Halloween Party Food: Creepy Finger Cookies 

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Total Time: Preparation 25 minutes + Cook: 20 minutes

Yields: 30 servings

Halloween Party Cookies

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup confectioners’/powdered sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond extract

2 ½ cups of all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

Pinch of salt

1 tube red decorating gel

½ cup whole almonds

Halloween Party Cookies Directions:

1. In a bowl, combine sugar and butter. Beat in egg and vanilla and almond extracts.
2. In a separate bowl, combine baking powder, flour, and salt. Slowly add to above mixture.
3. Divide dough into fourth equal parts. Cover and refrigerate for 25-30 minutes or until easy to handle.
4. Work with one piece of dough at a time. Roll into one inch balls, and then shape each into thin fingers. Press one almond into one end of each finger to give the appearance of a long fingernail. With the knife, make 3 slashes in the middle for knuckles.
5. On a lightly greased baking sheet, arrange the finger shaped cookies. Bake 165 degrees Celsius for about 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned. Let it cool for 2-3 minutes.
6. Remove the almond from the tip of each cookie, squeeze a tiny amount of red decorating gel into the cavity, press the almond over again, allowing gel to ooze around the nail.

Need more Halloween Party Cookie Ideas?

Take a look at our Halloween Cookies Recipe with Royal Icing!

Perfect as Halloween party treats, these frightening finger cookies are too creepy to resist. Instead of using the decorating gel, you can also dip the almonds into strawberry jam for ghostly yet delicious results. Get creative!

for more Halloween desserts on Stagetecture, click here.

Fall Dessert: Iced Pumpkin Cookies

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Total time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Yields: 36 servings

Pumpkin Cookies Ingredients:

2 and half cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Half teaspoon ground nutmeg

Half teaspoon ground cloves

Pinch of salt

Half cup softened butter

1 and half cups white sugar

1 cup canned pumpkin puree

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Glaze Ingredients

2 cups powdered sugar

3 tablespoons milk

1 tablespoon melted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Pumpkin Cookies Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees Celsius.
2. In a bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, ground cloves, and salt. Set aside.
3. In a separate medium bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add egg, pumpkin puree and vanilla essence and beat until creamy. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Using tablespoons drop on cookie sheets. Flatten slightly.
4. Bake for 10-15 minutes in the pre heated oven. Cool cookies. Drizzle glaze with fork.
5. To make glaze: combine powdered sugar, butter, milk, and vanilla essence. Add milk as required to achieve drizzling consistency.

Spice up your season with these delicious fall desserts. They are soft and cake like, and not at all dense or sticky. As these cookies already have a lot of moisture from the pumpkin, make sure not to store them in an air tight container. You can also add chopped pecans, butterscotch chips, dates or raisins if you please.

For more desserts on Stagetecture, click here.

Summer Dessert Recipe: French Macaron Cookies

Image via:  The Taste of Life by Ollie Bo

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Servings: 35

Ingredients

For the Macarons:

1. 1 cup of Confectioner’s Sugar
2. ¾ cup of Almond Flour
3. 2 large Egg Whites, room temperature
4. Pinch of Cream of Tartar
5. ¼ cup of Superfine Sugar

 Some Suggested Fillings:

1. Preserve Filling: Any type of Seedless Jam
2. Chocolate Ganache
3. Buttercream Filling

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Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
   Take the confectioners’ sugar and pulse it along with the almond flour in a food processor until they become a combined mixture. After they have been pulsed thoroughly, sift the new mixture at least 2 times to make sure the powder has no clumps and is smooth all the way through.
2. With a mixer, whisk together the eggs whites on a medium speed until the mixture becomes foamy. Then add in the cream of tartar, and whisk again until soft peaks begin to form. Reduce the speed of the mixer to a low speed, and add in the superfine sugar. Turn up the speed to high and whisk until stiff peaks form (which should take about 8 minutes).
3. Take the previous flour mixture and sift it once more but over the egg whites mixture. Fold the mixture until it becomes smooth and shiny. Move the batter into a pastry bag that has a ½ inch plain-round top, and pipe ¾ inch rounds, 1-inch apart on a lined parchment baking sheet. (Drag the pastry tip to the side of the rounds rather than trying to form peaks)
4. Next for summer dessert, after you have filled the entire sheet, tap the bottom of each of the rounds so the trapped air is released. Then let the rounds sit for about 15 minutes at room temperature. Place one baking sheet in at a time, rotating them half way through until the macarons are firmed and crisp (about 10 minutes). After each batch, increase the heat to 375 degrees then after about 5 minutes reduce the heat to 325 degrees.

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1. After the macarons have baked for the intended time and become firm like they should then take them out and let them cool on the baking sheets for 2-3 minutes, then move them to a wire rack. (If the macaron stick to the parchment- which they are prone to doing-spray some water underneath the hot parchment sheet, and the steam should help the macarons come off easier)
2. Now time for putting together the cream filling and cookie halves; take two of the rounds from off of the wire rack and scoop out a teaspoon sized filling that you prefer and place the filling on one round then place the other on top, then Enjoy! Or you can preserve them by stacking them on parchment paper and wrap in plastic then placing them in the freezer for at the most 3 months if you desire.

Most of us have to agree that we love to have the sweets within our lives.  And with this summer dessert recipe you will definitely get just that.  French Macaron cookies have the crisp yet soft texture that your mouth will just crave for.  And you do not have to just choose one flavor but these cookies can be pistachio, green tea, raspberry, turtle, pecan, and the list goes on.  Go Stagetecture readers and try this recipe on your family, plus these cookies can be frozen and preserved for some time.  Just another perk from the French Macarons.

For more cookie recipes on Stagetecture, click here.