Witches' Fingers!! (Halloween Cookies)

Gruesome yet delicious Halloween treats!! A classic almond flavored shortbread with whole almonds serving as the nails and cherry 'chocolate' acting as blood. Kids will surely get a kick out of these! Maybe not younger ones... What you'll need: 2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 cup vegetable shortening 1/2 cup butter or margarine 3/4 cups powdered sugar 1/8 tsp salt 1 egg 1/4 tsp almond extract green food coloring 2 oz whole almonds 1/4 cup chocolate chips 3/4 cup cherry flavored chips In a food processor or in a large bowl working by hand, cut in vegetable shortening and butter or margarine into the flour. Add powdered sugar and salt. In a separate bowl, combine egg, almond extract and green food coloring. Use 7-8 drops for light green or 12-15 drops for a darker green. Add egg mixture to flour/fat/sugar mixture. Mix to incorporate ingredients. Do not over mix or over work the dough. Cover and refrigerate 20-30 minutes. To form the fingers: Roll a log approximately the width of a finger, about 2-3" long. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and lightly pinch the center to form two indents as shown. Place a whole almond on the tip and press firmly into the dough. Using a toothpick, create wrinkles in the knuckle joints. Refrigerate pan with unbaked cookies for another 10-15 minutes until dough is chilled. This prevents the cookies from spreading too much. Bake in a preheated 350* oven for 10-11 minutes or until barely light brown on the bottoms. Place on a surface to cool. When cool, cut off about 1/2" of the end of the cookies opposite the almonds. Melt the chocolate chips in a baggie in hot water. Snip off a corner of the bag and use to pipe chocolate around the almonds to secure them. In another baggie, melt cherry chips. Snip the corner off and decorate the cut ends to make them look bloody. Let cool and enjoy! Makes approx. 36 finger cookies.