Best 4 Italian Easter Cookies Recipes

ITALIAN EASTER COOKIES (BISCOTTI)

Steps:

• Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
• Cream together shortening and white sugar in a bowl until creamy. Add 1 egg at a time, mixing well after each. Add 2 teaspoons anise extract and vanilla extract. Slowly add milk and mix until all ingredients are blended. Slowly add flour mixture, and mix until thick but creamy. Place dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Coat a work surface and hands with flour. Take a quarter-sized piece of dough and roll into a long narrow sausage shape. Form into desired shapes, such as "s" shapes, twists, candy canes, letters, etc. Cookies will puff up when baked, so be sure each cookie is only about the width of a pinky finger. Place cookies on a baking sheet about 1 1/2 inches apart.
• Bake in the preheated oven until light golden in color and golden brown on the bottom, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool completely, about 1 hour.
• Place confectioners' sugar in a bowl and add 2 teaspoons anise extract. Mix in milk 1 tablespoon at a time until icing is smooth and creamy and not too drippy. Coat cooled cookies with icing and top with sprinkles.

ITALIAN EASTER COOKIES

Steps:

• 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease or spray cookie sheets. Parchment paper works great too.
• 2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light & fluffy.
• 3. Beat the eggs in, one at a time, mixing well after each.
• 4. Add vanilla and almond extract along with milk and oil.
• 5. Combine flour and baking powder in a separate bowl.
• 6. Stir into creamed mixture. Mix well.
• 7. To shape the dough, you can use a tablespoon scoop of dough and gently shape it into an egg shape. To make knots, roll out to about 5 inches and tie into a knot. Or, roll dough into 1 inch balls.
• 8. Place on greased cookie sheet.
• 9. Bake for about 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly golden on edges.
• 10. For the glaze, mix powdered sugar, extracts, and milk. Beat well to a smooth glaze.
• 11. Dip tops of cookies into glaze and decorate with sprinkles.

ITALIAN "EASTER" CREAM CHEESE SPRITZ COOKIES RECIPE - (4.2/5)

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 375°F. With a stand mixer (use the paddle attachment) or a hand mixer, beat the butter, cream cheese, and sugar in a large bowl on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and whatever extract you wish touse, and beat again until blended. Add the flour and mix on low speed until blended. Fit a cookie press with a die plate. Scoop up about a quarter of the dough* and, using a small amount of flour if needed, shape the dough into a log just narrower than the barrel of the cookie press. Slide the log into the cookie press and spritz the cookies directly onto ungreased baking sheets about 1 inch apart. (optional) Brush the tops with the beaten egg white and sprinkle with colored sugar if using. Repeat with the remaining dough. Otherwise, don't brush with the egg white and sugar and bake plain. Then make the glaze. Bake until the cookies are just golden around the edges, 10 to 12 minutes (it's best to bake one sheet at a time). Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet on a rack for 5 minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool completely. Be sure the baking sheet is cool before spritzing more cookies. Glaze: Blend all of the ingredients. I like to lay my cookies on a cooling rack, and then drizzle the glaze with a spoon. Or, you can dip each cookie in the glaze. Sprinkle with nonpareils or colored coarse sugar. Allow to dry for at least 15 minutes. Store at room temperature or freeze in an airtight container, separating the cookie layers with waxed paper. Tips: I found the dough to be a bit soft to work with my cookie press. I refrigerated the dough for about 30 minutes, and froze each baking sheet. Do NOT line the baking sheets with parchment paper, nor grease them. Spritz cookies want to be on a cool baking sheet. The reason for freezing the baking sheets, is to prevent spreading of the cookies.

GRANDMOM'S ITALIAN EASTER COOKIES RECIPE - (4/5)

Steps:

• Melt margarine in saucepan and set aside. In a large bowl beat eggs and sugar together. Add lemon extract, mix. Mix in oil. Then add margarine, mix until well blended. Add baking powder 1 teaspoon at a time mixing real well. Begin adding flour one cup at a time and mix with spoon. Keep adding flour until you think you can handle mixture with hands. Turn the mixture out onto a floured surface and knead to form a soft dough. You will have to add flour until the dough is not sticky. Be careful not to add too much flour because cookies will be hard. The 11 cups of flour is an estimate. Keep adding until the cookie dough is not sticky, but not too thick. After you are finishing kneading dough set aside and cover with towel so the dough can rest. Preheat oven to 350°F. Flour cookie sheets. Cut dough into a strip and cut pieces from strip. Roll out with hand and shape into a wreath or braid. Do not play with dough too much when shaping. Bake for 10 minutes. Time will depend on oven. The bottom of the cookie should be light in color. Let cookies cool. ICING: Place confectioner's sugar in bowl and mix with milk. Start with about 3-4 tablespoons of milk, and add until you get the consistency you would like. You will need to judge how much milk to make a nice white icing. Put icing on cookies with pastry brush and sprinkle candies on cookies. I put pieces of wax paper on my kitchen table and ice cookies on the wax paper. Let dry overnight before you put away. If they are not dried completely when you put away in tin can the round candies will run. Cookies are best keep in a tin can. I line the tin can with wax paper.