Italian Christmas Cookies Recipe: How to Make Italian Christmas Cookies
Written by MasterClass
Last updated: Dec 21, 2021 • 3 min read
These festive traditional Italian Christmas cookies are made with a light, buttery dough and topped with sprinkles for a fun, flavorful dessert. This Italian cookie recipe will make a colorful addition to your next holiday dessert spread.
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What Are Italian Christmas Cookies?
Italian Christmas cookies are a simple variety of sugar cookie made with pantry staples like flour, a leavening agent, sugar, butter, and vanilla or anise flavoring. The holiday cookies have a soft, cake-like texture that falls apart in your mouth (which is different from other popular Italian cookies, like the delicate pizzelle or crispier biscotti). These cookies are coated with an almond-flavored sugar glaze and festive sprinkles for a lightly sweet cookie you’ll make again and again throughout the holiday season.
4 Tips for Making Italian Christmas Cookies
Follow these tips to yield perfectly dense, tender Italian Christmas cookies.
- 1. Don’t overbake the cookies. This recipe should yield a light, fluffy cookie that isn’t overbaked. Bake the cookies just past the point of rawness, before any browning occurs, to maintain a moist texture even after they cool.
- 2. Play around with different extracts. Given the simplicity of this traditional dough, you can easily alter the overall flavor of this cooking with different extracts and flavorings. Add peppermint or anise extract for a festive holiday taste, orange or lemon extract for a fruitier flavor, or rum extract for a boozy kick. Other potential flavor additions include espresso powder, lemon zest, or pistachio.
- 3. Cool the cookies before glazing. Glazing the cookies straight out of the oven can result in a melted, drippy glaze that doesn’t adhere well to the cookie. Instead, let the cookies cool for 5–10 minutes and glaze while still warm but not piping hot.
- 4. Make the dough ahead of time. Prep the dough for these cookies in advance and keep it in the freezer for easy pre-holiday prep. Store the unbaked dough in an airtight container in the freezer and thaw it before forming and baking. You can also freeze the baked cookies in an airtight container for up to 6 months, and glaze just before serving.
Italian Christmas Cookies Recipe
makes
36 cookiesprep time
50 mintotal time
1 hrcook time
10 minIngredients
- 1
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar until combined.
- 2
In a medium bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until creamy and fluffy using a hand mixer or stand mixer.
- 3
Add the egg, vanilla extract, and ricotta to the butter mixture and beat the ingredients together until they are well combined.
- 4
Using a wooden spoon, stir the wet ingredients into the flour mixture until the dough is smooth and the ingredients are well incorporated.
- 5
Cover the dough and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes–1 hour.
- 6
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. If multiple sheets aren’t available, work in batches.
- 7
Using a cookie scoop or your hands, scoop up a 1-inch piece of dough and form it into a ball. Place the balls of cookie dough on the cookie sheets with 1 inch of space between each cookie.
- 8
Press down gently on each cookie to slightly flatten the dough.
- 9
Place the sheets in the oven and bake for 8–10 minutes, until the cookies are just cooked through but not browned.
- 10
While the cookies are baking, make the glaze. Whisk together the powdered sugar, almond extract, and 1 tablespoon of milk at a time until the texture is smooth but not runny.
- 11
Remove the cookies from the oven and transfer them to a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes.
- 12
Using your hands, dip the top of each cookie into the glaze and return to the wire rack. Top the cookies with sprinkles while the glaze is still wet. Allow the glaze to firm up before serving.
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