Cheddar Witchs Fingers Recipes

Steps:

• Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Put the water, butter, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking until the butter and sugar melts. Remove pan from the heat and sift the flour into the pan. Stir the dough together with a wooden spoon. Return to the heat and stir constantly until pulls away from the sides of the pan and is slightly shiny, about 3 minutes.
• Transfer the dough to a medium bowl, and beat until cooled, about 2 minutes. Add the cayenne, and whole eggs, 1 at a time, incorporating each 1 thoroughly before adding the next. Mix in the mustard and cheese.
• Put 1/4-inch plain tip in a pastry bag, and spoon the dough into the bag. Pipe 3 1/2-inch long thin finger-like shapes onto prepared pans. Beat the egg yolk with a tablespoon of water and dab or brush the tops of each witches' finger with it. Lay an almond on the end of each witches finger so that it looks like a nail, sprinkle fingers with kosher salt.
• Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F. Continue baking until the fingers are golden brown and slightly crisp, about 5 minutes more. Cool on a rack.

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.