Bewitching Hands
Green and yellow liquid food color
1/2 an 18-oz roll refrigerated sugar-cookie dough
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
Fingernails:
Candy corn
1. Heat oven to 350�F. Have ready a 33/4 x 23/4-in. hand-shaped
cookie cutter (see Note) and baking sheet(s).
2. Knead drops of food color into dough until a yucky green. Knead
flour into dough. Shape into a 1-in.-thick disk, wrap and
refrigerate 1 hour or until firm enough to roll out.
3. On a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin, roll
dough to 1/4 in. thick. Cut out hands. Reroll and cut scraps once;
reserve remaining scraps.
4. Place half the hands (see Tip) 3 in. apart on ungreased baking
sheet. Make a 1-in. cut between each finger toward palm. Pinch
fingers so each is about 1 in. longer, thinner, wavy and gnarled.
Press down on fingertips (so candy-corn nails will fit later) and on
palms to make a little thinner. Mark knuckles with back of a knife.
Roll reserved scraps into balls for warts. Gently press warts on
hands.
5. Bake 7 to 9 minutes until pale golden around edges. Remove and
immediately press candy-corn nails on fingertips. Cool hands on
sheet on a wire rack 5 minutes before removing cookies to rack to
cool completely. Repeat with remaining hands.
Tip:
If a hand-shaped cookie cutter is unavailable, draw the outline of a
small child�s hand on cardboard, cut out, use as a pattern to cut
out the dough, then proceed with Step 4. Yields will vary. |