Tutus Aka Italian Chocolate Cookies Food

ITALIAN CHOCOLATE BALLS (TUTTU BALLS)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Spread almonds onto a baking sheet.
• Bake almonds until toasted and fragrant, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove baking sheet from oven and cool almonds slightly; chop.
• Sift flour 2 times. Mix cocoa powder, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt together with flour in a bowl. Beat white sugar, shortening, and eggs together in a separate bowl using an electric mixer until smooth and creamy.
• Mix creamed mixture into flour mixture. Add almonds, evaporated milk, and vanilla extract to flour mixture and mix well using your hands or a large spoon until dough holds together and is smooth. Roll dough into 1-inch balls and place on a baking sheet.
• Bake in the oven until bottoms are slightly brown, about 10 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Stir confectioners' sugar and almond extract together in a bowl; add enough water to make a thin frosting. Roll cookies in the frosting and place on a wire rack to dry.

TUTU'S SUPER CRISPY SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 300°. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter with the sugar and salt until smooth and fluffy. Mix the baking soda with the vanilla, then add to the butter mixture. Add the flour, 1 cup at a time, mixing well between additions. Gently stir in the Rice Krispies.
• Lightly butter 2 baking sheets. Spoon 2-tablespoon-size mounds of cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 3 inches apart. Bake for 15 minutes, then remove the pans from the oven. Gently flatten the cookies with a spatula. Rotate the pans from top to bottom and front to back and continue baking until the cookies are lightly cracked on the top and golden brown on the bottom, about 25 minutes longer. Let cool slightly, then transfer to racks to cool completely.

ITALIAN FROSTED CHOCOLATE COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Whisk flour, white sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and salt in a large bowl. Stir orange zest into flour mixture. Mix vegetable shortening and margarine into dry ingredients, using your hands, until mixture is crumbly.
• Beat eggs and vanilla extract in a bowl with an electric mixer until foamy; add egg mixture, 1/4 cup orange juice, and 1/4 cup milk to flour mixture and knead dough in the bowl until thoroughly combined and dough doesn't stick to your hands, about 8 minutes. Dough will be stiff. Knead cream cheese thoroughly into dough, followed by walnuts.
• Form dough into balls about 1 1/2 inches in diameter and place onto ungreased baking sheets.
• Bake cookies in the preheated oven until lightly browned, 12 to 14 minutes. Cool cookies on racks.
• Beat 3 tablespoons milk, 1 teaspoon orange juice, and 1 cup confectioners' sugar in a bowl until smooth; gradually beat in remaining confectioners' sugar until frosting is thick and drizzles slowly from a spoon.
• Dip tops of cookies into frosting and place frosted cookies on racks with waxed paper underneath to catch drips. Let cookies dry overnight.

TUTU'S AKA ITALIAN CHOCOLATE COOKIES

Steps:

• Combine flour, sugar, cocoa, cinnamon and baking powder. Mix with hands. Add Crisco.
• Add eggs. Mix well.
• Add milk. Mix well.
• Add chocolate chips and walnuts.
• Make balls about half the size of a walnut.
• Place on cookie sheet lined with parchment.
• Bake at 400 degrees for 8 minutes.
• Cool.
• Mix glaze. Combine powdered sugar, vanilla and milk to a thin consistency. Dip cookies on glaze and allow to dry.
• Store in an air tight container or tin.
• *** NOTE: I have written the recipe exactly as given to me. Years ago I mixed these with my hands! Today I use my food processor to combine the dry ingredients with crisco. Using the pulse button I combine like I do for pie crust. I then place these ingredients in my large kitchen aid mixer bowl. I then mix on low speed until combined.

TATù -- SICILIAN COOKIES

Steps:

• Sift the flour, almonds, and sugar and add cocoa powder to darken it. Form a well and add coffee, vanilla extract, butter and orange marmalade. Combine into a dough. Use the dough to form balls the size of a walnut. Put them on a greased cookie sheet and bake them at 375 F until golden. About 15 minutes.
• At this point make the veil: heat the chocolate and sugar over a very gentle flame, stirring constantly, and when the mixture is smooth and creamy remove it from the fire. Stir in the vanilla extract, let it cool slightly, and ice the cookies. Dust the cookies with just a hint of cinnamon and they're ready.

TUTTI-FRUTTI COOKIES

Steps:

• In a bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl with an electric mixer beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add flour mixture, sour cream, and egg and beat until a dough forms. Stir in coconut, apricots, and cranberries.
• Halve dough and on a sheet of wax paper form each half into a 10-inch log, using paper as a guide. Chill logs, wrapped in wax paper, 4 hours, or until firm.
• (After the dough has been formed into a log it can be kept in the refrigerator for one week or the freezer for one month. Thaw the frozen dough in the refrigerator until sliceable, about four hours.)
• Preheat oven to 350° F. and lightly butter 3 baking sheets.
• Cut logs into 1/3-inch-thick rounds with a serrated knife and arrange about 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Bake cookies in batches in middle of oven until pale golden, about 12 minutes, and transfer to racks to cool. The baked cookies keep in airtight containers at room temperature for four days.