Italian Easter Cookies Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.
• In a large bowl, cream together 1/2 cup butter and white sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1 teaspoon almond extract, 1/4 cup milk and oil. Combine the flour and baking powder, stir into the wet mixture. Roll dough into 1 inch balls. On a lightly floured surface, roll the balls out into ropes about 5 inches long. Tie into loose knots and place cookies 1 inch apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.
• Bake for 5 minutes on the bottom shelf and 5 minutes on the top shelf of the preheated oven, until the bottoms of the cookies are golden brown. When cookies are cool, dip them into the icing.
• To make the icing, cream together the confectioners' sugar, 1/2 cup butter, and 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1 teaspoon almond extracts. Beat in 3 tablespoons milk, one tablespoon at a time, then stir in the food coloring if desired.

Steps:

• For the cookies: Whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl.
• Combine the butter and granulated sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Reduce the speed to low and add the eggs, one at a time, mixing after each addition until totally combined, about 1 minute. Add the vanilla and zest and mix to combine, about 30 seconds. Turn the mixer off, scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula then add all of the flour mixture. Mix on low speed until everything is well combined, scraping down the sides again if necessary, making sure not to overmix. Cover and refrigerate until the dough is completely chilled, at least 2 hours or up to overnight.
• Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Lightly flour a clean work surface. Scoop out 1 tablespoon of the dough and roll it into a rope, 5 to 6 inches long. Tie it into a loose knot and place on a prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough. If the knots start to get warm, refrigerate until firm, about 10 minutes.
• Bake on the upper and lower racks until the tops of the cookies are dry and set and the bottoms are golden, rotating the baking sheets front to back and switching rack positions, halfway through, about 15 minutes total.
• For the glaze and sprinkles: Meanwhile, whisk together the confectioners' sugar, lemon juice, salt and 1 tablespoon of the milk in a medium bowl until smooth. Whisk in the remaining 1 tablespoon milk if needed-the glaze should be the consistency of heavy cream.
• Place the sprinkles in a small bowl. Once the cookies are cool enough to handle, dip the tops in the glaze, letting any excess run off, then dip in the sprinkles. Transfer the cookies, glazed-side up, to a wire rack and let cool completely. The cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

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.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Sift together the dry ingredients.
• Add sugar and mix well.
• Add remaining ingredients and mix well to combine.
• Form the dough into small one-inch balls (or roll into a long 'snake' and twist into desired shapes).
• If dough in dry and crumbly add a bit of milk at a time to get it to the right consistency.
• Place on cookie sheet and bake till golden brown (apporximately 7-8 min).
• Frosting: Add milk and extract to the confectioners sugar and mix well.
• You do not want a watery consistency nor a cake frosting consistency, but just thick enough to have some remain on the cookie and drizzle (slowly) down the sides.
• Dip top of ball into the frosting and allow to sit for a few seconds before topping with sprinkles.
• If allowed to dry, sprinkles will not adhere.

Steps:

• To make the dough:.
• In a bowl, combine the eggs, butter, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and anise extract. With an electric mixer, beat the ingredients until well combined, about 3 minutes. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; beat on low to combine. Gather up the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• On a lightly floured surface begin to form the baskets.
• To form the basket handle, start with a piece of the dough about the size of a walnut. Gently roll the dough into a thin pencil shape about 10 inches long.
• Repeat with another piece of dough.
• Place the 2 lengths side by side and twist one over the other like a spiral.
• Place the handle onto a baking sheet in a horseshoe shape.
• Take about 1/4 cup of the dough and form a thick oval or egg shape. Place one of the hard boiled eggs in the center of the oval. Press it down gently to embed it in the dough but don't push it through the dough.
• Place the dough with the egg on top of the ends of the basket handle.
• Press lightly to adhere the shape to the basket handle.
• Continue making the baskets in this manner.
• About 4 basket cookies should fit on each baking sheet.
• Bake for 20 minutes until very slightly golden brown.
• Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
• To make the icing:.
• In a small bowl, stir together the confectioners' sugar, lemon juice, and milk until smooth. Use a pastry brush to gently brush the icing on each cookie; don't brush icing on the eggs. Place the cookies on a wire rack over a baking sheet and dust with the colored sprinkles. Add the sprinkles while the icing is still wet so that they will adhere.
• Allow the icing to dry and harden before storing. The cookies may be stored in a covered container in the refrigerator for about a week.

Steps:

• Using a heavy-duty mixer, beat eggs on high speed until light and foamy, about 5 minutes; set aside. In a large bowl, combine the flour, confectioners' sugar and baking powder; on low speed, gradually beat in shortening and extracts until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Gradually add beaten eggs (dough will be stiff). , Roll dough into 1-in. balls. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 12-14 minutes (tops of the cookies will not brown, but bottoms should brown slightly). , Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the confectioners' sugar, milk and extracts until smooth. As soon as cookies are removed from the oven, quickly dip 2 or 3 at a time into glaze. Remove with a slotted spoon or tongs; place on wire racks to drain. Immediately top with sprinkles. Let dry for 24 hours before storing in airtight containers.