Almond Shortbread Fingers

You’ll love this shortbread fingers recipe!  Have fun with these finger cookies for Halloween, and snack pack pudding cups.

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Sometimes my kids are the envy of the school cafeteria.

I mean, they show up with different fun cookies and treats in their lunches frequently, and the other kids are often asking for samples.  The Hippie Chick actually asked me to put extra cookies in her lunchbox this week, so she could share with her friends.

Fine with me, I have a whole jar full of them.

It did inspire me, though, to come up with some more fun seasonal treats that the kids could share with their friends.  Since it’s almost Halloween, I figured some blood was in order.

Not real blood.  Just something reminiscent of blood.  Something reminiscent of blood and edible.

Shortbread was the perfect cookie for this job, because in addition to being really tasty, shortbread doesn’t spread much when it is baked.  I basically keeps the same shape it had before baking.

I shaped some “fingers” out of this shortbread, by making 4-inch by 1-inch logs, then adding a little extra dough in two spots for knuckles.  I used a knife to cut some wrinkles into the knuckles before baking, and a slice of almond made a perfect fingernail.

And the blood?  For this, I turned to Snack Pack Pudding!  I used a Vanilla pudding cup, and added some red food coloring, and mixed it in.  It’s not very realistic blood, (for that matter, they are not very realistic fingers) but it is reminiscent of blood, not too scary for little kids, and most certainly edible.

It’s kind of nice that these pudding cups are available in so many places.  I found it at Walmart.  You can find it on the baking aisle, or sometimes in a special display.

They’re a little work, but they are worth it.

Why?  Because I’m pretty sure these finger cookies are going to be a hit in the school cafeteria!

Print Recipe

Almond Shortbread Fingers

Almond Shortbread cookies shaped like fingers for Halloween, and served with blood red vanilla pudding.

Cook Time15 mins

Servings: 12 cookies

Ingredients

COOKIES

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup sliced almonds
• 2 cups flour

DIP

• vanilla SnackPack pudding cups
• red food coloring

Instructions

• Beat butter, sugar, cornstarch, and almond extract. Add salt and almonds, and mix well.
• Add flour and mix until combined.
• Form a disc with the dough, and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Chill for 30 minutes.
• Use pieces of the chilled dough to form 4-inch long by 1-inch wide logs. Press small dots of dough into two spots on the log to form knuckles. Use a knife to cut 3-4 wrinkles in the knuckles. Press an almond slice on one end for a fingernail.
• Place on a baking sheet, and bake at 350F for 15-18 minutes. Remove to a cooling rack.
• For dip, mix desired amount of red food coloring into pudding. Serve with cookie fingers.

Notes

If dough chills longer than 30 minutes, it will need a few minutes (up to 10 minutes) out of the fridge to soften before working.