Italian Butter Cookies. Mine do not look professional or fancy pants. But they are super delish. I feel like I will improve as I make these more. The recipe calls for one baking sheet, but I used two. I baked one sheet at a time.
I had a piping bag fail, so I maneuvered to a ziploc with a snipped off corner. Works just as well, you just don’t have those glossy professional ridges in the batter. My sisters said they looked gorg, but I think they were just being nice. Ha.
I went with this recipe as I am allergic to almonds, and many such recipes call for almond extract. This one just uses vanilla.
These are a great cookie to make ahead for the holidays.
Italian Butter Cookies
Course: DessertCuisine: ItalianDifficulty: Challenging24
servings15
minutes30
minutesIngredients
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup confectioner’s sugar, sifted
2 large egg yolks, at room temperature (The Jersey Girl uses extra large eggs)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1/4 tsp. salt
2 cups melted chocolate, wafers of chips (The Jersey Girl uses chips)
1-2 tsp. coconut oil or shortening (The Jersey Girl uses shortening)
Sprinkles
Directions
- Position a rack in the center of the oven, then heat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. (Please note: The Jersey Girl used 2 baking sheets for this recipe. She baked each one at a time.)
- Place butter into the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, beat the butter on high until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides once, about 2 minutes.
- Add the sifted powdered sugar. Start the mixer on low, and then increase the speed to high. Beat until the mixture is very smooth and soft peaks form, scraping down the sides of the bowl once halfway through.
- Add the egg yolk one at a time, and blend completely after each addition. Add the vanilla extract and blend completely once more.
- Sift the flour with baking powder and salt. Add the flour mixture one-quarter cup at a time, mixing on low speed until just combined. Don’t overmix.
- Fit a piping bag with a large open star piping tip. Pipe 2-inch long sections of filling onto a baking sheet, leaving 1-2 inches between each cookie. (Please note: The Jersey Girl placed the batter in a ziploc bag and snipped the corner to pipe out the cookies.)
- Bake 13-15 minutes or until the edges are lightly golden brown. Cool on the pan 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Melt the chocolate in the microwave in 20-second intervals, stirring thoroughly between each, until the chocolate has melted. Melt the coconut oil or shortening, then add, 1 tsp. at a time to the melted chocolate. Whisk until the chocolate mixture is very smooth and slightly thinned out. (Please note: The Jersey Girl melted the chocolate and shortening at the same time in a microwave-safe glass measuring cup.) Dip each cookie into the melted chocolate, coating halfway, then place onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. Sprinkle the chocolate with sprinkles.
- Allow the chocolate to harden completely. For best results, let cookies sit at room temperature for 24 hours to properly crisp and for the chocolate to fully cure.
