I have looked all over for thinnly sliced almonds and cannot find them anywhere. I can find whole almonds, slithered almonds and medium to thick sliced almonds but none that can pass for fingernails. Does anyone have any ideas for almond substitutes? I tried fondant but it looked too girly, like Barbie doll fingers. Thanks!
~Kim
I had the same problem! And believe me, it was a B*tch to try to slice through almonds myself! lol.. but of course, after the fact, I thought about it, I think a lot of cereals (honey bunches of oats) have slivered almonds in them. Try that, you won't miss them when you go to eat the cereal, it's really good
I am in the process of making these now -- for the fingernails, I am going to use a fresh coconut and a vegetable peeler. I am getting all kinds of splits and jagged edges for the top of the nails and the shavings are long enough to trim up a bit for the nail bed edge. It seems to be a perfect thickness. I am excited to see the finished product!
IOIDA, I have just seen your recipe for your finger biscuits and would love to give it a try for my DIL's Halloween party next weekend.
How soon before the time do you think I could bake them??
If I did them this weekend, would they hold till next week??
I have made them some years using whole almonds if you can't find slivered, and it looks cool. You can use food color to 'paint' the nails too if you want a witchy look. It's also extra nasty to dip the 'cut' end of the finger in melted red candy melts. 
I am unable to attach pictures these days, don't know if that's a known issue or not, but here is a link to the version I have made if anyone wanted to see how whole nuts look. I like the almost bark-ish look of the brown almond nails.
Fingers: http://www.sweetcakesonline.net/20081029_0619.JPG
Bloody Fingers: http://www.sweetcakesonline.net/20081031_0630.JPG
Melvira, had a look at your two links you posted and those fingers look real "awesome"!!
Well, my cookies spread out too much and they didn't hold their shape, so I will have to make a few practice rounds before the holiday..... but the coconut fingernails were perfect and no allergies to worry about!
Thank you Charmaine49. I do love how the thin almonds look too! Very realistic! Almost too realistic? Muahahaha! Ahem, sorry.
triahvanhoozer, thank you for the feedback on the coconut. That would be a great alternative for allergy sufferers! Did you take a pic? I'd love to see how it turned out. I always love seeing the new ways to do something.
Also, I have heard that some people make these with pretzel dough, but I haven't tried it...what a fun combo - having some sweet cookie fingers and some savory pretzel fingers!! Has anyone here tried that? I'd love to see!!
YUM! I had not thought of making them with pretzel dough but it seems like it would be good. Maybe they would look like dirty fingers if you put some cinnamon sugar on them 
Wow!! these are great!!!!
I also have to do something different as a nail, still thinking on that one, as we have nut allergies to deal with.
Im throwing a halloween party and inviting a friend with a kid who is highly allergic to nuts. Im thinking of maybe doing the fingernails out of fondant since i have that in house. good idea? also, anybody freeze these? since im going to make 2 cakes and lots of food I would like to make as much as I can before hand. thanks
trishvanhoozer
If you let the dough warm up too much before baking they spread. After forming fingers I place them on cookie sheet and put them in fridge for a few minutes until they are hard again. I also form the fingers smaller than I want them because I know they will puff up and spread a little. BTW, the FRESH COCONUT is an AWESOME idea! I've been racking my brain thinking of alternatives for almonds. I tried the the whole almonds and thickly sliced almonds but did not want that look. Those are fine for witch or gross looking fingers but I was trying more for a real looking finger. Here is picture of what I have. I would love to have realistic nails on them though. Won't have time to try the coconut idea on this batch 
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-photo_1842410.html
~Kim
Kim, thank you for the info on temperature of the dough. I also made them wayyyy too big, as I only got 20 or so out of my reciepe. Will try again today.... luckily I have a lot of coconut left!! Your fingers look perfect!
Trish
What about using Piping gel with coloring in it.....would that work??
OR mixing Vodka with a bit of red coloring?
I used regular piping gel and karo syrup with red. I wanted to do a side by side comparison. the gel is a little thicker and the karo syrup oozed out more. Im having a halloween party and will put the fingers in a little box for the guests to take home. so the people wont go home and open a sticky mess Im going to use red candy melts.
bakencake, I had to smile when I read your post.....
Hope your guests don't get a fright when they open the box and find those "bloody" fingers in there 
I used regular piping gel and karo syrup with red. I wanted to do a side by side comparison. the gel is a little thicker and the karo syrup oozed out more. Im having a halloween party and will put the fingers in a little box for the guests to take home. so the people wont go home and open a sticky mess Im going to use red candy melts.
That's what I use, and it still looks good, but it firms up, it's not sticky or messy!
First I want to say thank you to lOIDA for the wonderful idea!! I made them last night and was giggling the whole time I was putting them together!
Someone commented earlier that they wished they could make them taste sweeter. After I made them I tried this and I think it added to the flavor but didn't take away from the looks at all! Make exactly like lOIDA said and then mix:
1 C powdered sugar
1 T karo
1 t almond extract
1t butter flavor
a few drops of water
Mix well, brush on with a pastry brush. Let dry. It dries pretty clear and it gives more flavor to them!!!
Again many thanks to lOIDA for the original idea! I can't wait to take these to work!!!
Kandis
I made these last week, and they came out just like her picture. They are great. It did take me some time to find the sliced almonds, finally found them in the baking section of the store. Walmart should have them to. I am giving them to my neice and nephew tomorrow for halloween. Everyone who has seen them think they are gross, so I kow the kids will love them. They do taste more like a shortbread than a sweet cookie, but are still good. Thanks for the recipe and idea!
Jeanne
I've had a tradition for the last several years of serving these finger cookies to the kids when they come to the door. (Fortunately, where I live we know each other and the tradition still holds...)
I've had children shrink in fear when they first see them, hiding behind their mom's skirts, until reassured that they're just cookies.
Instead of using sliced almonds, sometimes difficult to locate, I just blanch whole almonds and split them with the tip of a paring knife. And I have tweaked the directions a little by painting the "cut end" with red gel and placing a white center of royal icing to simulate a bone. Deliciously gross.
I made these last year for my daughter's 4th grade class and some of the kids wouldn't even eat them because they were completely grossed out LOL. They look so real and are so fun to make! Thank you so much for sharing!
Karen
Just made these are they are perfect!
Planning to make them for school and pack them up with some goofy saying " finger food" or something on the tag until...my daughter says " what are almonds made of ? " "There nuts" I say. Ahhhhhhhh NUTS!!!
So much for that idea!
So this year I tried them with some fondant! I can't get my photes to upload on CC, but ...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/46935885@N07/
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%