Best 7 Italian Cookies With Icing Recipes

ITALIAN COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and extract. Combine flour and baking powder; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well., Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 9-11 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool completely., For icing, in a small bowl, combine the confectioners' sugar, vanilla and enough milk to achieve desired consistency. Dip cookies in icing; allow excess to drip off. Place on waxed paper; decorate as desired. Let stand until set.

ITALIAN ANISE COOKIES WITH ICING AND SPRINKLES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
• For cookies, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing after each addition. Add anise extract.
• Blend flour and baking powder. Start by adding about 1/3 of these dry ingredients to the butter/sugar in your mixer, then add 1 T. milk. Add another third of the flour and another 1 T. milk. Finally, mix in enough of the remaining flour until your dough is like a brownie batter (it should be softer than a drop cookie dough).
• Use a 1 T. cookie scooper to make simple round drop cookies - use wet fingers to pat any rough edges OR for an Easter-Egg look, roll 1 T. dough into an elongated ball.
• Bake cookies 10-12 minutes (they won't be brown but the insides will be soft and cake-like).
• For icing: mix sugar, milk and extract to make a sugar glaze. HINT: When I make the icing, I make it thick but then I microwave it for 10 seconds so it is thin enough for dipping. Also, I like to divide the mixture in thirds, and then add ONE DROP of food coloring to each batch (pink, green, yellow).
• Hold cookie in your hand and turn upside down so you can dip the top half in the glaze; turn over and immediately top with sprinkles so they will stick.
• Allow icing to harden overnight; then store in air-tight containers or freeze.

ITALIAN RICOTTA COOKIES

Steps:

• For the cookies:
• In a mixing bowl whisk together flour, baking powder and salt for 20 seconds, set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment whip together butter, granulated sugar and lemon zest until pale and fluffy (scrape down sides and bottom of bowl occasionally throughout entire mixing process).
• Mix in ricotta and vanilla extract then blend in eggs one at a time. Set mixer on low speed and slowly add in flour mixture and mix just until combined. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and chill 2 hours or up to 2 days. Preheat oven to 350 degrees during last 20 minutes of dough chilling.
• Scoop chilled dough out 1 Tbsp at a time and shape into balls (if it's too sticky just drop onto sheet using two spoons), drop onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat (I don't recommend using dark non-stick pans for this recipe since the bottoms will already become pretty golden. Dark pans brown more than uncoated pans do).
• Bake in preheated oven 12 - 14 minutes until underside of cookies are golden. Cool on baking sheet several minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Once cool dip tops of cookies in glaze and return to wire rack, immediately add sprinkles if using. Allow glaze to set at room temperature. Store in an airtight container in a single layer.
• For the glaze:
• In a mixing bowl whisk together powdered sugar, melted butter, lemon juice or almond extract, vanilla and 4 Tbsp milk until smooth, adding in more milk 1 tsp at a time to thin as needed (you don't want it to be very thin, it should be quite a bit thicker than a doughnut glaze).

TENDER ITALIAN SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°. In a large bowl, cream shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Combine flour, baking powder and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. , Shape dough into 1-1/2-in. balls. Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool., For icing, in a small bowl, combine milk, butter, vanilla and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Tint with food coloring if desired. Dip tops of cookies in icing; allow excess to drip off. Sprinkle with coarse sugar if desired. Place on waxed paper; let stand until set.

ITALIAN FIG COOKIES (CUCCIDATI)

Steps:

• Prepare filling: Working in two batches with ½ of the figs and ½ of the dates at a time, pulse dried fruit in a food processor until finely chopped; transfer to a bowl.
• Use a vegetable peeler to peel orange zest into the empty food processer. Juice the orange until you have 3 tablespoons juice; add it to the food processor. Add raisins, pecans, honey, brandy, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and nutmeg and process until finely mixed.
• Add fig-date mixture and process until well combined, adding water 1 tablespoon at a time as needed to reach a thick consistency. Refrigerate filling for 8 hours to overnight.
• Prepare dough: Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a food processor and process for 5 seconds to combine. Add butter and shortening and pulse until crumbly. Add milk, egg, vanilla, and almond extract and process until a dough forms.
• Turn dough onto a well-floured surface and knead until smooth. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours.
• When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Turn dough onto a floured surface and cut into 4 pieces. Roll one piece into a 4x12-inch rectangle, about 1/8-inch thick. Trim off any excess to form straight edges and save to make more cookies.
• Place about ¼ of the filling in a 1-inch log shape down the rectangle, just to the right of the center line. Dampen the edges of the dough with water and fold the right edge over the filling. Continue rolling the dough toward the left edge, then rock back and forth gently to stretch and seal the edges. Cut the log into 2- to 3-inch pieces. Make 2 or 3 slits in the top of each cookie to allow steam to escape. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven until golden on the bottom and cooked through, 12 to 14 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely. Repeat to form, cut, and bake remaining cookies.
• Prepare icing by whisking powdered sugar and milk together in a bowl until smooth. Divide icing into thirds in 3 small bowls. Color one bowl with red food coloring to make pink icing, color another bowl with green food coloring to make green icing, and leave the remaining icing white.
• Dip each cookie into a different color icing and allow excess to drip off. Place iced cookies on parchment paper and decorate lightly with sprinkles. Allow to dry for at least 20 minutes before serving.

ITALIAN ANISETTE COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• In large bowl, mix flour, baking powder and white sugar. Make a well in the center and add oil, milk, 1 tablespoon anise extract, and eggs. Mix together until dough is sticky.
• Oil fingers and pinch off dough in 1 inch pieces. Roll into a ball and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet, 1 inch apart, flatten top slightly. Bake for 8 minutes. Dip cookies in Icing while warm.
• To Make Icing: Blend in 1 teaspoon anise extract and enough hot water to 1 cup confectioner's sugar to form a smooth icing.

ICED ITALIAN KNOT COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Mix flour, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl.
• Combine butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; beat until smooth and creamy. Change to the dough hook and gradually mix in flour mixture. Add warm water and mix until a smooth dough forms.
• Roll dough into 1 1/2-inch balls. Roll each ball out to a 4-inch long worm. Bring one end over the other, then underneath and through the middle, like a knot. Place 16 cookies on a baking sheet, four rows of four.
• Bake in the preheated oven until edges are golden, 13 to 15 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet for 1 minute before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Repeat to bake remaining 2 batches of cookies.
• Meanwhile, mix powdered sugar, anise extract, and salt together in a bowl. Mix in water, a little at a time, until desired consistency.
• Dip cooled cookies upside down into the icing, then turn over onto waxed paper. Sprinkle with candy sprinkles.