TOASTED TOMBSTONES

"These cookies look especially ghastly when served with ice cream - just stick one into each rounded scoop. Try flavors that will look like a fresh mound of dirt, such as Rocky Road."

1 1/4 cups cake flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter (not margarine), softened
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup finely chopped almonds
decorating frosting or ready made frosting in white or black

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Place flour, baking soda, and salt in a small mixing bowl. Stir with a fork and set aside.

Put butter and confectioners' sugar together in a large bowl. Cream them together with an electric mixer. Add sour cream, then stir in flour mixture and almonds. Blend well until smooth.

Scoop out dough onto a smooth, lightly floured work surface. Pat into a rectangle 3/4 inch thick and 5 inches wide. Cut the rectangle into twelve bars with a chopping knife. Each bar should be approximately 1 1/2 inches wide by 2 1/2 inches long. Arrange cookie bars about 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

Place them in the oven and bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Cookies will puff slightly and expand during baking. Remove cookie sheets from the oven with potholders and immediately transfer cookies with a metal spatula to a wire rack to cool.

When tombstones are completely cooled, decorate each one with a friend's name and today's date or simply write "R.I.P" (Rest in Peace) and add on a few frosting flowers.

Makes approx. 12 gruesome tombstones
Adapted from source: Creepy Cookies by Tina Vilicich-Solomon