Whole Wheat Witch Fingers
I’m preparing for a Halloween party and had no intention of posting these (tons of butter + powdered sugar) but after seeing how they came out, I just have to!
All of the witch finger recipes I found use red decorating gel. Food coloring doesn’t normally bother me (I know it should) but the thought of eating red decorating gel makes me queasy. So here we have some awesome strawberry jam. And it complements the almond flavor perfectly. To be honest, I think these shortbread cookies are kind of boring tasting without it. And I’m not a crunchy cookie kind of girl. Strawberry jam helps a lot.
Whole Wheat Witch Fingers
- Prep Time:
- Cook Time:
- Ready in:
- Yield: 60 cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter (226 grams), softened
- 1 cup (115 grams) powdered sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1⅓ cups (167 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1⅓ cups (167 grams) whole wheat flour
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup (105 grams) blanched almonds
- ½ - 1 cup (118 - 236ml) strawberry jam
Directions
- Beat the butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add the egg, almond extract, and vanilla extract and mix. When well combined, add the flour and salt. When thoroughly combined, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 40 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 325°F (165°C). Take about a fourth of the dough out of the fridge and begin rolling out the fingers. I rolled them out the size of my pinky, both in length and thickness. Add an almond to the tip for the fingernail and press down to make sure it's secure. Form a knuckle by squeezing (see the picture above!) and then use a knife to make some creases. Place on a Silpat on a cookie sheet (or just a cookie sheet), leaving about a centimeter between them. Repeat with the rest of the dough until the cookie sheet is full.
- Bake for 17 - 22 minutes or until slightly golden. Let the cookies cool, and then remove the almonds from the cookies. Add some jam in the cavities and then put the almonds back, making sure you used enough jam for them to ooze a little. Also add some jam around knuckles for extra nastiness. I used about ½ cup jam and used the rest as "dip."
Notes
- If you live in Germany, you need to use half Type 550 for the all-purpose flour and half Type 405 (which is the normal kind you find everywhere). You can get Type 550 at any non-discounter. For the almond extract, I used two vials of Bittermandel Backaroma.
Adapted from Allrecipes
http://www.texanerin.com/2012/10/whole-wheat-witch-fingers.html
33 comments on "Whole Wheat Witch Fingers" — Add one!
These look SOOO awesome! I've seen these witch finger cookies before, but they have never looked this good! Or bad. I'm not sure how to say that, but hopefully you know what I mean. These are awesome :D
Ooh, thank you! I know exactly what you mean. :) What a compliment!
Great job with these! Super fun, and the strawberry jam sounds like the perfect dipper!
Thanks! I loved it. Normally dip is full of weird ingredients… but not this one. Yay!
Uuhh..spooky! But shortbread with strawberry jam sounds soo yummy! And I totally miss having those little vials for flavorings. I know they can be awkward to handle, but somehow they always bring up nostalgic childhood memories of Christmas cookie baking.
Really?! I miss the extracts! Although I have a feeling that these are stronger. And I do like that. I can send you some vials if you like. :)
Yeah, they are quite strong. I think it's only my nostalgia that makes me miss them. I am oven-less again at the moment, so wouldn't have much use for them, but thank you :D
They actually look delicious, weird as it may sound, lol. I love shortbread and almonds so this is a winner for me. And love the blood too!
Haha. Thanks! Happy you think they look delicious. They at least taste that way!
Oh my gosh, these are SO cool! I can't believe you made these, you are so talented!!
Thank you. :D
They look great, how about painting the nails :-))))
Aww, man. Where were you and Loretta from above when I was making these?! You two are genius! Next time I'm definitely painting the nails and making boils. Yuck.
These are awesome….they really look real with the strawberry jam :-) My kids would love them!!
I bet you could make them even healthier and your kids would still love them!
Wow, those do look nasty! It would be sweet if some of them had boils as well. Blah! I bet they taste great, though!
OH NO! Boils! Nooooo. Why didn't I think of that?! You're genius.
oh my gosh those look crazy real…lol that would be funny to eat.
I think some people were so disgusted that they refused to eat them!
These are so awesome Erin! I love how creepy they are!
Thanks! :)
these are totally creeping me out!!! I LOVE THEM! so fun.
I've never been prouder to creep people out! Thanks!
I love your healthy makeover of these. Such a great Halloween treat.
I wouldn't call them healthy exactly but I suppose they're a little better. :)
These are AwEsOmE!!! I love them… And using jam sounds soo much better than gel. I am glad you decided to post these. Plain awesomeness!!! :-D Happy Halloween!
Thank you! And happy Halloween to you, too! :)
They are, in fact, disgusting, but in the best possible way!! =)
Haha, thanks!
Oh my gosh these are adorable, I can't believe how real they look. Amazing job, Erin!
Thank you, Cassie! :)
Yes, it's kind of creepy looking, but that's the fun of Halloween. I bet they were a lit at the party, and I like the idea of dipping cookies into jam :) It sounds tasty :)
They were! People were all, "EWW!" and "OH MY GOSH!" and a lot of people were even raving about the cookie themselves. I liked them too, but you know, I'm a chewy cookie girl. :)