Italian Christmas Cookies Recipe - Creations by Kara (2024)

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Italian Christmas Cookies – colorful sprinkles make these cookies look so pretty on any holiday tray! A creamy glaze makes them extra tasty!

Baking and handing out holiday treats is one of my favorite Christmas traditions. Chocolate Chip Cookie Sticks and Oreo Mint Chocolate Cookies are two of my favorites. They look festive, and are so tasty!

Italian Christmas Cookies Recipe - Creations by Kara (1)

Before making these cookies, I had never tried an Italian cookie before. I know I’m in the minority, but I’m not a fan of sprinkles. (Don’t hate me.) They are so cute, but I don’t like biting into them. My kids, on the other hand, LOVE sprinkles, so they thought these cookies were the bomb!

Traditional Italian cookies are made with anise flavoring. But since everyone in my house detests black licorice, I opted to use almond extract instead. I made a couple cookies for myself without sprinkles, and I thought it was a perfect flavor!

With a soft, cake like texture, plenty of sweet glaze, and a spattering of colorful sprinkles, these cookies will disappear fast!

How to make Italian Christmas Cookies:

Ingredients needed:

  • eggs
  • oil (I used vegetable oil)
  • sugar
  • anise, almond, or vanilla extract
  • all purpose flour
  • baking powder
  • salt
  • powdered sugar
  • cream or milk (any type of cream, I used half & half)

Whisk together the eggs, oil, sugar, and extract in a mixing bowl. Stir in the dry ingredients.

Scoop dough with a cookie scoop, then roll dough into balls.

Italian Christmas Cookies Recipe - Creations by Kara (2)

Chill them for about an hour, or place them in the freezer for 15 minutes. They will settle a little bit because the dough is fairly soft.

Italian Christmas Cookies Recipe - Creations by Kara (3)

Bake the cold cookie dough balls at 350° for about 9 minutes, or till the bottoms are lightly brown and the tops are set. Remove to wire racks to cool.

After the cookies are completely cooled, whip up a simple glaze by whisking together powdered sugar, a pinch of salt, extract of your choice, and warmed milk or cream.

Dip the tops of the cookies into the glaze, then quickly add sprinkles before the glaze sets up.

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This recipe makes about 30 cookies, but it can easily be doubled.

Italian Christmas Cookies Recipe - Creations by Kara (5)

PRO TIPS:

-For the prettiest cookies, don’t skip the chilling step. Chilling the dough helps the cookies keep their round shape. Without chilling, they tend to spread.

-To assure that the cookies are similar sized and bake evenly, I like to use a small cookie scoop. After scooping, I roll them into balls.

-Don’t over bake, or the cookies will be dry and crumbly. They are done when the tops are set, they will continue to cook a bit after you take them out of the oven.

While these cookies are perfect for Christmas, you can change up the colors of sprinkles to match any holiday or celebration.

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How to store Italian Cookies

The cookies are best eaten within a day or two after they are glazed. After that the color from the sprinkles starts to bleed. Store them in airtight containers at room temperature. I like to put a piece of waxed paper between layers so the glaze and sprinkles stay intact.

If you want to make them ahead of time, you can freeze them without the glaze, and add it the day you serve them.

No matter what time of year you make these cookies, they are sure to be a hit!

Italian Christmas Cookies Recipe - Creations by Kara (7)

FOR MORE CHRISTMAS RECIPES, CHECK OUT:

  • Pistachio Sugar Cookie Bars
  • Caramel Filled Bon Bon Cookies
  • White Chocolate Molasses Cookies
  • Cranberry Chocolate Chip Muffins
  • Creamy White Christmas Punch

Italian Christmas Cookies

Yield: 30 cookies

Italian Cookies

Italian Christmas Cookies Recipe - Creations by Kara (8)

Soft cake like cookies topped with a creamy glaze and colorful sprinkles.

Prep Time20 minutes

Cook Time9 minutes

Additional Time1 hour

Total Time1 hour 29 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2eggs
  • 6Tbspoil
  • 1/2cupsugar
  • 1tspalmond,anise, or vanilla extract
  • 2cupsflour
  • 2tspbaking powder
  • 1pinchsalt

Glaze

  • 2cupspowdered sugar
  • 1tspalmond,anise, or vanilla extract
  • 1pinchsalt
  • 3Tbspcream or milk,warmed (more or less)

Instructions

  1. Whisk together eggs, oil, sugar, and extract in a mixing bowl. Stir in flour, baking powder, and salt.
  2. Roll dough by tablespoonfuls into balls. Chill balls of dough for at least an hour, or freeze for 15-20 minutes. Place cold dough balls on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.
  3. Bake at 350° for about 9 minutes, or till tops are set. Bottoms will be lightly browned, but tops should still be white.Remove cookies to cooling racks and cool completely.
  4. For glaze, combine all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk till smooth, adding enough warm cream to get a thin but creamy consistency.
  5. Dip tops of the cookies in the glaze, then top with sprinkles.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

30 cookies

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving:Calories: 113Total Fat: 4gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 15mgSodium: 52mgCarbohydrates: 18gNet Carbohydrates: 0gFiber: 0gSugar: 11gSugar Alcohols: 0gProtein: 2g

Did you make this recipe?

Leave a comment below and pin the recipe to Pinterest!

See all my COOKIE RECIPES.

Italian Christmas Cookies Recipe - Creations by Kara (2024)

FAQs

What is the most popular Italian cookie? ›

Most Popular Italian Cookies
  • Amaretti. These lovely almond-flavoured biscotti were supposedly first made during the Middle Ages. ...
  • Ricciarelli. ...
  • Baci di dama. ...
  • Chocolate-Pistachio Biscotti. ...
  • Savoiardi. ...
  • Canestrelli. ...
  • Biscotti al Cocco. ...
  • Pizzelle.
Oct 22, 2020

What is the number 1 Christmas cookie? ›

Based on this data from General Mills, Peanut Butter Blossoms are the most popular Christmas cookie in the country; it's the most-visited cookie recipe in seven states, which means it's the most common favorite cookie in the U.S. That's a pretty high honor!

Why did my Italian wedding cookies flatten? ›

If you don't refrigerate, they will come out flatter, more like a traditional drop cookie. Still good, but I love how they bake up if you refrigerate the dough. I find it easiest to make the dough the day before and they bake it up the next day or so.

What is the original Christmas cookie? ›

Modern Christmas cookies can trace their history to recipes from Medieval Europe biscuits, when many modern ingredients such as cinnamon, ginger, black pepper, almonds and dried fruit were introduced into the west.

What flour do Italians use for cookies? ›

For cookies, bars, cakes/cupcakes, biscuits, scones, or anything that needs a tender crumb, use Farina di grano tenero, 00. This is your “cake flour.” Nobody wants a chewy cake. For bread, I recommend starting off with Farina di Manitoba, grano tenero, 0; this is similar to standard American bread flour.

What is the number one cookie in the world? ›

Oreo is the best-selling cookie in the world. It is now sold in over 100 countries. Oreo was first produced in 1912 by the National Biscuit Company, now known as Na-Bis-Co.

What is the difference between Italian and Mexican wedding cookies? ›

Italian wedding cookies typically contain almonds or hazelnuts and are flavored with almond extract, vanilla extracts and spices like cinnamon or anise. Mexican wedding cookies, on the other hand, use a combination of ground nuts such as pecans and walnuts, as well as butter, sugar and sometimes chocolate chips.

How many cookies for 70 guests? ›

How to Estimate the Number of Cookies Per Person? The general rule of thumb suggests calculating 2-3 cookies per person if other desserts are available. If cookies are the primary sweet treat, consider increasing the count to 4-6 per person.

How can I make my cookies fluffier instead of flat? ›

The Fix: Chilling the Dough

Refrigerate the remaining dough until it feels firm to the touch, one to two hours. This chills the butter, so it won't spread rapidly in the oven. Although your cookies won't be as fluffy as they might have been, they won't turn into pancakes.

What is the least popular Christmas cookie? ›

On the naughty list of cookies, Americans gave the lowest win records to anise cookies, which only won 29% of its matchups. Other low performers included chai sugar cookies (30%), pfeffernusse (31%), spritz cookies (32%), and meringue cookies (34%).

What country invented Christmas cookies? ›

The First Christmas Cookies

Those who would like to take credit for the invention of the Christmas cookie will have to arm wrestle the Germans for it. They believe that Weihnachtsplätzchen, a term that refers specifically to cookies and broadly to holiday treats, encompasses the origin of Christmas baking.

What is Santa Claus's favorite cookie? ›

Chocolate Chip cookies

Santa himself lists these as his favorites, and he prefers them soft and gooey with lots of chocolate chips. If you decide to leave these out for him, make sure there's a glass of cold milk nearby!

What cookie originated in Italy? ›

Cantucci – Biscotti Bliss

Cantucci, also known as biscotti, are delicious twice-baked almond cookies hailing from Tuscany. With their origin tracing back to the 16th-century city of Prato, these delightful treats have stood the test of time.

What are the top 5 favorite cookies? ›

Some of the most popular cookie flavors include:
  • Chocolate chip.
  • Peanut butter.
  • Peanut butter blossoms.
  • Double chocolate chip.
  • Snickerdoodle.
  • Sugar.
  • Shortbread.
  • Pumpkin.

What cookies are in an Italian cookie tray? ›

Our Classic Italian assortment is a great way to sample of our traditional sweets. This tray includes Cranberry Almond Biscotti, Amaretto Biscotti with Almonds, Chocolate Almond Macaroons and Pignoli Cookies.

What is Italy cookie choices? ›

Italy Cookie Choices allows you to easily comply with the european cookie law (and Italian too), showing a notice to the user only the very first time he visits your website. Message, position and the style can be easily modified through the plugin menu.

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