Italian Christmas Cookies

search

Italian Christmas Cookies

Italian Christmas Cookies
MAKES
36 (about 3 dozen)
COOK TIME
12 Min

What's a cookie platter or exchange without a few Italian Christmas Cookies? Well, you'll be all set with these easy-to-make, fun-to-decorate, everybody-loves 'em favorites.

What You'll Need

  • 5 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 5 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 cup milk
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 teaspoon lemon or almond extract
  • 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
  • 2 eggs

  • Glaze
  • 3 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
  • 4 tablespoons milk

  • Rainbow sprinkles and decorating sugar for topping (optional)

What to Do

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Coat baking sheets with nonstick cooking spray.
     
  2. In a large bowl, combine flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, oil, milk, salt, extract, lemon juice, and eggs. Roll dough into 1-inch balls and place on prepared baking sheets.
     
  3. Bake 12 to 15 minutes, until cookies are set but not brown. Let sit 5 minutes then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
     
  4. In a medium bowl, combine glaze ingredients and stir until smooth.
     
  5. Dip tops of cooled cookies in glaze and place on wire rack then immediately decorate as desired.
     

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Options

  • If you want to decorate your cookies with multiple colors, separate glaze into smaller bowls and mix in food colors one drop at a time until reaching desired colors. If you want to add a flavor to your glaze, add a drop of your favorite extract.

  • Italian Christmas Cookies are so cute when decorated, which is why they make great gifts any time of the year. Wrap a few in a pretty gift bag and pass 'em out to your loved ones or sale them at a bake sale. You can even send them in the mail with these tips on how to mail & store cookies.

  • Even though these are called Italian Christmas Cookies, we love to make them year-round. They're great for Easter, potlucks, and birthday parties. 

  • Looking for more Christmas cookie recipes? Then be sure to check out our Christmas Cookie Countdown with 25 different cookie recipes. 

12 Days of Christmas Cookies II

 

Nutritional InformationShow More

Servings Per Recipe: 36

  • Amount Per Serving % Daily Value *
  • Calories 179
  • Calories from Fat 60
  • Total Fat 6.7g 10 %
  • Saturated Fat 1.0g 5 %
  • Trans Fat 0.0g 0 %
  • Protein 2.4g 5 %
  • Amount Per Serving % Daily Value *
  • Cholesterol 11mg 4 %
  • Sodium 76mg 3 %
  • Total Carbohydrates 28g 9 %
  • Dietary Fiber 0.5g 2 %
  • Sugars 14g 0 %

Your Recently Viewed Recipes

Leave a Comment

Rate

Cancel Reply to Comment

Thanks for your comment. Don't forget to share!

Does 5 cups flour really only make 3 dozen cookies?

Hi there! That is the correct amount of flour for this recipe. :)

I made a batch of these and the dough was way too wet to roll so I came back to the site to see if I had made a mistake on the amount of oil or milk or to see if the recipe had been modified. Anyway, I added another cup of flour and 1/3 cup of sugar and it was still not rollable. I used a small cookie scoop with the squeeze release and was able to drop the dough on the pans. They cooked up well and tasted fine with frosting that I also added 2 Tsp of lemon juice.

These are not a cookie cutter type cookie, you roll the little ball of dough in your hand then put on cookie sheet.

Can I use Soy milk instead of regular milk?

Can I make and freeze these cookies? I am going to make them for the teachers at school as a Christmas gift. I love how festive they look, and will be delicious! Should I freeze before I glaze and decorate them? Thank you.

I make these all the time, especially for weddings. Freeze them before you glaze and decorate.

You can freeze these frosted. I do it all the time. I have a very similar recipe from my Italian Grandmother.

Close

Report Inappropriate Comment

Are you sure you would like to report this comment? It will be flagged for our moderators to take action.

Thank you for taking the time to improve the content on our site.

Close Window