Glazed Italian Spice Cookies Recipes

SPICE COOKIES

Steps:

• Soak the currants in the brandy for 10 minutes. Mix together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, spices, salt, and dark chocolate. Mix well with a whisk.
• Put the butter, sugar, vanilla, and lemon and orange zest in a stand mixer fitted with the beater attachment and beat to combine but not aerate much, about 1 minute. With the mixer running, slowly add the egg and mix for about 1 minute. Add the dry ingredients, followed by the currants and brandy. Mix until everything comes together.
• Gently knead the dough in the bowl with your hands until it comes together and is uniform. Divide the dough into 1 3/4-oz / 50g chunks and shape each chunk into a perfectly round ball. Place the balls on 1 or 2 baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing them about 3/4 inch / 2 cm apart, and let rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 375°F / 190°C. Bake the cookies for 15 to 20 minutes, until the top firms up but the center is still slightly soft. Remove from the oven. Once the cookies are out of the oven, allow to cool for only 5 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack. While the cookies are still warm, whisk together the glaze ingredients until a thin and smooth icing forms. Pour 1 tablespoon of the glaze over each biscuit, leaving it to drip and coat the biscuit with a very thin, almost transparent film. Finish each with 3 pieces of candied peel placed at the center. Leave to set and serve, or store in an airtight container for a day or two.

ITALIAN CHOCOLATE COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Sift 3 cups flour twice. In a large bowl, mix flour, baking powder, white sugar and cocoa. Cream 1 cup butter or margarine; blend into flour mixture. Add 1/3 cup milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla and nuts. Mix thoroughly with hands until well blended. (Dough should be the consistency of pie crust, but not sticky.)
• For each cookie, pinch off about 1 teaspoon dough. Roll by hands into balls, each about one-inch in diameter. Place on greased baking sheets. Do not flatten. Bake about 10 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove from baking sheets; cool on racks. When cool, drizzle each generously with chocolate frosting. Sprinkle with candy sprinkles if desired.
• To make Chocolate Frosting: Melt the chocolate squares over low heat. Cream with 1 tablespoon of butter or margarine, 1 teaspoon vanilla and 2 cups of confectioner's sugar. Gradually add hot milk, beating until smooth.

ITALIAN CHOCOLATE SPICE COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, cream shortening and sugar until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Beat in eggs, milk and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk flour, cocoa, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and cloves; gradually beat into creamed mixture. Stir in walnuts., Shape level tablespoons of dough into balls; place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake until bottoms are light brown, 10-12 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely., For glaze, in a large bowl, mix confectioners' sugar, corn syrup and enough milk to reach desired consistency. Dip tops of cookies into glaze; if desired, decorate with sprinkles. Let stand until set. Store between pieces of waxed paper in airtight containers.

GLAZED ITALIAN SPICE COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and milk. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and baking soda; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in pecans., Roll dough into 1-in. balls. Place 1 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 9-11 minutes or until edges are set. Remove to wire racks to cool., For glaze, in a large bowl, beat butter until fluffy. Add the confectioners' sugar, milk, and extracts; beat until smooth. Spread over cooled cookies.

GLAZED ORANGE SPICE COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Combine the flour, baking powder, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, and salt.
• Beat the shortening and butter with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the sugar and beat until combined. Mix in the chopped almonds and orange zest. Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir until combined.
• Transfer the cookie dough to a lightly floured surface and roll it into a rectangle about 13 inches long. Cut the dough into 3 1/2-inch rectangles using a fluted pastry wheel or sharp paring knife. Place the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven until lightly browned, about 12 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool slightly on the baking sheets, and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Combine the sifted confectioners' sugar, the orange marmalade, and the orange juice and stir well. Spread the glaze on the cookies and garnish with sliced almonds, if desired.

ITALIAN CHRISTMAS SPICE COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, cocoa, cloves, cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg.
• In a large separate bowl mix together eggs, sugar, oil, milk and vanilla.
• Add flour mixture to wet mixture in small batches and mix until combined.
• Add chocolate chips and chopped almonds. Dough will be very stiff.
• With lightly oiled hands, continue to mix the dough till all ingredients are incorporated. Wash hands thoroughly.
• Lightly oil your hands again so the dough won't stick to them and break off pieces of dough, rolling them with your palms into balls the size of walnuts.
• Arrange on prepared baking sheet 2" apart and bake for 10 minutes.
• Once cooled, dip the top of each cookie into the chocolate glaze. While still wet garnish tops with a few sliced almonds.
• When set, re-dip the bottom of each cookie back into the chocolate glaze and let set again.
• While still slightly wet, generously dust or roll each cookie into 1 cup powdered sugar.
• Set aside to dry before stacking.
• Cookies will keep in an airtight container for 2 weeks.