Witch's Finger Cookies

Note from Cheri: This cool idea for delicious but creepy Halloween cookies that really look like fingers, comes to us from Jenny Wanderscheid, editor of Childfun.com, where you can visit year round for great kids crafts and activities. If you want to make toes instead of fingers, shape your cookies a little shorter and fatter and leave off the red coloring on the almond "nail." Politcally Correct Finger Cookies Reader Connie Johnson sent this wonderful story, with a terrific idea for diversifying these cookies: "I just read the Halloween section of the newsletter and thought I would share a story with you. I am a volunteer with Junior Achievement and was presenting the Business Basics Program to a Grade 6 class. It was close to Halloween, so I made Witch's Fingers for the class. I handed them out and one of my Asian students came to me and said, 'Ms. Johnson, did you know if you put chocolate in the cookies, you could make brown ones too?' The teacher and I had a great laugh and I thanked the student for his tip. I haven't tried it yet but plan to make these 'politically correct' cookies this year by adding cocoa to the recipe."

1 C butter, softened 1 C sugar 1 egg 1 tsp. almond extract 1 tsp. vanilla extract 2 3/4 C flour 1 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. salt 3/4 cup whole blanched almonds red food coloring and/or 1 tube red decorator gel

Makes About 5 Dozen Cookies Preheat oven to 325° F. Combine dry ingredients. Lightly grease a cookie sheet. In a large bowl, beat together butter, sugar, egg, almond extract and vanilla, beat in dry ingredients. Cover and refrigerate dough for 30 minutes. Working with one-quarter of the dough at a time and keeping remaining dough refrigerated, roll heaping teaspoons full of dough into finger shape for each cookie. Press an almond firmly into one end for nail. Squeeze in center to create a knuckle shape and use a paring knife make slashes in several places to form knuckle. If you want to paint the nails, use some red food coloring that's been diluted with water and brush on with a clean artist's brush. Place cookies on the prepared cookie sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes or until pale golden. Let cool for three minutes. If desired, lift up almond and squeeze red decorator gel onto nail bed and press almond back in place so gel oozes out from underneath. Remove from cookie sheet and let cool on a wire rack. Repeat with remaining dough. Note: Make cookies smaller than you think they need to be, as they spread when cooking. Our witch has fat fingers because we didn't heed our own advice.