Looking for another holiday cookie to test for Christmas/Thanksgiving, I came across these pretty little Italian Sprinkle Cookies. I've never been much of a sprinkles person, but these look so tempting.
These are simple cookies that are just delicious. They're a little time consuming, but you'll be happy with the result.
These are different to make, stepwise, and having your cooling rack, all of your cookie sheets and ingredients ready to go will help things go a little more smoothly.
As soon as they're out of the oven, you plop them into the glaze. Then, one at a time you lift them out of the glaze with a fork, sliding the bottom of the cookie along the rim of the bowl to get the excess off.
Immediately sprinkle the sprinkles on the cookie, then proceed with the next one. The glaze hardens very quickly and if you don't get the sprinkles on them immediately, they'll roll right off of the cookie!
You'll want to spray the wire cookie cooling rack because the warm glazed cookies tend to stick. I didn't spray the rack with my first batch and they ended up with fingerprints on them from me trying to scoot them off the rack. I put dibs on the ones with the fingerprints so my husband wouldn't have to eat them. I'm a good wife.
Here are some with a Christmas theme:
These Italian Sprinkle Cookies aren't just pretty - they're tasty too. Soft like a sugar cookie, but puffy, and subtly flavored with almond and orange. Be careful not to go overboard with the almond extract in the glaze. It can really overwhelm the tender little cookie.
These will be nice little holiday cookies and you can make them as festive as you want. They're different from your standard sugar cookie - I think it's the glaze that really completes the taste.
Get your favorite tea or coffee, a little pile of these excellent cookies, and enjoy!
Looking for More Delicious Holiday Cookie Recipes?
Italian Sprinkle Cookies
Soft, puffy, tender cookies with a hint of almond and orange. Very pretty!
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs
- 2 ¾ C all-purpose flour
- 1 ¼ C powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon plus ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ C vegetable or canola oil
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- ⅛ teaspoon orange extract
- ½ teaspoon grated orange zest
- For the Glaze:
- ⅓ C milk, room temperature
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 to 3 ½ C powdered sugar
- multicolored sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare cookie sheets with parchment paper. Set up a wire rack with waxed paper or aluminum foil under the rack to catch glaze drippings. Lightly spray the rack with cooking spray so the cookies won't stick to it.
- In a medium bowl, beat the eggs until they're light and slightly foamy, about 4 minutes. Pour in the vegetable oil , almond extract, orange extract, and orange zest. Set the bowl aside.
- In a stand mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, powdered sugar, and baking powder. Change to the paddle attachment and turn the mixer on low. Stream the egg mixture into the flour mixture and mix until fully combined. Dough will be slightly sticky. Refrigerate the batter for at least 30 minutes so it will firm up.
- Roll the dough into 1 ½" balls, lightly flouring your hands if necessary, and place them on the prepared cookie sheet. Return the dough to the refrigerator while baking cookies.
- While the cookies are baking, prepare the glaze. In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, almond extract, and vanilla extract. Add the powdered sugar, starting at 3 cups and whisk all together. The glaze should be a bit thin (but not runny) so the cookies will glaze correctly.
- After the first batch of cookies is baked, remove them from the oven and carefully dump them two or three at a time into the glaze. Turn with a fork to cover the cookies completely, then place one on the wire rack.
- Immediately sprinkle with the sprinkles, then proceed with the second cookie and so on. Let the cookies cool on the wire rack for about 2 hours until the glaze completely sets, then store in a sealed container.
Notes
Tips and Stuff:
If you don't want to use orange extract in the cookies, just double the orange zest. (Sometimes orange extract can be overwhelming)
Make sure and refrigerate the cookie dough, as it can be rather sticky. Lightly flour your hands when you roll the dough into balls.
Be creative when using the sprinkles - green and red for the holidays, multicolored for birthdays, little pink heart sprinkles for Valentines. These cookies are good any time of the year!
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 40 cookies Serving Size: 1 cookieAmount Per Serving: Calories: 176Total Fat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 14mgSodium: 17mgCarbohydrates: 41gFiber: 0gSugar: 34gProtein: 1g
Nutrition Values are Approximate
MaryAnn
Delicious! I left out the orange zest and extract, used almond and vanilla instead. They came out great. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
sblades
So glad you like them, Mary Ann. Almond and vanilla sounds like a great substitution!
MaryAnn
Just made them for the 3rd time, lol. Going to make them for Easter as well, and try lemon zest in them and lemon juice in the glaze. I've been making almond paste cookies since Thanksgiving and now I'm hooked on your sprinkle cookies! Thanks again for the recipe.