Italian Love Knots Food

ANGINETTI, ITALIAN LEMON KNOT COOKIES

Steps:

• If you prefer, dough can be made the day before which makes it nice and chilled to work with, or you can start scooping them right after you make the dough but probably you will have to chill it for a while as you're making the cookies and the dough stays out. I sometimes stick it in the freezer for a few minutes to get it to firm up again.
• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until fluffy, add eggs one at a time, then the extract and zest.
• In a smaller bowl whisk the flour, salt and baking powder, then slowly add to the creamed mixture alternately with the milk, you might not have to use all the milk.
• When everything is incorporated, let the dough rest for 5 minutes or wrap and chill overnight.
• Heat oven to 350 degrees. and place cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet.
• To form the knots I like to use a cookie scoop so all will be similar in size, then take the scoop of dough and roll it into a log about 5 or 6 inches, it's the length of a bench scraper, that's how I measure mine.
• Then take one side of the log and spiral it into a circle, you can tuck the other end down or up, it doesn't matter.
• Bake for 12 to 15 minutes according to your oven, mine took exactly 12 minutes, you want the underneath to be golden brown, not dark brown.
• Cool on racks.
• LIMONCELLO ICING
• One and one half cups of powdered sugar
• Five tablespoons of limoncello Liqueur
• zest of 1 lemon
• TRADITIONAL LEMON ICING
• One and one half cups of powdered sugar
• zest of 1 lemon
• One half teaspoon of lemon extract
• and lemon juice to get the right consistency.
• I always taste my icing to make sure it has the right amount of lemon, you can always add more, and I also like to brush my icing on instead of dipping., personal preference.
• After frosting immediately put your sprinkles on and then let the whole cookie dry for about an hour.
• You can keep them in tins with wax paper in between, or you can freeze them in an airtight container right after they bake and cool down, then frost them a day or two ahead before you'll be eating them.

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.

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.