Anginetti Cookies
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Cuisine: Dolce
Serves: 6 to 7 dozen cookies
Ingredients
  • 2 sticks of unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • Finely grated peel of one lemon
  • 2 tsp. pure anise extract
  • 6 large eggs, room temperature
  • ½ tsp. kosher salt
  • 5 cups all purpose flour, plus additional for shaping
  • 6 tsp. baking powder
  • 1 pound of confectioners sugar
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 1 tsp. pure lemon or anise extract
  • ¼ to ½ cup of cool water
  • Colored sprinkles if desired
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350ยบ, line three heavy duty baking sheets with parchment paper. Adjust the racks of the oven to the center top and center bottom positions.
  2. Combine the 5 cups of flour, salt and baking powder in a large bowl and stir with a whisk to incorporate.
  3. Place the softened butter, sugar and lemon peel in the work bowl of a standing mixer. Beat on medium speed until well combined, stopping to scrape down the bowl. Add the anise extract and continue to beat for an additional 2 minutes, scraping the bowl twice during that time.
  4. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating at medium high speed for one minute each, scraping down the bowl before adding the next egg.
  5. With the mixer on a low setting, slowly add the dry ingredients - about 1 cup at a time until combined. The dough should be soft but come away from the sides of the bowl. Dust your work surface with a little flour and turn the dough out onto the work surface. Knead briefly and cover loosely with plastic wrap.
  6. Begin forming the Anginetti by taking a small portion of the dough, start with about 1 cup and roll into a rope about ½ inch in diameter. You may need to lightly flour the work surface, however be careful not to add too much flour to the existing dough. Cut the rope into 4 to 4½ segments and begin to form the cookies by looping the small rope and bringing the end under the center to form a knot. Place on the parchment lined baking sheet. Continue until you have used all of the dough.
  7. Bake for 7 minutes, quickly open the oven and reverse the placement of the baking sheets. Bake for an additional 5 minutes or until the cookies are lightly colored and have risen. Do not over bake these as the resulting Anginetti will become quite hard. Remove to a cooling rack and begin to prepare the icing.
  8. Icing: Sift the confectioners sugar into a medium sized bowl, add the fresh lemon juice and extract, stir with a whisk. Slowly add the water as needed to make a somewhat thick but spreadable icing, you may not use the entire ½ cup of water. Have a large rack set over parchment or waxed paper. Using a small spatula, ice the top of each cookie and set on the wire rack. Add colored sprinkles if desired. Allow the icing to harden, the Anginetti can be divided and placed on individual trays & wrapped to be given as gifts, or stored in an airtight container for about 1 week.
Recipe by LaBellaSorella at https://labellasorella.com/2015/12/anginetti-cookies-2/