Italian Cookies
Why I Love This Recipe
One of my childhood memories was going to the Italian Bakery with my mom. My favorite cookies were the butter cookies that were sandwiched together by jam and then dipped in chocolate and sprinkles. They are also the green and pink leafy looking ones. Yum! I now live thousands of miles away and can't find them anywhere. So what is a baker to do - create my own!!
These cookies are piped with a pastry bag and a Wilton 1M tip.
Ingredients You'll Need
Cookies:
3 sticks butter
1 cup sugar
1-1/2 eggs**(see note)
3 1/4 cups flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
2 1/2 tsp. vanilla
Extras:
bag of chocolate wafers melted
jimmies
jam about 8 oz. I use either raspberry or strawberry
red or green paste food coloring if you want
Directions
**To measure 1/2 an egg, place a whole egg in a small bowl and beat with a fork to mix well. Measure off 1 1/2 Tbsp. of beaten egg.
Cream butter with sugar: add eggs, vanilla.
Add dry ingredients and mix well.
Using Wilton 1M, pipe out 2" bars on greased baking pan. You can also use parchment paper or silpat if you like.
Bake at 350ºF for about 5-7 minutes. Watch them they will burn. Cool in pan before trying to move them. Having 2 pans going at once works best for me.
Melt chocolate according to package directions.
Sandwich cookies by spreading jam on one and putting another on top of it. Dip one end in chocolate and then in jimmies.
Place on parchment paper and allow the chocolate to harden before packing or just skip the parchment and eat at will!!
There are several variations to this recipe.
-Use a large leaf tip and pipe out leaves. Color the dough red or green for the holidays.
-Sandwich them with chocolate only. On this variation I layer some chocolate on one side then on the other and allow both sides to harden a bit before you put them together with another dollup of chocolate.
-Dip in jam instead of chocolate and roll in coconut.
-Dust with confection sugar.
-Drizzle melted chocolate with a fork.