These Italian cookies are so tender and soft with a simple vanilla glaze. They are incredibly simple to make (no chilling!) and can be formed into fun shapes too!
Recipe: https://sugarspunrun.com/italian-cookies/
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Pizzelle Recipe: https://sugarspunrun.com/pizzelle/
Ingredients
10 Tablespoons (142 g) salted butter softened
¾ cups (150 g) granulated sugar
3 large eggs room temperature preferred
2 Tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Pinch of salt
3 cups (375 g) all-purpose flour + more if making shapes, see note
3 ½ teaspoons baking powder
Glaze
½ cup (65 g) powdered sugar
1 ½ – 2 Tablespoons milk
Nonpareils or sprinkles optional
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Instructions
00:00 Introduction
00:27 Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and line baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
00:31 In a large mixing bowl, combine butter and sugar and use an electric mixer to beat until light and fluffy.
02:00 Add eggs and beat into the batter until well-combined.
02:40 Add milk, vanilla extract, and salt, and stir until completely combined.
03:27 In a small mixing bowl, whisk together 3 cups of flour and baking powder. Gradually add flour to wet mixture. At this point, the dough should be firm enough that you will be able to form it into balls. If you would like to make other shapes (loops, knots, pretzels, etc.) continue to add up to an additional 1 cup (125g) of flour until dough is manageable.
05:07 Break off a ball of dough about 1 Tablespoon in size and roll into a ball (or form into shapes). Place cookie dough on prepared baking sheet, spacing at least 2” apart.
05:48 Transfer to center rack of 350F (175C) oven and bake for 8 minutes.
06:12 Allow to cool on baking sheet for at least 5 minutes before carefully transferring to cooling rack to cool completely before glazing.
Prepare the glaze
06:27 In a small bowl, whisk together powdered sugar and milk. Glaze should be very thin. Use a pastry brush to brush over completely cooled cookies. Immediately sprinkle with nonpareils or sprinkles, if desired.
07:20 Allow glaze to set before enjoying.
Notes
Flour
3 cups of flour should give you a dough that’s sturdy enough to be rolled and dropped. However, if you’d like to make fun shapes with the dough (pretzels, twists, etc.) you may find the dough is not thick enough. Feel free to add up to another cup (125g) of flour until the dough reaches a consistency that is shapeable. Note that the more flour you add, the more dry and less sweet the cookies will be.
Storing
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week. Cookies also freeze well – tightly wrap and freeze for up to several months.
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23 Comments
Sam I wish I could afford to buy you some butter. I absolutely love your recipes and so happy to have you. I’m over here trying to afford my own butter though. 😂 one day hopefully I will be able to support you the way I would like.
Just came across your recipe for soft Italian cookies. I used to have a recipe from an old Italian grandma not mine. The cookie was called SCALLILA all I can remember is that the batter had four egg shells of lard in it and 6 eggshells of whiskey. The icing was a mixture of honey and whiskey. I would love to find this recipe, hopefully you can help. I absolutely love all of your recipes. Thank you for the time it has taken you to make all those videos.
I was literally just trying to find a recipe like this lol
My grandparents were 100% Italian and I grew up eating the best cookies. These were my favorites. The cookies shaped in a knot or roll were harder in texture . Great for dunking. Pastel icing, made a little thicker was used on the shaped ones. So good!
I can’t wait to try these! I just know they will taste like my childhood! Thank you so much, you have never let me down with a single recipe. You are my go to for baking recipes and deserve millions of followers ❤
Im just wondering cause I’m confused, I watched a video of yours that was like 3 years old and you also didn’t use your stand mixer and like zoomed into it with sad music lol. So does that stand mixer not work?
Are these like lofthouse
These cookies look amazing Sam!!! You did an amazing job!🤩 Love Brissa.💕
Very pretty and delicious looking cookies Sam. ☺️
"When are you going to get a haircut?", replies calmly and simply, "Never." 😂😅🤣😁😉
For some reason, I always thought these were made with powdered sugar
I need to make these😍
Very nice and delicious, thank you for sharing this video ❤❤
Does anyone have a rec for a good affordable hand mixer? From KA to Cuisinart etc, to no name brands – all the reviews on Amazon all have some overwhelming issue!!
Does it actually matter (really) whether you use salted or unsalted butter in any recipe? I cook and bake extensively and always use salted. I recognize that I have a bias for salt (supertaster), but I've never been able to tell a difference other than when butter is the main focus (on hot fresh bread).
These sounds delicious 😋😋 I think I will make them .
Mashallah Tabarkallah thank you 😊😊
I have made these cookies before…they are , no offense, slightly tasteless…. how could we incorporate more vanilla, or lemon flavor? Could this be done using Extracts?
Your recipe looks good ( I’m used to anise flavor added) . Thank you for sharing.
The Italian couple next door to my parents during retirement, used to make these every christmas. I've never known the recipe so I'm looking forward to putting this all together.
They would make a confectioners sugar icing that was thicker and dyed either red or green. They also used almond extract and vanilla extract, you never knew what you were going to get, until you took a bite😊
Nice
Try not to talk so much Stick to facts.
Enjoy those cookies Sam try to make it how I like extra cranberries with white chocolate on them.😋😋🍒
My mom's family is Italian (my grandma was from Sicily, my grandpa was from Abruzzo) and we make what my mom calls "Sicilian cookies" that are similar to these with lemon and orange peel added to the cookies. And I think we use almond extract instead of vanilla (but hey, whichever flavor floats your boat, either one is good to me). They are awesome!