Halloween Fun: Witchy Fingers

Halloween's coming! It's just around the corner. Are you ready for the festivities yet? Em and I are getting ready for our awesome Halloween party, full of fun, good food, a photo booth, and games. In our search for just the right touches to the party we remembered a Pinstrosity that was sent to us that we thought we be perfect at the party.

The Original Pin

http://domesticsugar.blogspot.com/2011/10/something-evil-this-way-comes.html

Aren't those AWESOME?! I love it. They look so perfect.

Karen and Sarah both saw this pin on Pinterest and knew they had to try them out as well. 

The Pinstrosities

"Gorilla, zombie-pinstrosity!  I can't underestimate the creator's instruction to roll the fingers out thin!" -Karen

"What went wrong: Being a lazy baker, I decided to use pre-made Pillsbury sugar cookie dough instead of making my own dough from scratch. Apparently this is UNACCEPTABLE. The cookies looked promising before they were baked...each knuckle and creepy fingernail molded and placed just so. I tidied up the kitchen while the cookies were in the oven while imagining how impressed my friends and co-workers would be by these terrifying creations, but when the timer went off all I could do was laugh. My version of Halloween monster finger cookies...not so spooky. Haha." -Sarah

Maybe these are the fingers of the Wicked Witch of the West as she is melting? Either way, not so witchy. So how do we get those awesome plump fingers? Meghan gave some tips on her blog in response to the influx of emails and questions she received:

"My cookies are flatter than yours: My answer to you is to be cautious of your butter to flour ratio. Oftentimes, doughs react differently at different humidities or temperatures. If you find your dough spreads a little too much, try adding a little flour to the mix before you put in the next batch. I always do a 'test batch' when baking cookies, so I know how they are going to spread." 

"How thin and long should I roll the dough: As for the thinness of the dough.. I rolled the dough to 3/4 of the width my own fingers, about a bit longer than a real finger. The cookies should spread but stay plump. The bottoms WILL be flat, but the edges are rounded."

She also so kindly included a link to her cookie recipe, so you can get even closer to her results: http://domesticsugar.blogspot.com/2011/04/wizard-of-oz-dorothy-cookie-and-me.html. 

The key to this is to do a test bake batch. Only bake 1-2 cookies first to see how they turn out. If they spread too much, do as Meghan suggests and add a little more flour to the dough. And...if the fingers are too wide...scale down the next batch. Doing the test batch is way worth the time to be able to get these just right. I promise you'll be more happy with having "wasted" time doing a test batch than you will be if you waste the time and ingredients baking these without a test batch and having them not turn out right.