Description
Nonna’s delightful Italian Easter Cookies blend traditional family flavors with sweet nostalgia. Crisp, powdered sugar-dusted morsels invite celebration and connection to cherished culinary memories you’ll savor with each delicate bite.
Ingredients
Scale
- 3 cups (360 g) flour
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter
- 3 large eggs
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tbsp lemon zest
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 cup (120 g) powdered sugar
- 2 tbsps lemon juice
- 2 tbsps milk
- 2 tbsps pastel nonpareil sprinkles
Instructions
- Preparation: Warm the oven to 350°F (175°C) and line three baking sheets with parchment paper, ensuring adequate spacing.
- Dry Ingredient Fusion: Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl, creating a smooth, integrated mixture.
- Aromatic Sugar Transformation: Massage lemon zest into granulated sugar, releasing essential oils and creating a fragrant base.
- Butter Emulsion: Cream softened butter with zesty sugar using an electric mixer until the mixture becomes light, airy, and voluminous.
- Wet Ingredient Integration: Fold in eggs and vanilla extract, blending until the mixture achieves a silky, uniform texture.
- Dough Formation: Gradually incorporate dry ingredients into wet mixture, mixing carefully to develop a thick, slightly tacky dough.
- Cookie Shaping and Baking: Scoop uniform dough balls onto prepared sheets, spacing them 2 inches apart. Bake for 14-16 minutes, rotating midway, until edges turn golden brown.
- Cooling and Glazing: Transfer cookies to a wire rack and cool completely. Whisk powdered sugar, lemon juice, and milk into a smooth glaze.
- Finishing Touch: Dip cookie tops into glaze, allowing excess to drip off, and immediately sprinkle with pastel-colored decorations. Let icing set for 10-12 minutes until fully hardened.
Notes
- Zest Technique: Massaging lemon zest into sugar releases essential oils, intensifying the citrus flavor and creating a more aromatic base for the cookies.
- Butter Consistency: Ensure butter is softened at room temperature to achieve a light, fluffy texture when creamed with sugar, which is crucial for tender cookies.
- Baking Precision: Rotate baking sheets halfway through cooking to guarantee even browning and prevent uneven baking spots on the cookies.
- Glaze Setting: Work quickly when adding sprinkles to freshly glazed cookies, as the icing starts to harden within minutes, determining the final decorative appearance.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Desserts, Snacks
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Italian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 22
- Calories: 190
- Sugar: 10 g
- Sodium: 35 mg
- Fat: 7 g
- Saturated Fat: 4 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 29 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Cholesterol: 45 mg