Witch Finger Cookies - A Spooky and Delicious Halloween Treat

Halloween is right around the corner, and it’s time to start planning fun treats to make for your Halloween party or to hand out to trick-or-treaters.

If you’re looking for something a bit spooky but delicious, witch finger cookies are a great option! These creepy looking cookies are simple to make and fun to decorate.

Read on for a recipe and decorating ideas for whipping up a batch of witch finger cookies that are sure to be a hit this Halloween.

Ingredients and Supplies Needed

Baking witch finger cookies starts with just a few basic ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Green food coloring
Red decorative icing or red cinnamon candies

You’ll also need:

Step-by-Step Baking Instructions

Baking the cookies themselves is quick and easy:

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
In a separate large bowl, use a hand mixer to beat together the softened butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
Beat in the egg and vanilla extract.
Slowly mix in the dry ingredients until just combined. Be careful not to overmix.
Split the dough in half. Knead a few drops of green food coloring into one half of the dough until the color is evenly distributed. Leave the other half plain.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out each dough half to 1/4 inch thickness. Use cookie cutters to cut fingers, or for an easier approach, cut strips 1-2 inches wide and 3-4 inches long.
Arrange the fingers on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes until lightly browned.
Allow the cookies to cool on the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Fun Decorating Ideas

Once your witch finger cookies have cooled, the fun decorating can begin! Here are some ideas for making them look extra ghoulish:

Drizzle with red icing: Use a piping bag or plastic bag with a tiny corner snipped off to drizzle thin streaks of red icing down the length of each cookie to resemble blood and veins.
Add “bloody” nail polish: Use red decorating icing to pipe on a nail polish design near the wider top of each cookie. Drag a toothpick through the icing in curved strokes while wet to imitate polish strokes.
Attach cinnamon candy “nails”: For a 3D effect, glue a red-hot cinnamon candy to the top of each cookie with a dab of frosting to create long fingernails.
Coat in sprinkles: Give your witch fingers warty bumps by coating the upper part of each cookie in jimmies or sanding sugar. The coarse texture looks just like warts!
Make knuckle indentations: Use the back of a teaspoon to gently press indentations across the cookies to sculpt knuckles.
Add “dirt” with cocoa powder or graham crackers: Dip the bottom of each cookie in water and then into cocoa powder or crushed graham crackers to make it look like the fingers are rising up from the dirt.

Serving Suggestions

Your creepy witch finger cookies are sure to be a hit presented in fun ways:

Arrange them sticking out of a cauldron full of candy, popcorn balls, or other treats
Stick them in a flower pot filled with chocolate pudding or cookie crumbles for “dirt”
Skewer them on pretzel “sticks” to make handcrafted witch finger puppets
Stack them in a glass jar with a label that says “Witch’s Brew”
Place them on a cheese board alongside other Halloween-colored foods like olives, charcuterie, and crackers shaped like bats, tombstones or ghosts.

Make Ahead and Storage Tips

The dough for these witch finger cookies keeps well in the fridge for 2-3 days before baking. Baked cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. Just wait to decorate them until ready to serve so the icing doesn’t smear.

Fun Variations

While traditional witch finger cookies are green with red icing, you can mix up the colors for holidays besides Halloween:

For Christmas, make them with plain dough and decorate with white and green icing.
For Valentine’s Day, tint some dough pink and decorate with red and white icing.
For St. Patrick’s Day, tint some dough green and others plain for a leprechaun look.

Let your imagination run wild! Witch finger cookies are a canvas ready to be decorated however you desire.

With their simple ingredients, easy baking method, and endless decorating possibilities, witch finger cookies are sure to become a new Halloween tradition. Impress your friends and family this year with a batch of these creepy and creative Halloween-themed treats!