Oops! I'm still getting the hang of this blogging thing, so this is a belated blog post about the Halloween recipe I tried.
I saw these on In Erika's Kitchen ...
She used a great, clear recipe to make these wicked severed finger cookies from Shockingly Delicious. I checked around online, and there are a lot of variations for these awesome gruesome buttery fingers ... green-colored Frankenstein fingers, red-colored demonic digits, and werewolf claws with toasted coconut 'hair.'
AWESOME!
EXCEPT for one thing--Red #40 and Red #40 Lake, the dye used in most red food coloring and most red gels.
My friend over at Middle Aged Jock wrote a clear and succinct analysis of these food dyes, particularly about how they're banned in Europe. Yes, banned. There have been studies linking these colors to ADHD and lowered IQs in children. There's a lot of Internet debate about these dyes from a wide-range of sources. But I take it seriously when a group of countries chooses to ban something. Of course, in the United States, these dyes abound in all sorts of children's treats.
I wanted to come up with a replacement for the red gel that would be cheap, easy, and practical for busy parents and busy witches.
So, I slightly altered the recipe in one way:
* I did not use store-bought red gel.
* I mixed 1 T. dye-free red jam with 1/2 c. confectioner's sugar to create a bright red gel, free of added coloring. I happened to have lingonberry, but raspberry or strawberry would also work well.
Ta-da! Delicious! And I can rest assured that the health and IQs of any witches and warlocks who ate these cookies stayed a-okay.
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