Italian Lemon Cookies With Sprinkles Food

ITALIAN LEMON COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line good quality baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
• In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, beat together the cooled melted shortening and 1 cup powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time until well combined, then beat in lemon extract and lemon zest. Beat in flour into sugar/shortening mixture until combined.
• Using a medium cookie scoop (about 1.5 Tablespoons) or spoons, divide dough and roll into balls. Place cookie balls onto prepared baking sheets. Remove cookies from oven, and cool on wire racks.
• Bake the cookies about 10-12 minutes or until lightly golden brown on the bottom, but still light on top.
• Meanwhile, whisk together 2 cups of powdered sugar and 2 Tablespoons of milk in a small deep bowl. Add more milk as needed until glaze is fairly thin in consistency.
• Dip cookies in glaze with a fork, letting excess glaze run off as much as possible. Place cookies on parchment paper or silicone mat. Quickly top with sprinkles while glaze is wet. Then set cookies aside for glaze to set.

ITALIAN LEMON KNOT COOKIES

Steps:

• Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.
• Cream sugar, butter, and shortening together in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs. Beat in lemon extract. Add flour mixture gradually, beating well to combine. Wrap dough in waxed paper and refrigerate for 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease 2 baking sheets.
• Place the dough on a lightly-floured surface. Break off golf ball-sized pieces of dough. Roll each piece into a rope about 7 inches long and 1/2 inch in diameter. Tie into a knot with one end poking up in the center. Place 1-inch apart on the prepared baking sheets.
• Bake in the preheated oven until lightly browned, 10 to 15 minutes.
• While cookies bake, combine confectioners' sugar, milk, and lemon extract in a bowl for icing until smooth.
• Transfer baked cookies to a wire rack to cool slightly, about 5 minutes. Spread icing evenly on top of the slightly warm cookies and add sprinkles.

ITALIAN COOKIES WITH SPRINKLES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Beat butter and sugar together until creamy. Stir in anise extract and lemon extract. Blend in eggs. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in another bowl; blend into egg mixture until dough is almost crumbly but stays together when you roll it in your hands.
• Form dough into 1-inch balls and place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
• Bake in the preheated oven until edges are set and golden, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven. Cool on the baking sheet briefly before removing to a wire rack to cool completely, about 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, combine powdered sugar and milk in a bowl. Glaze cooled cookies and top with sprinkles.

ITALIAN LEMON COOKIES WITH SPRINKLES

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.

ITALIAN LEMON COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolks and lemon zest. Gradually beat in flour. Refrigerate, covered, 1 hour or until firm enough to shape., Preheat oven to 350°. Shape level tablespoons of dough into 6-in. ropes. Shape each rope into an "S", then coil each end until it touches the center. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Whisk egg whites; brush over cookies. Sprinkle with colored sugar., Bake until bottoms are brown, 12-14 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.

ITALIAN SPRINKLE COOKIES

Steps:

• Using a heavy-duty electric mixer on high speed, beat eggs until light and foamy, about 5 minutes. Set aside.
• In another mixing bowl, stir together flour, sugar and baking powder; gradually add shortening and extracts until a bead-like texture is formed.
• Gradually add beaten eggs (dough will be stiff).
• Roll dough into 1-inch balls. Place on ungreased baking sheets.
• Bake at 350° for 12 minutes.
• The tops of the cookies will not brown, but the bottoms should brown slightly.
• For glaze, combine milk and extracts in a large bowl.
• Add sugar; whisk until all lumps are dissolved and the glaze is smooth.
• As soon as cookies are removed from the oven, quickly immerse two or three at a time into the glaze. Remove with a slotted spoon or fingers.
• Place cookies on wire racks to drain.
• Quickly top with sprinkles.
• Let dry 24 hours before storing in airtight containers.

ITALIAN SPRINKLE COOKIES

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.

ITALIAN LEMON COOKIES

Steps:

• In a small bowl, sift flour and baking powder together.
• In mixing bowl, beat eggs with sugar until light and lemon colored.
• Add the softened butter and lemon zest.
• Slowly beat in the flour and baking powder.
• Gradually add milk and vanilla.
• Dough should be soft.
• Divide dough into 6 sections.
• Roll out each section into a rope 1/2-inch wide.
• Cut into 3-inch pieces and twist each piece to form a loop.
• Place on a greased baking sheet or a parchment lined baking sheet.
• Bake in a 350°F oven for 10-12 minutes or until light brown.
• Remove from oven and cool.
• Combine the powdered sugar and enough orange juice to form a thin icing.
• Brush on top of cookies and sprinkle with colored candies.
• Makes about 4 dozen cookies, depending on size and shape of cookie.

ITALIAN ANISE COOKIES WITH ICING AND SPRINKLES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
• For cookies, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing after each addition. Add anise extract.
• Blend flour and baking powder. Start by adding about 1/3 of these dry ingredients to the butter/sugar in your mixer, then add 1 T. milk. Add another third of the flour and another 1 T. milk. Finally, mix in enough of the remaining flour until your dough is like a brownie batter (it should be softer than a drop cookie dough).
• Use a 1 T. cookie scooper to make simple round drop cookies - use wet fingers to pat any rough edges OR for an Easter-Egg look, roll 1 T. dough into an elongated ball.
• Bake cookies 10-12 minutes (they won't be brown but the insides will be soft and cake-like).
• For icing: mix sugar, milk and extract to make a sugar glaze. HINT: When I make the icing, I make it thick but then I microwave it for 10 seconds so it is thin enough for dipping. Also, I like to divide the mixture in thirds, and then add ONE DROP of food coloring to each batch (pink, green, yellow).
• Hold cookie in your hand and turn upside down so you can dip the top half in the glaze; turn over and immediately top with sprinkles so they will stick.
• Allow icing to harden overnight; then store in air-tight containers or freeze.