These Italian cookies are soft, almond flavored cookies topped with icing and colorful sprinkles. A classic dessert that’s perfect for the holidays or any other special event.
When the winter months roll around, I find myself baking up plenty of dessert recipes including eggnog cake, thumbprint cookies, Oreo stuffed cookies, peppermint patties, peanut brittle and these delightful little Italian cookies.
These Italian cookies are a traditional recipe that never goes out of style. How could anyone resist soft pillowy cookies dipped in icing and showered with sprinkles?
Feel free to switch up the sprinkle colors to decorate them for Christmas or any other occasion. You can serve them with some of my favorite holiday treats like reindeer chow, buckeye balls, peppermint bark and pizzelles.
Table of Contents
Italian Cookies Ingredients
To make Italian cookies make sure you have butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, almond extract, flour, baking powder and sprinkles. For the frosting you will need powdered sugar, vanilla extract, almond extract and cream.
How Do You Make Italian Cookies?
To make Italian cookies first make the dough by beating together butter and sugar with a stand mixer or electric mixer. Add eggs, vanilla extract and almond extract and mix it all together. Next add the flour and baking powder, and mix until it is just combined. With the dough complete, scoop it out and roll it into balls with your hands. Let the balls chill in the freezer to prevent them from spreading too much during baking. The dough goes into the oven for a few minutes until the edges are lightly browned. Let the cookies cool on a wire rack. When the cookies are cool, they are ready for frosting.
Make an easy frosting by whisking together powdered sugar, cream, vanilla extract and almond extract in a medium bowl. Dip the cookies in this frosting and add a few sprinkles. When the frosting dries the cookies are ready to eat!
Tips For The Perfect Italian Cookies
- When scooping the dough, use a cookie dough scoop or measuring spoon to make sure cookies are all the same size.
- When you shape your dough into balls, make sure your hands are a little damp, but not wet.
- Let the glaze harden for about an hour before serving the Italian cookies.
Quick Tip
Make sure the balls of dough are completely smooth to get minimal cracking during baking.
Recipe FAQs
You can freeze these Italian cookies in an airtight container or bag for up to 2 months. I recommend freezing the cookies before you’ve frosted them, then thaw and add the frosting and sprinkles right before serving.
Go ahead and freeze this cookie dough in balls for up to 2 months. Just thaw them overnight in a refrigerator and bake them as stated in this recipe when you are ready to serve them.
You can store these Italian cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
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Flavor Variations
While these Italian cookies are delicious as-is, you can change up the flavor to suit your taste.
- Flavorings: You can use your favorite flavor extracts such as anise or lemon instead of almond extract. Try adding some almond paste, cinnamon, orange zest or even a little honey for extra flavor.
- Chocolate Chips: Feel free to add some mini chocolate chips to the cookie dough.
- Coloring: You can add a little food coloring to the frosting for a fun twist on the classic recipe.
- Nuts: Finely chop nuts like pistachios, pine nuts, walnuts or almonds and mix them in the dough.
These cute little treats are always a hit with kids and adults alike. I make these every year for Christmas with red and green sprinkles and everyone always asks me for the recipe!
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Italian Cookies
Ingredients
For the cookies
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/4 cup rainbow sprinkles
For the frosting
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
- 3 tablespoons heavy cream can also use milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick silicone baking mats.
- Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of a mixer, then beat for 2-3 minutes or until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs, vanilla extract and almond extract. Beat until smooth.
- Add the flour and baking powder to the bowl. Beat until just combined.
- Use lightly damp hands to roll 2 tablespoons of dough into a smooth ball. Repeat with remaining dough.
- Place the cookies 2 inches apart on the baking sheets.
- Place the sheets of cookies in the freezer to chill for 20 minutes.
- Bake each pan of cookies for 9-11 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned.
- Transfer the cookies to a rack and cool completely.
- For the frosting, place the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, almond extract and cream in a bowl, then whisk until smooth.
- Dip the top of each cookie into the frosting, then add the sprinkles on top of the cookies.
- Let the cookies sit for 1 hour for the frosting to harden, then serve.
Notes
- Make sure the balls of dough are completely smooth to get minimal cracking during baking.
- When scooping the dough, use a cookie dough scoop or measuring spoon to make sure cookies are all the same size.
- When you shape your dough into balls, make sure your hands are a little damp, but not wet.
Hi Sara,
The flavor was spot on, but the texture turned out dry. I only mixed the ingredients until they just came together, but I did need to bake them for 18 minutes because they still felt doughy. The bottoms were a light brown, so I know they weren’t burnt. I live at an elevation of about 6,300 feet. I’m trying to recreate my grandmother’s Italian Christmas Cookies, and the taste is perfect—it’s just the texture that’s too dry. Do you have any suggestions?
It sounds like they were overbaked, most cookies seem overly soft when they come out of the oven, but then they do firm up as they cool! You could add a minute or two to the original baking instructions, but doubling the baking time feels like a lot. It could potentially be an elevation thing, but I have not tested this recipe at a higher elevation so unfortunately I can’t say for sure.
Love these cookies! Can you tell me how to prevent deep cracks on the top? I did roll them well and they seemed smooth but developed cracks while baking. Wondering if you have any other tips to stop the cracking.
Thank you!
Mary
It’s possible that you may have overmixed the dough a bit. Mine do crack some, but typically on the sides rather than on top, so some cracking is normal and expected.
I love almond but wondering why they need vanilla too.
These are very good flavor but I think I made mine too big (as mine took a lot longer to cook). Should this recipe yield about 16-18 cookies?
It should make about 18!
These came out great! They taste like a Italian bakery we love to go to.
Amazzzzing recipe !! Firm on the outside yet soooo soft inside. OMG Heavenly!!
Better than any bakery I have had them from.
These are always one of my favorite treats to make during the holidays. Love the touch of sprinkles; looking forward to giving these a try!
Made these and loved them! Thank you!
I am in heaven! These cookies look fabulous!
OH I need like 10 of these to snack on tonight!!! LOL
They look so so good.
These Italian cookies are look so soft and delicious!
I may eat way more of these than I should! They are so tasty and look great too!
I made these cookies for my friend and she loves them! Thank you for the recipe!
Adding these to my holiday baking list. Love the little sprinkles on top.
Great recipe Italian anise cookies !
I really like the shape of these and they’d be hard to resist!