Witch Finger Cookies
This is plain shortbread dough pushed into a deeply unpleasant shape. Recognisability comes down to two things: press the knuckles in with the back of a knife far harder than feels sensible, because the oven smooths everything out, and put the jam under the almond rather than on top, so it seeps out by itself. The cookies are deliberately left pale — pale is more frightening.
- Prep
- 40 min
- Cook
- 12 min
- Rest
- 30 min
- Total
- 1 h 22 min
- Servings
- 12
- Level
- Medium
- Per serving
- 235 kcal
Ingredients
Dough
Nails and blood
Makes: 24 fingers
Shopping list
The ingredients for the servings you chose — copy them or send them to a messenger. Tick what you already have at home: only the rest goes on the list.
Method
Oven
180 °C · top and bottom heat, no fan
With a fan: 160 °C
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Step 1: Cream the butter
With a mixer, beat the soft butter with the icing sugar for 3 minutes, until pale. Add the egg and both extracts and beat for another minute.
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Step 2: Add the flour
Add the flour and salt and fold just until it comes together. Stop as soon as the dry patches disappear — overworked shortbread loses its crumble.
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Step 3: Chill
Wrap the dough, flatten it into a disc and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Warm dough spreads, and a finger becomes a sausage.
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Step 4: Roll the fingers
Take 25 g at a time and roll it into an 8–9 cm rope between your palms. Narrow one end slightly: that is the fingertip.
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Step 5: Press the knuckles
With the back of a knife, press two or three deep grooves across the middle of each finger. Press harder than seems reasonable — the dough rises in the oven and half the relief vanishes.
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Step 6: Set the nails
Scrape a shallow bed off the narrow end, drop in a little jam and press an almond on top so the jam squeezes out from under it.
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Step 7: Bake
Bake at 180°C for 10–12 minutes. They should stay pale, with colour only on the bottoms — tanned fingers just look like biscuits.
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Step 8: Cool
Leave on the tray for 5 minutes, then move to a rack. Hot fingers snap exactly at the knuckles.
Tips & variations
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Tip
If the dough starts sticking as you roll, put it back in the fridge for 10 minutes. Do not add flour — it makes the cookies dry.
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Variation
For green witch fingers, add two drops of gel colour with the egg. Colour fades in the oven, so go a shade darker than you want.
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Swap
Half a cashew makes an even better nail shape, though it browns more in the oven.
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Storage
A week in a sealed tin at room temperature. The raw dough freezes for a month: thaw in the fridge and shape straight away.
Nutrition
| 1 serving | Whole dish 12 servings | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 235 kcal | 2,820 kcal |
| Protein | 3 g | 36 g |
| Fat | 13 g | 156 g |
| Carbohydrates | 27 g | 324 g |
Approximate values calculated from standard ingredient data.
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