Italian Love Knots Recipes

ITALIAN LOVE KNOTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a baking sheet or line with parchment paper. Beat the butter until creamy. Add eggs, sugar and lemon extract and mix well. In a separate bowl combine flour and baking powder. Add flour mixture to the butter mixture, adding a very small amount of milk if the batter is too thick or dry. Mix batter until dough forms. Shape pieces of dough into a thin cigar shape, about 4 or 5 inches long, and then loop the dough into a knot shape. Place knot-shaped dough onto prepared baking sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until just barely golden (cookies should remain a very light color). Remove to wire racks to cool. Prepare Powdered Sugar Icing, but add a couple of tablespoons of milk (more or less, as needed), to get a thinner consistency, so you will have a thin coating. Coat cooled cookies with this glaze, and top with sprinkles while wet, if desired.

NONNA FILOMENAS ITALIAN LOVE KNOTS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream eggs and sugar. Add cooled melted butter and anise flavor, mix well. In a separate bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt. Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Dough should be glossy but not sticky. If dough is too sticky add flour a little at the time. Pinch off a small golfball size piece of dough. Roll dough with hands to form a 8" rope. Bend 1 1/2\" end of rope, then roll bent end over rope until end of rope is reached. Place on either ungreased or parchment lined cookie sheet. Be sure to keep 1" between cookies on sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes or until lightly golden. Let cook on rack. In a small bowl mix confectioners sugar with Sambuca. Use enough Sambuca so that icing is thick but slightly drippy. After cookies are cooled, ice with confectioners sugar and flavoring. Dip top of each cookie into icing then sprinkle with non-pariels. Let dry in a rack. Enjoy

LOVE KNOT COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Fit 2 more baking sheets with a wire rack.
• For the dough: In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the granulated sugar, sour cream and vegetable oil on medium-low speed. Add the egg, vanilla extract and lemon oil and mix until combined. On low speed, add in the flour and baking powder and mix until a dough forms.
• Remove the dough from the bowl onto a clean work surface dusted with flour. Knead until the dough forms a smooth ball. Using a bench scraper, cut the dough in quarters. Working with one quarter at a time, roll the dough into a snake about 1-inch thick. Using the bench scraper, cut the snake into 8 even pieces. Take one of the smaller pieces and roll into a snake again so that it is approximately 6 inches long. Knot the dough and place the prepared baking sheets with parchment. Repeat this process with the rest of the dough.
• Bake the love knots for 10 to 12 minutes; they should turn a light golden brown on the bottom and double in size. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.
• For the glaze: While the cookies are cooling, put the powdered sugar into a large bowl. Add the milk a little at a time until you reach the proper consistency; you want the icing to coat a spoon. Once the proper consistency, add the vanilla extract and lemon zest.
• After the cookies have cooled completely, dip the entire cookie into the glaze. Hold the cookie over a bowl to allow excess glaze to run off and then place on the wire rack. Allow to dry for 30 seconds before sprinkling the tops with nonpareil sprinkles. Store the dried cookies in an airtight container to maintain freshness.

ITALIAN KNOT COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Cream sugar, butter, margarine, milk, vanilla extract, and almond extract together in a large bowl. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating briefly after each addition.
• Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; add 1 cup at a time to the creamed mixture until a dough forms, using your hands if and when necessary. Turn out onto a floured board and knead briefly until smooth and a bit sticky, but not sticking to your hands. Set aside to rest for 5 minutes.
• Pull off small pieces of dough, 1 at a time, and roll into a rope. Gently place one end towards the middle, followed by the other end, in a way to slightly overlap each other. Repeat to form remaining cookies and place on the prepared cookie sheets.
• Bake in the preheated oven in batches until just turning a light brown on the bottom, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove to a wire rack and allow to cool slightly.
• Meanwhile mix confectioners sugar, milk, and lemon juice together in a small bowl to form a thin glaze. Dip warm cookies in the glaze and sprinkle with sugar or sprinkles. Let set on waxed paper or a cooling rack to dry.

ANISETTE LOVE KNOTS

Steps:

• Cookies:.
• In bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Toss lightly with a fork. Add eggs and sugar - mix well, (mixture will be crumbly). Add melted butter, 3 teaspoons anise extract and warm water. Stir until mixture forms a ball. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 minutes until dough is smooth. Chill for one hour.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pinch off pieces of dough about the size of large olives and roll into logs. Tie each into a knot shape and place on aluminum foil approximately 2" apart. Slide foil with cookies onto cookie sheets. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until bottoms are pale brown. When done, slide aluminum foil off cookie sheets and let cookies cool on foil until cool.
• Glaze:.
• Stir milk and remaining two tablespoons anise extract into confectioners sugar. Consistency should be like heavy cream, if needed, add drops of milk. Dip cookies upside down into glaze; turn upright and dry on cookie rack over waxed paper for one minute, than sprinkle with candy sprinkles. Makes about 50 cookies.
• Store in a waxed paper lined cookie tin, approximately one week.

LOVE KNOTS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast and 2 teaspoons sugar in water. Add milk, butter, eggs, salt, remaining sugar and 4 cups flour; beat on low for 3 minutes or until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch dough down. Divide into four portions. Cover three with plastic wrap. Shape one portion into 12 balls; roll each ball into an 8-in. rope. Tie into a knot; tuck ends under. Pinch to seal. Place 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Repeat with remaining three portions. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 25 minutes. Beat egg yolk and water; brush over dough. Sprinkle with sesame seeds if desired. Bake at 375° for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.