Witch Finger Cookies (without food coloring!)
These witch finger cookies use jam in place of food coloring for “blood” in these gory Halloween cookies. Post was updated in 2021 (originally posted in 2011) with new photos and a fantastic gluten-free option.
If you’re preparing for a Halloween party, these witch fingers are perfectly bewitching finger food. People freak out over them, so be sure to have plenty for everyone.
If you need a witches brew to serve alongside these cookies, I’ve got you covered with this non-alcoholic Witches’ Brew Drink and this Witches’ Brew Cocktail.
Most all other witch finger cookie recipes that I’ve found use red decorating gel. Food coloring doesn’t normally bother me all that much, but the thought of eating red decorating gel makes me queasy for whatever reason.
I’ve struggled in the past to come up with Halloween desserts that are totally free of processed food, so I was ridiculously happy to have come across these, and decorating with strawberry jam makes these cookies extra delicious.
Ingredients
- Butter – subs won’t work. Coconut oil and other types of oil are 100% fat and would cause the fingers to spread and not hold their shape. If you need a dairy-free recipe for Halloween, you could try this Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake and top it with little spiders or pipe on a spiderweb.
- Powdered sugar – I’ve only tried these with powdered sugar so can’t say for sure if they’d work if you sub in granulated sugar.
- Granulated sugar – optional! If you’re making these for adults who like not-very-sweet treats, then you don’t need it. If you’re making these for kids who are used to regularly sweetened treats, then you’ll definitely want to use the extra sugar.
- Egg – I don’t think an egg sub would work, though I could be wrong. You really need to follow the recipe 100% so that the cookies hold their shape perfectly.
- Vanilla and almond extracts – I just love almond extract with strawberry jam, but if you’re nut-free or don’t have almond extract, you can sub vanilla extract. I also think the almond extract adds a LOT to this recipe so please don’t omit it unless you really have to.
- Flour – you can use all-purpose flour or white whole wheat flour. Read below and the recipe notes for the gluten-free option.
- Almonds – these are to create the fingernails. There are more ideas below.
- Strawberry jam – this takes the place of red decorating gel. It’s all natural, plus it tastes way better than decorating gel! Raspberry jam would also be great but for the blood effect, but I think strawberry is better. Make sure to use a jam that doesn’t have large chunks of strawberries in it. I guess you could if you want them to be messy and have the appearance of gross blood clots. It could also be an interesting way to have them all to yourself. :D.
- Salt
Other fingernail ideas
I think blanched almonds are the best looking, but you could also use:
- Sunflower seeds for a nut-free option (if nut-free, also use vanilla in place of almond extract)
- Pepitas (pumpkin seeds) – not roasted pepitas, but raw ones.
- Peanut halves
- Blanched sliced almonds
How to make Witch Finger Cookies
Make the dough. It’s a basic, easy cookie dough. You beat together the wet ingredients, then stir in the flour.
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate to make the witch fingers easier to form and to ensure they hold their shape better in the oven.
Roll out the fingers about the size of your pinky. The dough holds its shape pretty well in the oven, but spreads a tiny bit. So if anything, make them a little thinner than you’d like them to look.
Press down the almond tip for the nails. If you don’t want to use almonds, use one of the above ideas.
Squeeze around the middle to form the knuckles. Use a sharp knife for the wrinkles in the knuckles and vary the length (which I forgot to do myself). That’ll create a more realistic finger.
Place on a baking sheet and bake. Let them cool completely on the sheet.
Add the jam, plate and serve! Refrigerate any leftovers in an airtight container.
What do these cookies taste like?
These witch fingers are like a cross between shortbread and butter cookies, with a sable texture and imbrued with strawberry jam. They’re just slightly sweet (if you don’t add the extra granulated sugar) and have a great taste thanks to the almond extract.
I’m not a crunchy cookie kind of girl. I think out of all my cookie recipes, there’s only one other one that’s not chewy – these Whole Wheat Pepparkakor (Swedish Ginger Cookies, like the brand Anna’s).
But with the added optional granulated sugar in this recipe, as I have quite a sweet tooth, I’m happy with these crisp cookies.
Gluten-free option
I’m thrilled to finally offer a gluten-free option for this recipe. And it’s actually delicious!
I spent FOREVER trying to convert this recipe to be gluten-free. The results weren’t good.
If you just use a gluten-free baking blend in place of the all-purpose or white whole wheat flour, the cookies won’t have a great texture. They’ll be sandy, spread too much and form little cracks on the top.
I used Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten-free Baking Flour, but I am pretty confident you’d have the same results with other types of gluten-free flour.
I didn’t have much hope for my Almond Flour Sugar Cookies dough working to form these witch’s fingers, but I tried anyway. Those were some funky-looking ogre fingers.
So I tried different gluten-free shortbread recipes that I found, but I didn’t like any of them.
But I finally came up with a recipe that works. They don’t hold their shape 100% perfectly like the wheat-based version, but they still look great.
Here’s an ugly, quick cell phone photo, just so you know what they look like. :) All I had at the last minute were some broken-up cashews. Almonds definitely look better!
If you google gluten-free witch fingers, you’ll see that absolutely all of the results have these little cracks in them. But they don’t make the cookies any less impressive!
The gluten-free version isn’t just the wheat version with gluten-free flour. It’s a totally different recipe.
The secret is almond flour! When using just a gluten-free baking blend, the cookies spread too much. If you add more flour to hopefully stiffen them up, the texture suffers.
Adding 2/3 cup of almond flour is just what was needed to firm them up and keep the taste great. There’s no substitute for it, so you really do need it for this recipe.
If you’re thinking you don’t want to buy it for just this recipe, I have loads of almond flour recipes that you could make with it.
Unfortunately not. Most regular sugar cookie and shortbread recipes spread too much. I know because I’ve tried.
You need something that will hold its shape perfectly. If you’ve got a great recipe for shortbread fingers (the long rectangular-shaped cookies, not witch fingers ;)) that hold their shape, that would likely work.
I think a problem with sugar cookie dough, even if it forms great cut-out cookies, is that the fingers would be too compact and perhaps too fragile. It’s just a guess, though.
I just had the idea that this Almond Paste Cookies dough might work because if you look at the photos, you can see that they hold their shape quite well. But whether or not they hold their shape 100% perfectly, I don’t know.
That would make for some super tasty witch finger cookies, though!
The ones in the pictures were made with all-purpose flour. I’ve also made them with white whole wheat flour.
Other gluten-free and grain-free flours will not work as a sub for the flour. I did come up with a fantastic gluten-free witch finger recipe, so keep reading for that.
Yes! You can make the dough 2 days in advance. You can also make the cookies, put them in an airtight container until near serving time. Then put them on the strawberry jam.
It’s also possible to put the jam on in advance, but then it needs to be refrigerated.
I haven’t tried it, but I believe they’d also freeze well – even with the jam on there!
Yes! You can add 1/8 teaspoon (plus more, if desired) of green food coloring to the wet ingredients before stirring in the dry ingredients. Gel food coloring will give you the best, brightest green.
They do make natural green food coloring made from spinach and other vegetables, but be aware that the color of these cookies will be quite drab in comparison to cookies made with gel food coloring.
More Fun Halloween Recipes
- Halloween Mac and Cheese – creamy, cheesy mac and cheese dyed with a natural ingredient for a fun Halloween twist.
- Halloween Cookie Cake – a giant chocolate chip cookie packed with candies and decorated with festive Halloween colors.
- Spider Cupcakes – moist chocolate cupcakes topped with chocolate ganache and candy eyes to look like little spiders.
- Monster Burgers – fun, spooky burgers made to look like monsters with cheesy teeth and olive eyes. Perfect for Halloween dinner! Same goes for these Halloween Meatballs.
- Halloween Fruit Salad – a colorful and healthy Halloween side dish made with fresh fruit arranged in a festive way.
Please share your feedback by leaving a ✍️review and ⭐ rating – it helps me and others! I would really appreciate it. 🩷
Photos updated 10/2021. Here’s an old photo from 2012 for the people trying to figure out if this is the recipe they made in the past. :)
Witch Finger Cookies (without food coloring!)
Ingredients
- 1 cup (226 grams) butter softened
- 1 cup (115 grams) powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar highly recommended if you'd like a regularly-sweetened cookie
- 1 large egg 50 grams, out of shell
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 2/3 cups (334 grams) flour see notes
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (105 grams) almonds blanched
- 1/2 – 1 cup (118 to 236 ml) strawberry jam
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter and powdered sugar (and granulated sugar, if using) together until fluffy. Add the egg, almond extract, and vanilla extract and mix. When well combined, add the flour and salt.1 cup (226 grams) butter, 1 cup (115 grams) powdered sugar, 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar, 1 large egg, 1 teaspoon almond extract, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 2 2/3 cups (334 grams) flour, 3/4 teaspoon salt
- When thoroughly combined, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 40 minutes or up to 2 days.
- Preheat your oven to 325°F (165°C) and line a baking sheet with a piece of paper.
- Take about a fourth of the dough out of the fridge and begin rolling out the fingers. I recommend baking one test finger to begin with. Then you can make sure all the fingers come out the way you want them to. That way you don’t spend all your time rolling out all the cookies only to find out that you should have made them thinner or done the wrinkles a different way.
- I rolled them out the thickness of my pinky finger, but a bit longer.
- Add an almond to the tip for the fingernail, and press down to make sure it’s secure.3/4 cup (105 grams) almonds
- Form a knuckle by squeezing around the middle.
- Use a sharp knife for the wrinkles in the knuckles and vary the length. That’ll create a more realistic finger.
- Place on the prepared cookie sheet, leaving about an inch (2.5cm) 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 on the sheet, 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 the knuckles for extra nastiness. I used about 1/2 cup jam and used the rest as “dip.”1/2 – 1 cup (118 to 236 ml) strawberry jam
- Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Video
Notes
- For the flour, you can use all-purpose flour or white whole wheat flour (or a mix of the two) or for a gluten-free version, see below.
- This is the recipe for the gluten-free version:
- 1 cup (225 grams) unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 2/3 cups (367 grams) Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-free 1-to-1 Baking Flour
- 2/3 cup (66 grams) blanched almond flour
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Beat in the almond + vanilla extracts and salt. Beat in the two flours until thoroughly combined. You’ll now have crumbs.
- Use your hands to “knead” the dough a bit until it starts to form a dough. Keep mixing until you have a dough. Refrigerate for up to 5 days or start baking, using the above directions.
- I didn’t need to chill the gluten-free dough. It’s important to let these cool completely and sit for about 2 hours before transporting. They’re very fragile straight out of the oven.
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.
I’m excited to make these witch-finger cookies again for our Halloween party! They’re sure to be a hit again. Delicious and spooky!
I’m happy that you want to make them again for your party! Thanks a ton for your feedback. :)
These were way easier than I thought they’d be! I’m bad at this kind of stuff, but they came out perfectly. Thank you! My kids are gonna freak out!
Yay! I love to hear that! I hope that your kids enjoyed the cookies, too. :) Thanks for your feedback!
Soooo creepy and fun! My grandkids couldn’t stop laughing! Thank you very much.
You’re welcome! I’m glad that they thought they were so fun. :) Thank you for your comment!
These witch finger cookies are creepily delicious! They came together even more easily than I thought and the strawberry jam is a genius touch.
I’m so glad that you enjoyed them and liked the jam! Thanks for your feedback. :)
What a fun project to do with the kids! My daughter wanted a witch-themed birthday party and we made these cookies at the party. Everyone had lots of fun and the result was like the photos. Yay!
I’m so happy to hear that! I love it when recipes come out like the photos. :) Thanks a ton for your feedback! I hope your daughter had a great birthday.
My grandson wanted to start preparing recipes for his Halloween party so we made these together. They were very fun to make! And delicious. I love the almond extract in them. Thank you very much!
You’re welcome! I’m glad that you both enjoyed them. :) Thanks so much for your feedback!
I made these way ahead of Halloween for a trial run to make sure they came out like yours, and they did. I love it when I find recipes that look hard but they really are easy to make, and your witch’s fingers taste great too!
Ooh, I love to hear that! And I’m so with you on recipes that look hard but are actually easy. Thanks so much for your feedback!
these are so fun! i made them with my 12 year old and we couldnt stop laughing at how realistic and cool the looked. also tasted great! will be making these for.my youngest sons halloween party this year.
Woohoo! That’s great to hear. I’m really glad that you and your kid enjoyed making them together. :) Thanks for your feedback!
Not only do these come out so realistic looking they’re almost too freaky to eat, they’re delicious tasting too! Love the hint of almond extract in the cookies. Had a blast making these with the kids and they’ve already requested another batch!
I’m so happy to hear that! They are kind of almost too freaky to eat. ;) Thanks so much for your feedback!
I made these for Halloween last year and they were a hit! Planning to make them again this year. I saved the recipe and so excited to make them again!
I’m so glad that you liked them enough to make again! Thanks for your comment. :)
Eeek! Gave these witch finger cookies a go—no food coloring fuss! Delicious almond taste too. Perfect for Halloween!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them! :) Thanks for your comment!
Well these were gory! Haha. We used too much jam but my niece and nephew flipped out over them. We’re already preparing for my sister’s Halloween party. We froze the baked cookies and will take them out the day of! Thank you!
What a great idea! I hope that they’ll be a hit at the party. And too much jam sounds like fun. :D Thanks for your comment!
These came out great and were a real hit! By the way, they were also super delicious! I intend to use this recipe for other cookie adventures! Thank you.
I’m so glad to hear that! I hope that they’ll come out well in different shapes. :) Thanks so much for your feedback and sorry for my slow reply!
Thank you so much for sharing this amazing recipe! We tried them out for our Halloween party next month and they were so fun and tasty. They made the cut and we’ll be making the for sure! ????
Woohoo! That’s great to hear! I love that you’re doing Halloween trials already. I’m doing the same. ;) Thanks for your comment!
These were so much fun to make and way easier than I thought too! What an awesome idea, fun and yummy!
I’m so glad that you enjoyed them. :) Thanks for your feedback!
Thanks for the recipe. They came out just.. Perfect. And I used my home made strawberry jam :) Happy Halloween!!
Ok to leave the dough in the frighted overnight?
I meant *refrigerator
It is! Hope you’ll enjoy them. :)
Have you tried making these gluten free? I’m wondering if I could substitute gluten free all purpose flour or almond flour. Any thoughts?
I’m so sorry for just now seeing your question! I’m probably too late now but for anyone else wondering, almond flour won’t work but a GF 1-to-1 flour might. But I’m really not sure since I haven’t tried it. Sorry again!
Cool creative spooky cookies.
I’m going to bake some today. Can I put the jam on and then the almond nail before I bake them?
Thanks! It’s been a long time since I posted these but I think I tested out both versions (putting on the jam before and after baking) and they looked nicer when you add the jam afterwards. Hope you’ll enjoy the cookies!
Hi,can i use unsalted,salted or sweet butter?
I used unsalted but any kind will work fine!