Yummy Holiday Cookie Recipes

The Christmas season is both hectic and wonderful, magical and also exhausting.

How nice to have a handful of simple Italian cookie recipes on hand, and even better, the dough already made up and refrigerated or frozen to pull out and pop into the oven for very welcome and unexpected guests during the season.

Here are three traditional cookie recipes, simple to prepare with few ingredients. Almond is a favorite flavor in Italian cookies as demonstrated by the frequent use of almond extract and almond flour. They have been cultivated in Sicily since ancient times, and now almond groves are found throughout the South, but their flavor is appreciated in sweet treats throughout Italy.

In two of the following recipes, I have substituted a small amount of the butter with olive oil, and I think it adds an extra crispiness to the cookie. You may eliminate this and use all butter if you prefer.

I love the spices incorporated into the Sicilian chocolate spice cookies, the scent while they are cooking is reminiscent of mulled apple cider or wine.

RICOTTA COOKIES:

• 4 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp Rivesaline il de re Fleur de Sel salt
• 1 TBS. Torre di Gamberaia olive oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 sticks of butter, room temperature
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp almond extract
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips, melted

Mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl.

In another bowl beat the butter, oil, sugar, eggs, almond extract and ricotta together.

Add the flour mixture into the butter and sugar mixture and blend it until creamy. Refrigerate the mixture for at least 2 hours.

Preheat over to 350 degrees F. Drop one tablespoon of dough at a time 2 inches apart on a parchment covered baking sheet.

Bake for 12-15 minutes, keeping an eye on the cookies until they are golden. Cool for 1 minute and then place cookies onto a wire rack to cool.

After the cookies have cooled, move to a plate and drizzle the melted chocolate over the cookies and allow the chocolate to cool.

TRADITIONAL ITALIAN CHRISTMAS COOKIES

• 2-1/4 cups flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• ½ sugar
• ½ tsp. Ils de re salt
• 7 TBS. butter, room temperature
• 1 TBS Torre di Gamberaia extra virgin olive oil
• 3 eggs, room temperature
• 2 tsp. almond extract

GLAZE

• 1-1/3 cups powdered sugar
• 3 TBS milk
• ¼ tsp. Rivesaline Il de re salt
• ½ tsp. almond extract
• 2 TBS colored non pareils (optional)

Mix the flour together with the baking powder.

In a mixing bowl or electric stand mixer, beat together the butter, sugar and salt on medium until well blended. With the blender on medium speed, blend the eggs in one at a time. Add the almond extract and continue blending. On low speed, add the flour mixture 1 cup at a time and blend until a dough has formed in the bowl. Put the dough in a bowl, cover and refrigerate for at least one hour.

After the dough is firmed up, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Take a tablespoon of dough for each cookie and roll it with your hand into a ball shape and place each one 2 inches apart, onto a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Bake the cookies for 7 minutes, then turn the baking sheet around and cook for another 6-7 minutes more, watching carefully, until the cookies are golden. It is normal that they crack on the top.

Move the cookies to a rack to cool.

Whisk together the glaze ingredients, and after the cookies have cooled, dip the top of the cookie in the glaze, coating thinly and place on the rack again and sprinkle with non-pareils if using. Allow the glaze to set before moving the cookies to a serving plate.

Tetù (SICILIAN CHOCOLATE SPICE COOKIES)

Credit: Nadia Fazio

Tetu’ (Sicilian Chocolate Spice Cookies)

• INGREDIENTS
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup sugar
• ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon cloves
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon baking powder pinch of salt
• ¼ cup plus 3 tablespoon unsalted butter at room temperature
• ½ cup walnuts finely chopped
• Zest of 1 orange

1 large egg lightly beaten½ cup milk or more as needed

• For the glaze
• ½ cup powdered sugar
• 3 teaspoons of milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl sift together all-purpose flour; sugar, unsweetened cocoa powder; cinnamon; cloves; nutmeg; baking powder and a pinch of salt.

Add cubed butter (at room temperature) and use your fingers, a pastry cutter or even your electric mixer, if you prefer, to cut the butter into the flour.

Stir in finely chopped walnuts and orange zest.

Make a well in the center of the mixture and add a beaten egg, stir into the flour. Stir in the milk and shape into a dough. Add extra milk, if necessary, to ensure that the dough holds together. The dough will be quite firm and slightly sticky. At this point, I prefer using my hands to gather the dough together and shape it into a ball.

Scoop pieces of dough using a cookie scoop for even sizing (I used a 1 tablespoon sized scoop) and roll into a ball. Place on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray or parchment paper if it is not a non stick pan. They do not have to be placed too far apart as they don’t spread much during baking.

Bake for 18-20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool while you prepare the glaze.

To glaze:

In a medium sized bowl whisk powdered sugar and milk until you have a glaze of desired consistency. I prefer my glaze on the thin side. Dip the tops of each cookie in the glaze allowing the excess to drip off. Transfer to the wire rack to set. Alternately, you may use a pastry brush to apply the glaze.

Once the glaze has hardened, store the cookies in an airtight container separating layers of cookies with wax or parchment paper to prevent them from sticking.

NOTES

• The walnuts may be substituted with almonds.
• If you’re not a huge fan of cloves, as I am, simply eliminate this spice.

From our kitchens to your table.

Cheers To A Joyous New Year!

Don’t forget to check out Nancy’s delicious olive oil at: torredigamberaia.com

Find a range of French coast salts at: Rivesaline.com