Description
Authentic Italian Anginetti (also known as Italian wedding or Christmas cookies) are small and soft round cookies, often lemon, orange, anise, or almond flavored.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
Anginetti Cookies
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 1/2 teaspoons anise extract (or flavor with pure vanilla, orange, almond, or lemon extracts)
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Glaze
- 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon almond, vanilla, or lemon extract (or extract of choice)
Colored Sprinkles for decoration
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper an set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl cream butter and sugar with a hand mixer. Add eggs and lemon extract and beat well until incorporated.
- Sift in the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder and salt; Mix again on low speed until incorporated.
- The dough should be soft and sticky. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- With a small cookie scoop, drop dough 1-inch balls onto prepared baking sheets spacing them about 2-inches apart.
- Bake cookies for about 12 minutes, or until firm and lightly brown.
- Remove cookies from cookie sheets and allow to cool completely on wire racks.
- For glaze, combine confectioners’ sugar, milk and lemon extract and mix until smooth.
- Dip each cookie into the glaze. Top with sprinkles. Tip: dip in glaze and top with sprinkles just before serving. Allow cookies to dry before stacking.
- Store in an airtight container.
Notes
If you want to freeze the cookies, freeze unfrosted and frost once thawed.
Top Tips
- Chill the dough: Don’t skip the 30-minute refrigeration step! It helps the dough firm up, making it easier to handle and preventing the cookies from spreading too much while baking.
- Measure flour accurately: Too much flour can make the cookies dense. Use the spoon-and-level method to avoid packing the flour. Or, weight your flour in grams 240 grams.
- Don’t overbake: Bake until just lightly golden. Overbaking can result in a dry texture.
- Cool before glazing: Ensure cookies are completely cooled before dipping in the glaze to prevent it from melting and becoming too runny.
- Glaze and sprinkle immediately: After dipping each cookie in the glaze, immediately add sprinkles to ensure they stick properly.
- Prep Time: 10 min (+30 minutes rest in refrigerator))
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Sweet
- Method: Italian
- Cuisine: Italian