Italian Easter Cookies (Taralli Dolci)
This holiday make Italian Easter cookies (taralli dolci)! These are a traditional cookie often flavored with citrus, anise, almond, or vanilla and are made from a simple, soft dough then glazed and topped with sprinkles.
Servings 30 cookies
Calories 100kcal
Ingredients
Cookie Dough
- 2 1/2 cups (12 oz) all-purpose flour, scoop and sweep method
- 1/2 tsp table salt
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 8 tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Icing
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 - 5 tbsp milk, plus more if needed
- gel coloring, optional
- sprinkles or nonpareils, optional
Instructions
Make the Dough
- Mix together the flour, salt, and baking powder and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and granulated sugar until they are light colored and rather thick and bubbly, 3-4 minutes.
- Whisk in the melted butter and vanilla until smooth.
- Add the flour and whisk in without overmixing. Then use a silicone spatula to finish combining the flour.
- Chill the dough for 15-20 minutes.
- Heat the oven to 350F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Shape the Rings
- Take a walnut sized piece of dough and roll into a 4-5 inch rope.
- Make a ring from the rope and pinch the ends together. Continue until you have used all the dough.
- Bake the cookies for 12-14 minutes, or until light golden brown and puffed up.
- Transfer to a cooling rack and cool to room temperature.
Ice the Cookies
- Once the cookies are cool, make the icing.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, vanilla, and 4 tablespoons of milk. The icing should be thick but flow off the end of the whisk. Add more milk until it reaches the right consistency.
- If you are using multiple colors, divide the icing among the appropriate number of bowls. Add a TINY amount of gel coloring to each bowl and mix it in. Add more coloring if needed to produce the color you want.
- Ice by scooping some of the icing onto the top of the cookie and spreading it around with the back of your spoon.
- Top with sprinkles or nonpareils if desired.
- Allow the icing to fully harden and dry (this may take an hour or more) and then transfer the cookies to a sealed container for storage.
Notes
- Gel coloring: These colors can be extremely concentrated and you will only need the smallest amount. Not even a drop. Remember it is much easier to add a little more color than it is to mix a bunch more icing. I used Wilton gel coloring.
- Chilling the dough: This isn't strictly necessary, but I do find the dough to be very soft and hard to work without a rest in the fridge.
- Icing: If you prefer a thin icing, add more milk so the icing can flow freely. In that case you will likely only need 2 cups worth of powdered sugar icing.
- Scooping the dough: I used a #40 disher (what I consider my large cookie scoop). With this size I made exactly 30 cookies.
- Variations: You can replace the vanilla with almond or anise. Or you can add some lemon zest to the dough for a lemony cookie.
- Scoop and Sweep Method: To measure the flour, scoop the flour up with your measuring cup and sweep off the excess. Or use a kitchen scale to measure by weight.
Nutrition
Calories: 100kcal