Lucky are those who have grandmothers to share the inherited treasure of the best Italian cookies recipes. You don’t have to roll up your sleeves and knead dough to make Italian cookies at home. Visit an online Italian food store and you can shop a huge range of Italian cookies online. From Italian biscotti cookies to butter cookies, there is a lot to pair with your coffee or tea. However, if you want to try some grandmother’s traditional best Italian cookies recipes then this recipe can be a good starting point.
Chocolate orange cookies are simple and easy to make. These cookies are made with orange zest and orange icing infused into the dough. Chocolate orange cookies are tender and chewy. These cookies can stay soft for days.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
These best Italian cookies require the following few ingredients:
- Sugar
- Butter
- Egg
- Orange zest + orange juice
- Vanilla
- Baking powder
- All purpose four
- Salt
- Good-quality unsweetened cocoa powder
As these are holiday season cookies, you can add chopped walnuts and cinnamon to the dough. You can make the best Italian cookies super yummy. There is also a good orange glaze. So, you might want to put everything and anything.
Freezing Cookie Dough
Freezing dough is a great idea. You can use the dough later to make fresh cookies for your guests. Here is how you can freeze the dough.
- Line a cookies sheet with parchment paper.
- Split the dough into balls and place them on the sheet.
- Flash freeze dough for 30 minutes.
- After dough balls firm up, transfer them to a freezer-safe container or reusable freezer-safe bag. You can keep them like that for up to three months.
- Let the cookie dough thaw at room temperature. Now you can bake the best Italian cookies.
Freezing Baked Cookies
You can also freeze already baked cookies. Transfer baked cookies to a freezer-safe container or reusable freezer-safe bag after they are cool completely. Make sure that the container is lined with parchment paper. You can freeze your cookies with or without icing.
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
- Butter, at room temperature: 6 tablespoons
- Granulated salt: ½ cup
- Egg at room temperature: 1
- Zest from 1 medium orange
- Vanillas extract: 1 teaspoon
Dry Ingredients
- All purpose flour: 1 cup
- Unsweetened cocoa powder: ¼ cup
- Baking powder: 1 teaspoon
- Salt: ¼ teaspoon
Optional
- Chopped walnuts: ¼ cup
- Cinnamon: ½ teaspoon
- Allspice: ¼ teaspoon
For Icing
- Powdered sugar: ½ cup
- Fresh orange juice: 1 tablespoon
- Orange zest: 1 teaspoon
- Melted butter: 1 tablespoon
- Softened cream cheese: 1 tablespoon
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 350℉.
- Cream together butter, orange zest and sugar for 1 minute in an electric mixer bowl until well combined. Add in egg after turning mixer to medium-low speed. Beat until well combined. Beat in vanilla extract.
- Whisk together cocoa powder, flour, salt and baking powder in a medium bowl. Mix together wet ingredients and dry ingredients on medium-low speed until combined.
- Roll a heaping tablespoon of dough into a ball. Place each ball 2 inches apart on the baking sheet. Use your palm to slightly flatten cookies to make them ¼ inch thick. Bake until the edges are barely golden brown. Usually, it takes 10-13 minutes.
- Move them to the baking sheet to cool. Finish cooling by transferring them to a wire rack. Repeat with remaining dough.
- Make the icing after the best Italian cookies have cooled. Add powdered sugar, melted butter, softened cream cheese, zest and orange juice to a bowl. You can also add a drop of almond extract. However, don’t add more than a drop. Add icing onto your cookies and place them back on the wire rack. Garnish your cookies with a little extra orange zest after icing is hardened.
This recipe makes about 14 cookies. Once your Italian chocolate orange cookies are ready, you can enjoy them right away. You can also freeze baked cookies.