Halloween Treats

Earlier this month, I stumbled across a Halloween cookbook display at the library, and it got me thinking that I ought to do something festive.  I picked up the book Ghoulish Goodies, by Sharon Bowers; the cover is interesting enough to draw people in, but I knew the best cupcake baker in town would be attending the same party as me, and I didn't want to try to compete with her (good thing, too - her cookie monster cupcakes would've been hard to beat), so I decided to go with something a little different.

These aren't like the witches' fingers cookies that you're used to seeing.  In fact, these aren't cookies at all.  They turn out more like a spicy cheesy-mustard bread dough, with the rosemary and pepperoni on top as garnish.  I found the dough to be sticky, but otherwise very easy to work with, and didn't have any trouble piping it with a ziplock bag as suggested.  Mine came out bigger than expected - they do rise quite a bit while cooking - so I'm more inclined to call them ogres' toes than witches' knuckles. 

I made a double batch, which was a good call - the picture above is about 1/2 of a batch's worth, and is all that was left after the party.  As the recipe says, though, they do reheat really well in the oven, and remain soft and chewy on the inside.