Recipe of the Week; THE CREEPIEST COOKIES AROUND

My online research resulted in a slew of new cookie ideas for Halloween. It's no secret that I love to bake- my kitchen will become a laboratory for cranking out edible insects and bloody body parts all this upcoming week! Here are a few of my favorite ideas, I hope you try at least one!

LADY FINGERS

Every Christmas I make a recipe known in my family as Lady "Fingers", which essentially are petite and pretty "tubes" filled with fantastic homemade filling. This recipe is also called "Lady Fingers", which eerily do resemble fingers...

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup powdered sugar

1 egg

2 tsp almond extract

2 tsp vanilla
2 2/3 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup whole blanched almonds

raspberry jelly

In bowl, beat together butter, sugar, egg, almond extract and vanilla.

Stir dry ingredients together, then add to wet and stir thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes.

Working with one quarter of the dough at a time and keeping remainder refrigerated, roll a scant tablespoon full of dough into a thin log shape about 4" long for each cookie. Squeeze close to center and close to one end to create knuckle shapes.

Press almond firmly into the end of the cookie for nail. Using paring knife, make slashes in several places to form knuckle. You want them a bit thin and gangly looking, since they'll puff a little when you bake them.

Place on lightly greased baking sheets (or use silicone sheets or parchment); bake in 325F oven for 20-25 minutes or until pale golden. Let cool for a few minutes.

Meanwhile, melt jelly over low heat in a small saucepan. Carefully lift almond off of each finger, spoon a tiny amount of jelly onto nail bed and press almond back in place so the jelly oozes out from underneath. You can also make slashes in the finger and fill them with jelly. You can slice the ends off, to get a good "severed" look, then dip them into the jelly.

Here's another version, with a little green food coloring worked into the green cookie dough.

NUTTER BUTTER GHOSTS

So easy, a five-year-old can do it! (Or a caveman!) And mine will, just as soon as I run out and pick up a bag of those Nutter Butters! This is a wonderful and simple cookie idea, especially for busy Moms who have to prepare treats for their kids' Kindergarten glass... ugh.

2 squares BAKER'S White Chocolate

6 Nutter Butter cookies

Decorations, such as decorating gels and mini chocolate chips

MICROWAVE chocolate in small microwavable bowl on HIGH 1-1/2 min., stirring after 45 seconds. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. COAT cookies with melted chocolate. Place on sheet of wax paper, then decorate as desired.

LET stand until chocolate is set.

HERE'S LOOKING AT YOU... KIDDIES

I guess if you're going to be eating fingers, you might as well enjoy and eyeball as well. Take two, they're small! Shouldn't it be wrong to eat something that is staring back at you?

1-1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3-3/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
12 ounces white candy coating, chopped
1 tablespoon shortening
brown, blue and green M&M's
Red Decorating gel

In a small mixing bowl, cream the peanut butter, butter and vanilla. Gradually beat in confectioners’ sugar. Shape into 1-in. balls. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

In a microwave-safe bowl, melt candy coating and shortening; stir until smooth. Dip peanut butter balls into coating; place on waxed paper. Place M&M’s, plain side up, on top. Let stand until set. Use red gel to create “bloodshot” eyes.

SPOOKY SPIDERS

What little witch or devil doesn't indulge in the occasional spider? Well, if you happen to be a vegetarian spook, I highly recommend this meatless alternative!

1 pouch Betty Crocker peanut butter cookie mix
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon water
1 egg
36 chewy caramels in milk chocolate
Black or red string licorice
1/3 cup (72) miniature candy-coated chocolate baking bits
black decorating gel (from 0.68-oz tube)


Heat oven to 375°F. In medium bowl, stir cookie mix, oil, water and egg until dough forms. Shape dough into 36 (1-inch) balls. On ungreased cookie sheets, place 2 inches apart.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Immediately press 1 chewy caramel in center of each cookie.

Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks.

Cut licorice into 8 (2-inch) pieces for each spider. Attach legs by sticking into chewy caramel. Use baking bits for eyes and black gel to make pupils in eyes.

And just in case you wish to enjoy something that isn't dripping with blood or going to bite you first, I'd like to close with a pretty Halloween cookie idea. The colors are great and this cookie is a little less scary. Simply whip up a batch of your favorite roll-out cookie dough recipe, and use a flower cookie cutter. Decorate using all the wonderful colors of fall, turn a cookie that looks great in springtime pastels into an autumn appropriate sweet treat!