20 Days of Christmas Cookies - Day 10

Italian Butter Cookie Recipe

What I think of most when I think about Italian Bakeries and their cookies, are the pretty little, pop in your mouth, butter cookies. They make the Italian butter cookies in different shapes, some sandwiched with jam, some pressed out in a spritz with a chocolate dollop of frosting like these.  There is nothing better than the smell of a fresh-baked Italian butter cookie. When you bake them yourself, they are fresh, soft, and full of flavor. I consider this recipe for Italian butter cookies a gold mine, this 1 recipe can make a traditional Italian butter cookie with a dollop of frosting or the Italian sandwich cookie. Why not do both as I do!

You could use a cookie press and press the cookies onto a cookie sheet, but since I don’t have one, and have nightmares from my childhood trying press cookies out of that contraption, I use a 16” pastry bag fitted with the 849 decorating tip to make the spritz and the 898 decorating tip to make the bar cookies.

Ingredients

1 cup of sugar

1 ½ sticks of butter

2 eggs

2 ½ cups of All-Purpose Flour

1 ½ tsp baking powder

1 cup raspberry preserves

 Chocolate Dipping 

½  cup good quality chocolate broken into pieces

1 ½  TBSP shortening

 Decorations

Chocolate Jimmies

Rainbow Jimmies

Chocolate ButterCream Frosting

 Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Using a heavy-duty stand mixer, or in a large bowl to mix by hand, cream the butter and sugar until well blended.

3. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

4. Sift the flour and baking powder together.

5. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and mix well.

6. Fill the pastry bag with the desired decorating tip.

7. If you use the 849 decorating tip, place the cookie dough bag perpendicular to the cookie sheet and squeeze to the count of three.

8. Release pressure and pull up to release the dough.

9. If you use the 898 decorating tip, place the cookie dough bag parallel to the cookie sheet and count to 3 as you squeeze the bag and move it down a bit.  The cookie should be a bar shape.

10. Place the cookies onto a greased, 11x17 cookie/jelly roll pan, in either the spritz or bar, I always do both.

11. Bake for 8 - 10 minutes, or just until set and the edges are slightly brown.

12. Slightly loosen the cookie log using a small thin spatula, and let them cool completely.

13. Melt the chocolate and shortening together in a double boiler on low heat, stirring constantly just until the chocolate is melted and smooth.

14. Top the spritz cookie with a dollop of frosting.

15. Spread the raspberry preserves on one bar cookie and top with another.

16. Dip the sandwich in chocolate and dip one end in Rainbow Jimmies.

17. Let the cookies set and enjoy.