There is something deeply wrong about picking up a cookie and finding it has knuckles. Severed-finger cookies, also called witch fingers, are buttery almond shortbread rolled into long, knobbly fingers, with a whole almond pressed on for a fingernail and a smear of red jam where the finger used to be attached to somebody.
They are the rare Halloween treat that is both genuinely creepy and genuinely good. Expect guests to scream, then ask for the recipe with their mouth full.
This is a classic, well-known party recipe, not an UglyFood invention, and we haven’t kitchen-tested this exact version ourselves. Follow your package directions where they differ. For more horrors, see our disgustingly delicious Halloween recipes.
At a glance
- Makes: about 40–50 fingers
- Prep: 30 minutes + 30 minutes chilling · Bake: 20–25 minutes per tray
- Difficulty: easy, but shaping takes patience
- Gross-out level: 4/5, the knuckle wrinkles do the heavy lifting
Ingredients
- 1 cup (225 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup (120 g) powdered (icing) sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2⅔ cups (330 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- About ¾ cup (100 g) whole blanched almonds, for the nails
- Red decorating gel or seedless raspberry/strawberry jam, for the “blood”
Steps
- In a large bowl, beat the butter, powdered sugar, egg, almond extract and vanilla until smooth.
- Mix in the flour, baking powder and salt to make a soft dough. Cover and chill for about 30 minutes, so the fingers hold their shape.
- Heat the oven to 160 °C / 325 °F and line baking sheets with baking paper.
- Take about 1 heaped teaspoon of dough at a time and roll it into a finger shape about 8–10 cm (3–4 in) long. Squeeze it slightly in two places to make knuckles.
- Press an almond firmly into one end for the nail. Use a knife to score 2–3 shallow lines across each knuckle.
- Bake for 20–25 minutes, until pale golden. Cool for a few minutes on the tray, then on a rack.
- Once cool, lift the almond, add a dab of red gel or jam underneath, and press it back down. Smear a little red on the cut end too.
How to make it look worse
- Uneven fingers: make some short, some long, some bent. Nobody trusts a perfectly straight finger.
- Dirty nails: brush the almonds with a little cocoa powder before pressing them in.
- Bloody bandage: wrap a strip of white fondant around one finger and dot it with red gel.
- Presentation: pile the fingers in a jar or on a wooden board, ends pointing at your guests.
- Green witch: tint half the dough pale green with food coloring.
What does it taste like?
Like a good almond shortbread: crisp at the edges, tender in the middle, with a strong marzipan-like note from the almond extract and a sweet-sharp hit from the jam. The almond nail adds crunch.
Allergy and food-safety notes
- Allergens: contains tree nuts (almonds), wheat (gluten), milk and egg. Label them clearly at parties, because the almond nails are easy to miss.
- Nut-free: leave out the almond extract (use extra vanilla) and use a halved pumpkin seed or a sliver of white chocolate for the nail. Check your seeds and chocolate for “may contain nuts” labels.
- Raw dough: don’t taste the raw dough. It contains raw egg and raw flour, both of which food-safety agencies advise against eating uncooked.
- Small children: whole almonds can be a choking hazard for young kids. Use the nut-free version for toddlers.
Variations
- Gluten-free: use a 1:1 gluten-free baking flour blend.
- Chocolate fingers: swap 30 g of the flour for cocoa powder for a more “decomposed” look.
- Toe cookies: make them short and fat. You’re welcome.
Read next
Image note: the images in this article were generated with artificial intelligence.
