ITALIAN WALNUT SHAPED COOKIES RECIPES

Steps:

• Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy. Mix in egg and vanilla extract. Add flour and salt and mix until just incorporated; overmixing will make the dough too stiff. Cover the dough with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 to 60 minutes, or up to overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Press about 1 teaspoonful of the chilled dough into the bottom and up the sides of each walnut-shaped mold. Place the molds on a baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven until browned around the edges, 12 to 18 minutes. Cool for a few minutes. Lightly tap on the bottom of the mold to pop out the cookies. Let cool until easily handled.
• Spoon some dulce de leche onto the bottom of each cookie and sandwich the halves together.

Steps:

• Place the butter, sugar, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl or stand mixer. Beat on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Add the egg and continue beating until the mixture is light, about 1 minute.
• Add the flour, baking powder and salt to the bowl and beat until a smooth dough forms, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
• Divide the dough in half. Turn each half onto a sheet of plastic wrap. Shape the dough into 3/4-inch-thick rectangles, then wrap them tightly. Refrigerate the dough until firm enough to roll and hold its shape, about one hour.
• Trim any stems from the figs. Place the figs, raisins, walnuts, almonds, chocolate, marmalade, honey, spices, salt, and pepper in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse the mixture repeatedly until no large pieces of fruit or nuts remain and the mixture clumps together like a dough. Do not over-process into a paste.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Remove one chilled dough portion from the refrigerator. Unwrap and turn it onto a well-floured work surface. Gently roll the dough into a very thin rectangle, roughly 5 inches wide and 12 inches long. The dough should be slightly under 1/4 inch thick.
• With clean, dampened hands, take half of the dried fruit mixture and shape it into a log down the center of the dough rectangle. Working very carefully, as the dough is delicate, begin rolling the dough around the log of filling, encasing it completely, and finishing with the seam side down. If there are any tears, simply pinch them together.
• Using a sharp serrated knife, slice the log into 12 cookies, each 1 inch thick. Arrange the cookies on the baking sheet.
• Repeat shaping with remaining cookie dough and filling.
• Bake the cookies on middle rack of oven until they are light golden brown on the bottoms, 15-17 minutes.
• Check to see that cookies are done. Remove from oven or add time as needed.
• Set pan on a cooling rack and let cookies cool completely, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the glaze.
• Place the powdered sugar, salt, vanilla, and milk in a mixing bowl. Whisk until the glaze is completely smooth.
• Once the cookies are completely cool, dip the top of each into the glaze, taking care to not coat the fruit filling. Sprinkle each cookie with a pinch of candy sprinkles. Let the cookies stand for at least 30 minutes to set the glaze before serving. Leftover cookies may be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to five days. Unglazed cookies may be frozen for up to three months; simply thaw and glaze.