Spooky Witches Food

SPOOKY WITCHES' FINGERS

Steps:

• Combine the butter, sugar, egg, almond extract, and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl. Beat together with an electric mixer; gradually add the flour, baking powder, and salt, continually beating; refrigerate 20 to 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Lightly grease baking sheets.
• Remove dough from refrigerator in small amounts. Scoop 1 heaping teaspoon at a time onto a piece of waxed paper. Use the waxed paper to roll the dough into a thin finger-shaped cookie. Press one almond into one end of each cookie to give the appearance of a long fingernail. Squeeze cookie near the tip and again near the center of each to give the impression of knuckles. You can also cut into the dough with a sharp knife at the same points to help give a more finger-like appearance. Arrange the shaped cookies on the baking sheets.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the cookies are slightly golden in color, 20 to 25 minutes.
• Remove the almond from the end of each cookie; squeeze a small amount of red decorating gel into the cavity; replace the almond to cause the gel to ooze out around the tip of the cookie.

SPOOKY WITCHES

Steps:

• To decorate
• Have the oval cake balls chilled and in the refrigerator.
• Separate the Oreos, scraping off the cream center with a table knife, so that you have 48 hat pieces; set aside.
• Melt the dark green candy coating in a microwave-safe plastic bowl, following the instructions on the package. The coating should be about 3 inches deep for easier dipping. (I usually work with about 16 ounces of coating at a time.)
• When you are ready to dip, remove a few shaped cake balls at a time from the refrigerator, keeping the rest chilled.
• One at a time, dip about 1/2 inch of the tip of a lollipop stick in the melted candy coating, and insert the stick straight into the bottom of an oval-shaped cake ball, pushing it no more than halfway through. Dip the cake pop into the melted coating, and tap off any excess coating. Hold the pop over the bowl in one hand, and tap your wrist gently with your other hand. If you use the hand holding the cake pop to shake off excess coating, the force of the movement will be too strong and could cause the cake ball to loosen or fly off the lollipop stick. Tapping the wrist holding the cake pop absorbs some of the impact. The excess coating will fall off, but you will need to rotate the lollipop stick so the coating doesn't build up on one side, making it too heavy on that side. If too much coating starts to build up at the base of the stick, simply use your finger to wipe it off, spinning the lollipop stick at the same time. This can happen if the coating is too thin or too hot. It's not as hard as it sounds; it just takes a little practice.
• Before the coating sets, attach a Tic Tac in position for the nose and an Oreo cookie half on top for the hat. Attach two 1 1/2-inch licorice wheel sections on either side of the witch's head for hair. Hold them in place until the candy coating sets like glue, and place in the Styrofoam block to dry. You can add more coating on the sides to attach the pieces if the coating sets too fast.
• When the pops are dry, use a toothpick to dot a small amount of melted candy coating in position for the eyes, and attach 2 orange jimmies on each cake pop.
• To finish the hats, tear off the paper sticking out of each Hershey's Kiss, and use a toothpick to apply a small amount of coating on the center of the Oreo hat bottom. Attach the wrapped chocolate candy in place and let dry.
• Draw mouths with a black edible-ink pen, and let dry completely in the Styrofoam block.
• Tip
• The hats are delicate and may not do well if you will be transporting or wrapping them. They would be better served at a home Halloween gathering.