Italian Wedding Cookies

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Italian Wedding Cookies are perfectly pretty for any occasion! These festive buttery cookie balls come together in under 30 minutes from start to finish!

Prep Time15

Cook Time10

Total Time25

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: cookies (About 4 dozen small or 2 dozen large cookies)

Calories: 98kcal

Author: Jennifer Fishkind

Ingredients

Cookies:

½ cup (1 stick) salted butter softened and sliced
1¼ cup powdered sugar
3 large eggs room temperature
1½ cups all-purpose flour spooned and leveled
1½ cups almond flour spooned and leveled
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons cornstarch

Glaze:

3 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon almond extract
4 tablespoons milk divided
Non-pareils optional garnish

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line two large baking pans with parchment paper or spray lightly with baking spray.
In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until light and creamy with a hand or stand mixer.
½ cup (1 stick) salted butter, 1¼ cup powdered sugar
Add in the eggs and beat to combine. The mixture will be lumpy and not fully combined.
3 large eggs
In a small mixing bowl whisk together the all-purpose flour, almond flour, baking powder and cornstarch until combined.
1½ cups all-purpose flour, 1½ cups almond flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 2 teaspoons cornstarch
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix just until dough forms.
Using a 1 ½ Tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop out dough and split it in half. Roll each half into a ball and place on the baking sheets with a 1 inch space between them.
Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are golden brown and the tops are dry and slightly cracked.
Allow the cookies to cool completely before glazing.
To make the glaze, whisk together the powdered sugar, almond extract and 3 Tablespoons of milk until smooth.
3 cups powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon almond extract, 4 tablespoons milk
Slowly mix in the last Tablespoon of milk until you reach your desired consistency. You may not want to use the whole amount or you may want to add an extra teaspoon to get the right consistency. It should be thick but still dippable.
Dip each cookie top in the glaze and then remove from the glaze and place on a drying rack.
Sprinkle on the non pareils, optional and allow to dry before serving.
Non-pareils

Notes

Storage:

To Store: Italian Wedding Cookies can be kept at room temperature for up to 5 days, preferably in an airtight container or bag.
To Freeze: The cookies can be frozen for up to 2 months and thawed before serving. When chilled, the glaze may change consistency and the cookies may end up drying out slightly.

Tips:

I prefer dipping the tops of the cookies in the glaze and then lightly swirling them as I remove them from the glaze. However, you can also pour the glaze over the top of the cookies instead. If you pour the glaze, you may want to make a little extra for the top.
Be sure to have both the butter and eggs at room temperature so that the ingredients can incorporate easily with everything else.
Once the flours are added, this dough should not be worked too hard or the cookies can end up a little chewy and difficult to bite. The texture will be somewhat dry either way but should be soft and crumbly, not hard.
The cookies will not be golden brown on the top when they finish baking. Rather, they will be slightly golden on the edges and dry and cracked on the top. If they are overbaked they will get hard so take them out as soon as the edges are golden.

Nutrition