Italian Holiday Cookies by Dan Pelosi
"You know this girl. Truth be told, no holiday party would be complete without her there. She is the classic Italian cookie."
Hi there, we’re thrilled to share this recipe for Dan Pelosi’s Italian Holiday Cookies with all free and paid subscribers today! If you’re in the Bay Area, I hope to see you at our annual Cookie Swap on Sunday! And don’t forget, you can access hundreds more recipes from featured cookbooks by becoming a paid subscriber to Salt + Spine today:
We are so excited to share this recipe from Dan Pelosi for his Italian Holiday Cookies, excerpted from his first cookbook, Let’s Eat.
Also from Let’s Eat:
Dan writes in Let’s Eat1:
You know this girl. She shows up to every party, invited or not. She’s always wearing a different festive outfit and has an elusive and unique flavor profile that’s sometimes hard to nail down. Truth be told, no holiday party would be complete without her there. She is the classic Italian cookie. Your family may call her anginetti cookies or drop cookies, and you might even flavor her with a combo of extracts like anise, lemon, almond, or vanilla. This Italian holiday cookie recipe answers to any name and can wear any of those outfits or combination of them. Once you invite her to your holiday party, you won’t be able to have another without her!
This recipe makes 6 dozen cookies.
INGREDIENTS
Cookies:
6 cups all-purpose flour
2 rounded tablespoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups granulated sugar
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter or ¾ cup shortening, at room temperature
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons almond extract
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 ½ cups whole milk
Icing:
2 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons almond extract
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Food coloring (optional)
Sprinkles (optional)
DIRECTIONS
MAKE THE COOKIES:
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two sheet pans with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a large bowl if using a handheld mixer), combine the granulated sugar and butter. Beat on medium speed until a fluffy, pale-yellow mixture forms, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the eggs, almond extract, and vanilla. Beat on low until combined, about 2 minutes.
Add ½ cup of the milk and beat on low until just combined, about 30 seconds. Add a third of the dry ingredients and mix again until just combined, about 30 seconds. Continue alternating between the milk and dry ingredients until everything is combined. The batter will be very sticky.
Using a floured tablespoon or cookie scoop, scoop out 12 balls of dough, rolling each into a perfect-ish ball, and placing them on one of the prepared sheet pans, spacing them 2 inches apart. Bake for about 10 minutes, until the cookies are lightly golden on the bottom and slightly cracked on top. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining batter. While each batch of cookies is in the oven, scoop the next batch onto the other prepared sheet pan, making sure the sheet pans have cooled down a bit before adding more dough.
MEANWHILE, MAKE THE ICING:
In a medium bowl, combine the powdered sugar, almond extract, and vanilla. Slowly add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and whisk to combine into a slightly runny frosting. If you want to add color, separate the icing into small bowls and whisk one drop of food coloring into each bowl.
Place the wire rack with cookies on a sheet pan or piece of parchment paper. Dunk each cookie into the icing and set back on the wire rack. Sprinkle immediately with sprinkles (if using). Let the icing dry completely before eating, sharing, shipping, or storing. Transfer any leftovers to an airtight container and add a slice of sandwich bread to the container to keep the cookies soft. Store at room temperature for up to 2 weeks, swapping out the bread as it goes stale.
Find more recipes like this one in Dan Pelosi’s Let’s Eat. You can purchase a copy via these links:
Omnivore Books (signed!) • Bookshop
Reprinted with permission from Let’s Eat: 101 Recipes to Fill Your Heart & Home by Dan Pelosi © 2023. Published by Union Square & Co. Photography © Andrew Bui.