Halloween is nearly here! But, the week and weekend before are always filled with lots of spooky events! How fun would it be to show up at your next Halloween party with a tray of Witches Fingers? And these almond treats are yummy too!
To start off, you’ll need to measure out some shortening… I put these pics in a little gallery for you because I am using the Pampered Chef Measure All cup, which in my opinion is the only way to measure anything creamy. Take a look.
Measure out your sugar… I am using a regular Pampered Chef Measuring cup here.
Beat the shortening and the sugar together in the mixer with the paddle attachment.
Add in egg and extract to the shortening and sugar mixture.
Mix until egg is fully incorporated.
Now for the dry ingredients:
In a separate bowl, add in flour.
Baking powder.
Salt.
And wisk together… This is the Pampered Chef Stainless Steal Whisk
Now add the flour mixture into the mixer:
You should have a clay like texture.
Now for the almonds. I don’t have ground almonds so I used one of my new favorite products, the Pampered Chef Manual Food Processor to achieve what I need… take a look:
Add your ground almonds into your mixture… you will need to do this with clean hands.
Once it is all incorporated dump it out onto a clean work surface… I am using my Pampered Chef Pastry Mat.
Divide in half. Set half aside for coloring and work with the non-colored dough first.
Now you should have 24 small pieces of dough (and the other half of your dough which will make another 24 pieces is still set aside)
Shape each piece of dough into a nobby finger… I put a little bump right in the middle so it looks like a knuckle.
Place on your parchment lined baking sheet. And set aside while you prepare your almonds.
You will need blanched almonds to make your “finger nails”. You can buy blanched almonds, but I didn’t I just took a few minutes to blanch my own.
Press one almond to the end of each of the “fingers” you have on the cookie sheet.
Place these in an oven that has been pre-heated to 350°F.
Now with your remaining dough, you will want to color them green!
Add in your best food coloring… I like a gel for this.
Be sure to add it in gradually so you don’t over do it.
You’ll want to achieve about this color.
You will also need to color your remaining almonds… I used a hot pink color.
Mix in and set aside so they have a few minutes to dry.
Now go through the same exact process with the green dough.
When they come out of the oven, be sure to let sit on the cookie sheet for a couple of minutes before removing. Then place all the “fingers” gently on a drying rack… This is the Pampered Chef Cookie Cooling Rack… I like it because of the small openings rather than others I have that are not in a cross hatch.
Witches Fingers Almond Cookies
Makes 48 cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup Vegetable Shortening
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. almond extract
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup ground almonds
48-50 blanched almonds (see tutorial above)
1/4 tsp. green food coloring
4-5 drops red food coloring (or hot pink)
Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 350°F.
Cream shortening and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add egg and extract. Beat until incorporated.
In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add to shortening mixture in 2 additions. Mix well after each addition until smooth and clay like.
Add ground almonds. Knead until incorporated. Divide dough in 2 and set half aside. Divide the remaining dough into 4 parts, then take each of those 4 parts and divide into 6 parts. Shape into roughly a 3″ “finger”. Press a blanched almond into one end of each “finger”.
To the remaining dough, add in green coloring and knead until incorporated. Also, add in red or hot pink coloring to the remaining almonds. Divide dough in 2 and set half aside. Divide the remaining dough into 4 parts, then take each of those 4 parts and divide into 6 parts. Shape into roughly a 3″ “finger”. Press a blanched almond into one end of each “finger”.
Bak on a parchment lined baking sheet for 10-13 minutes. Remove from oven and let cookies sit for a few minutes before placing on a cookie drying rack.
Enjoy!