Ingredients
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1 cup unsalted butter, softened
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1 cup icing sugar (sift through a sieve after measuring to remove lumps)
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1 teaspoon almond extract
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1 teaspoon vanilla
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2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
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1 teaspoon baking powder
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1 teaspoon salt
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3/4 cup whole blanched almond (you need about 60)
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red decorating gel, as needed
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1 large egg (room temp)
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, beat butter sugar, egg and extracts together.
- In another mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt.
- Beat dry ingredients into butter mixture, then cover bowl and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F; have cookie sheets, lined with parchment paper, ready.
- Remove only 1/4 of the dough from refrigerator (leave rest refrigerated to stay cold); measure out heaping teaspoonfuls and shape into fingers.
- Press an almond firmly into the end of each"finger" to make the fingernail.
- Below the almond and at the opposite end of the finger, press in dough to create knuckle halfway down; using the back of a table knife, make indents into the knuckle (look at your own fingers to get an idea of what this should look like).
- If you want really big ugly fingers with two gnarled knuckles, use about a tbsp of dough per cookie.
- Place on paper-lined cookie sheets and bake in preheated oven until a pale golden colour--about 20 to 25 minutes.
- After first sheet goes into the oven, remove more dough from the fridge to make more fingers.
- When cookies are done, remove from oven and let cool for three minutes.
- Carefully lift up almond from each finger and squeeze some red decorating gel onto nail bed, then press almond back into place; the red gel will creepily ooze out.
- Transfer to a rack and let cool completely.