ITALIAN WEDDING COOKIES TRADITION RECIPES

Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 325”F.
• In a large mixing bowl cream together the butter and 3/4 c of the powder sugar until fluffy.
• Add the vanilla extract and little by little the ground walnuts and hazelnuts. Mix until combined.
• Start adding in the flour little by little until mixed in.
• Prepare your largest cookie sheet and using a small spoon (or small ice-cream scoop) form the cookies into balls, the size of a golfball or smaller. You should have about 45 cookies.
• Arrange all the cookies on the baking sheet without touching each other.
• Bake the cookies in the preheated 325”F oven for 20 minutes.
• Remove the wedding cookies from the oven and allow them to cool off just for a few minutes before rolling them over the reserved powder sugar. It's best that they are still a little warm so the sugar coating sticks nicely.
• Arrange the cookies on a platter and dust with more powder sugar on top before serving.

Steps:

• Pulse figs and raisins in a food processor until finely chopped, then stir together with remaining filling ingredients in a bowl. Chill, covered, at least 8 hours.
• Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Add butter and blend with your fingertips or a pastry blender (or pulse in a food processor) just until most of mixture resembles coarse meal with some small (roughly pea-size) butter lumps. Add eggs, milk, vanilla, and zest and stir with a fork until a soft dough forms. Halve dough and gather each half into a ball, then flatten each half into a rough 6- by 4-inch rectangle between sheets of plastic wrap. Chill until firm, at least 8 hours.
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Roll out 1 rectangle of dough (keep remaining dough chilled) into a 15- by 14-inch rectangle on a well-floured surface with a floured rolling pin. Trim to a 13- by 10-inch rectangle (chill trimmings), then cut into 4 (10- by 3 1/4-inch) strips. Arrange 1/3 cup filling in a 1-inch-wide log lengthwise down center of each strip, then fold sides of each strip up over filling to enclose it, pinching edges together to seal. Turn rolls seam-sides down and press gently to flatten seams. Cut logs crosswise with a floured knife into 1 1/2-inch-wide slices and arrange 1/2 inch apart on buttered large baking sheets. Make more cookies in same manner with remaining chilled dough, trimmings (reroll once), and filling.
• Bake cookies in batches in middle of oven until golden around edges, 16 to 20 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks and cool until warm, about 10 minutes.
• Whisk together confectioners sugar, vanilla, and enough orange juice to make a pourable icing.
• Brush icing on warm cookies and decorate with nonpareils (if using), then cool completely.
• Available at some specialty bakeware shops and Sweet Celebrations (800-328-6722).