Italian Christmas Cookies

The occasion of merriment and joy, Christmas is not just confined to one part of the world and over the ages has spread its influence all over the world and Italy being one of the most creative and fashionable countries of brings to you its special range of Christmas cookies. These Italian cookies being different in origin and nature render a totally distinct and lovely taste to your Christmas this season and every season. Enjoy and experience the special taste of Italian Christmas cookies this Christmas as Christmasonnet.com brings to you an interesting account about the recipes of the same. The sweetness of the Christmas cookies attains a different level as

Italian cookies are of a different make and they are highly sweet and offer a romantic aroma to the cookie. The most commonly used ingredients for Italian Christmas cookies are, butter, sugar, ground raisins, chopped walnuts, unsweetened cocoa, cloves, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, vanilla, black coffee, wine of any kind, vegetable oil etc. and to bake and cook most of the Christmas cookies it takes hardly 15 to 20 minutes and your delicious Italian treat is ready for the Christmas treat.



Italian Cookies Recipes
Ingredients:
Butter 1 pound
Sugar 2 pounds
Ground Raisins 1 pound
Chopped Walnuts 1 pound
Unsweetened Cocoa 1/2 pound
Cloves 3 tablespoons
Baking Soda 3 teaspoons
Baking Powder 6 teaspoons
Cinnamon 2 tablespoons
Vanilla 1 tablespoon
Black Coffee 4 cups
Chocolate bits 12 ounces
Flour 4 pounds
Frosting
Unsweetened Cocoa 3 tablespoons
Confectioners sugar 1 pound
Almond flavoring
Hot water or milk

Directions:
Blend and whip sugar and butter. Add all ingredients, and make sure to add flour at last, and it should be enough to be able to handle the dough. Form them into teaspoonful balls and bake for around 10 to 20 minutes at 375 degree. When they are cool combine the ingredients of the frosting and add enough hot water or milk to make a spreading consistency.

Wine Cookies or Biscotti al Vino
Ingredients:
Wine of any kind 1 cup (250 ml)
Vegetable oil 1 cup (250 ml)
Sugar 1 cup (220 g)
Baking powder 4 teaspoons
Flour 5 cups (500 g)
A pinch of salt
More sugar for rolling the cookies in

Direction:
Blend all the ingredients together, until dough is firm yet fairly soft. Roll the dough into snakes that you can shape into rings or S shapes, or as balls that can be flattened with the palm. Drag the cookies in the granulated sugar, and place them on a lightly greased cookie sheet, and bake them in the oven for 20 minutes at 360 degree F and cool them on a rack.

Strawberry Biscotti
Ingredients:
Frozen puff pastry dough, thawed
A box of Amaretti di Saronno
Strawberry jam

Direction:
Mix and blend the frozen puff pastry dough, amaretti di Saronno, and strawberry jam. Thaw the dough, and roll it out, and cut it into 2-inch squares. Grind amaretti, in a blender, to make a fine powder and combine the powder with strawberry jam to result into a sweet paste, according to your taste the proportions of the two ingredients may vary. Preheat your oven to 420 degree F and put a teaspoon of the filling on each of the squares while the oven is heating and fold the corners of the squares up and pinch the tips together to form little baskets, and place them on a lightly greased and floured cookie sheet. Bake the biscotti for 20 minutes or until they are nicely browned.

To know more about the Italian Christmas cookies and about their varied tastes and recipes browse through Christmasonnet offering an interesting account about the same.