Tasty Thursday: Halloween Edition

This week it's all about those Spooky and Halloween-ish recipes!! Got a recipe for Green Glob? Witches Brew? Come on over and share them with us!

Severed Fingers Halloween Cookies

2 tablespoons red food coloring
30 blanched almonds
2 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
5 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 pinch salt
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour


Heat oven to 350°. Line two baking sheets with Silpats (French nonstick baking mats) or parchment paper, and set aside.
Place food coloring in a shallow bowl. crack each whole almond into halves. and toss them into the bowl with the food coloring and stir them until the color is evenly distributed. leave them in the bowl and stir them every so often until the color is as dark as you like.
Separate 1 egg. Set aside the white. In a small bowl, whisk together yolk, remaining egg, and vanilla. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine butter, confectioners' sugar, granulated sugar, and salt. Beat on medium speed until well combined. Add egg mixture, and beat until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the flour, and mix on low speed just until incorporated. Wrap the dough in plastic, and chill until firm, 20 to 30 minutes.
Divide the dough in half. Work with one piece at a time, keeping remaining dough covered with plastic wrap and chilled. Divide the first half into fifteen pieces. On a lightly floured surface, roll each piece back and forth with palms into finger shapes, 3 to 4 inches long. Pinch dough in two places to form knuckles. Score each knuckle lightly with the back of a small knife. Transfer fingers to prepared baking sheets. Repeat with remaining dough.
When all fingers are formed, brush lightly with egg white. Position almond nails; push into dough to attach.
Bake until lightly browned, about 12 minutes. Cool completely.
note: To make the knuckles more creepy just shape them big and uneven. To keep them from puffing out too much roll the fingers extra skinny (skinnier than you want them to look if that makes sense). I also try to get them out of the oven before they brown. I sometimes add a bit of almond extract to dough.

Spooktacular Halloween Graveyard Cake

For the Cake
1 (18 1/4 ounce) package cake mix (I used Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Devil's Food)
1 1/3 cups water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
To Decorate
10 ounces nabisco Oreo cookies, crushed (may use gingersnap crumbs if it goes with your cake)
6-10 pepperidge farm milano cookies (or suitable oval shaped butter cookies)
1 1/2-2 cups prepared vanilla frosting (or other suitable flavor)
1-4 package cake decorating gel (green, black, orange or brown, etc, as needed)
1 cup candy corn (or pumpkin-shaped candy)
1/4 cup harvest colored sprinkles or colored crystal sugar (orange, green, yellow, etc)
6-12 laboratory decorative candies (chocolate candy foil-wrapped like eyeballs, ears, lips, body parts, etc) (optional)
4-6 ghost-shaped peeps marshmallows (may also use cats or pumpkins)


Preheat oven to 350°F.
Mix together cake mix, water, oil, and eggs according to package directions.
If your package requires different ingredients to make cake, follow those instructions instead.
Grease and flour a glass 13x9-inch cake pan.
If you use a dark or coated pan, do your baking at 325°F.
Pour batter into prepared pan and bake in a preheated oven for approx 35 minutes (38-40 minutes for dark or coated pans) or until cake is done.
Allow cake to cool in the pan.
Spread frosting evenly on cooled cake.
Sprinkle frosting with crumbled cookies (oreos or whatever you are using).
Using gel frostings, write sayings on 1/2 of the milano cookies (some sayings might be"Justin Tyme","Yul B Next","RIP","M T Tomb","Will B Back","Barry M Deep", etc).
Press 1/2 of cookie down into cake and icing to resemble a standing tombstone.
Arrange ghost marshmallows in a standing position on top of cake.
Scatter candies and/or sprinkles or sugars on cake to garnish.

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