ITALIAN SHORTBREAD COOKIES RECIPES

Steps:

• Combine all ingredients; use hands to knead until ingredients are blended. Press dough into parchment paper covered 9x13 inch pan to about 1/4 inch thickness.(you may want to grease the pan slightly so the parchment paper does not slide around as you press the dough to 1/4 inch thickness) . Before baking mark rectangle cookie lines with knife to make them look more authentic Panera shortbread cookie look . Teresa suggests that you freeze these before baking.It's worth a try-thanks Teresa...
• Bake at 325^ for about 20 minutes check after 15 minutes, or until light and not browned. Don't over bake. Cut into cookie squares when cool.
• Note: Martha Martin suggests you roll out the dough and use cookie cutters of holiday shapes to make your cookies..Great idea Martha!

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
• For cookies, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing after each addition. Add anise extract.
• Blend flour and baking powder. Start by adding about 1/3 of these dry ingredients to the butter/sugar in your mixer, then add 1 T. milk. Add another third of the flour and another 1 T. milk. Finally, mix in enough of the remaining flour until your dough is like a brownie batter (it should be softer than a drop cookie dough).
• Use a 1 T. cookie scooper to make simple round drop cookies - use wet fingers to pat any rough edges OR for an Easter-Egg look, roll 1 T. dough into an elongated ball.
• Bake cookies 10-12 minutes (they won't be brown but the insides will be soft and cake-like).
• For icing: mix sugar, milk and extract to make a sugar glaze. HINT: When I make the icing, I make it thick but then I microwave it for 10 seconds so it is thin enough for dipping. Also, I like to divide the mixture in thirds, and then add ONE DROP of food coloring to each batch (pink, green, yellow).
• Hold cookie in your hand and turn upside down so you can dip the top half in the glaze; turn over and immediately top with sprinkles so they will stick.
• Allow icing to harden overnight; then store in air-tight containers or freeze.