Score each knuckle lightly with the back of a small knife. Transfer fingers to prepared baking sheets. Repeat with remaining dough. (Hint: this dough spreads dramatically, so be sure to roll the fingers extra skinny. I actually baked one to make sure I had the right size. I think if you eyeball the dough and use about 1 tablespoon of dough for each finger, that should be just about right.)
5. When all fingers are formed, whisk the egg white until foamy and brush the fingers lightly with egg white. Position almond nails; push into dough to attach.
6. Place the sheet pan in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes to firm up the dough.
7. Bake until lightly browned, about 12 minutes. Cool completely.

For presentation:

I bought a bag of long grain white rice and poured it, obviously uncooked, into a bowl to resemble maggots.  (How charming!) and then just stood the severed fingers in the rice.  The next time I make these, (and I will) I'm going to add another realistic touch.  Once they have cooled I plan to splatter them with red food coloring to resemble blood and also brush some red on the severed end of the finger.  It's almost icky how realistic these are, but they taste so good and are really fun ....