Italian Bakery Butter Cookies Recipes

ITALIAN BUTTER COOKIES

Steps:

• Position a rack in the center of the oven, then heat to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Place butter into the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, beat the butter on high until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides once, about 2 minutes.
• Add the sifted powdered sugar. Start the mixer on low, and then increase the speed to high. Beat until the mixture is very smooth and soft peaks form, scraping down the sides of the bowl once halfway through.
• Add the egg yolk one at a time, and blend completely after each addition. Add the vanilla extract and blend completely once more.
• Sift the flour with baking powder and salt. Add the flour mixture one-quarter cup at a time, mixing on low speed until just combined. Don't overmix.
• Fit a piping bag with a large open star piping tip. Pipe 2" long sections of filling onto a baking sheet, leaving 1-2" between each cookie.
• Bake 13-15 minutes or until the edges are lightly golden brown. Cool on the pan 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Melt the chocolate in the microwave in 20 second intervals, stirring thoroughly between each, until the chocolate has melted. Melt the coconut oil or shortening, then add, 1 tsp at a time, to the melted chocolate. Whisk until the chocolate mixture is very smooth and slightly thinned out. Dip each cookie into the melted chocolate, coating halfway, then place onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. Sprinkle the chocolate with sprinkles.
• Allow the chocolate to harden completely. For best results, let cookies sit at room temperature for 24 hours to properly crisp and for the chocolate to fully cure.

GINA'S ITALIAN BUTTER COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Combine cake flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.
• Combine butter, sugar, and shortening in a large bowl; cream with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Mix in almond paste until thoroughly combined. Add eggs, vanilla extract, lemon juice, and almond extract. Reduce the mixing speed to low and slowly add dry ingredients. Scrape down the bowl once all dry ingredients are added, then mix on medium speed until evenly combined, about 30 seconds.
• Fit a large pastry bag with an 864 or 4S tip and fill bag with batter. Pipe evenly sized cookies onto an ungreased cookie sheet 1 1/2 to 2 inches apart, giving cookies space to puff slightly during baking.
• Bake in the preheated oven, in batches if necessary, until bottom edges are slightly browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

ITALIAN BAKERY COOKIES

Steps:

• Place oven racks in the top and bottom third positions. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
• Whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder in a medium mixing bowl. Add the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the egg, vanilla and almond extracts and beat until light and smooth, 1 minute more. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture. Beat until just combined.
• Transfer the dough to a piping bag fitted with a large open star tip. Pipe the dough onto the prepared baking sheets in 2-inch lines, spaced 1-inch apart (you should be able to fit 12 cookies per tray). Bake in the oven until the cookies are set on top and golden around the edges, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool completely on the sheet trays. Once the cookies are set, transfer all onto one tray, leaving 1 cooled tray to bake the remaining dough (you'll have enough for about 12 more cookies).
• Melt the chocolate and coconut oil in a double boiler or in the microwave on 50-percent power in 15 second increments. Pipe or spread the flat sides of half of the cookies with about 1 teaspoon jam each, going almost to the edges. Sandwich with the remaining cookies (you should have about 18 sandwiches). Allow the jam to set for 2 hours or overnight, if you have time. Otherwise, it's okay to go ahead and start dipping your sandwich cookies into the chocolate (it just might be a little slippery.).
• Dip the lower third of the cookies in the chocolate letting the excess drip back into the bowl. Sprinkle with the sprinkles on both sides. Lay back on a parchment lined baking sheet and pop the cookies in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes to let the chocolate set.
• Tip: To make uniformly sized cookies, use a ruler and a marker or pen to draw 2-inch lines on 2 sheets of parchment paper in a 3-by-4-inch grid. Flip the parchment over and place on 2 baking sheets so the marker side is down but you can still see the lines. Using the lines as a template, pipe the dough in 2-inch lines on the baking sheets, using a paring knife or shears, if needed, to cut the dough from the piping bag in straight edges.

ITALIAN BAKERY BUTTER COOKIES

Steps:

• 1. 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). 2. Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs, vanilla .
• 2. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Place dough in a pastry bag fitted with a number 4-S tip (the S means 'star'), and pipe out in 2 inch bars on greased baking pan. (Can also be piped into rosettes or other shapes)
• 3. Bake for about 5 to 7 minutes, until very lightly browned on bottom! Put baked cookies together with jam, frosting or dip half cookie in melted chocolate and dip in sprinkles.

KRISTI'S ITALIAN BAKERY BUTTER COOKIES (NOW GLUTEN FREE!!)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• In an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until really fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well until blended.
• With mixer on low speed, add flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix just until blended. Overmixing the dough will make it tough to squeeze through a pastry bag.
• Fill a pastry bag fitted with a large open star tip with the cookie dough. Pipe cookies onto parchment-lined cookie sheet, spacing them 2 inches apart. If desired, place a cherry half in the center of each cookie before baking.
• Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until edges begin to brown.
• Using a metal spatula, lift cookies off cookie sheet and onto wire cooling racks. Cool. Store in an airtight container.
• Note: For pink or green leaf cookies, tint the dough with a drop or two of red or green food coloring, and use a leaf tip to pipe the shapes. You can then dip the tips of the cookies into melted chocolate and let set on a wire rack.