Simple Italian Cookies

I narrowly missed getting doored by two flower delivery vans on the way in to work this morning, so it must be valentine's day. In honor of the occasion, I pulled together a batch of simple italian cookies--sometimes called Italian Love Knots.

I usually refer to these as cookie-biscuits. The dough isn't very sweet, and the cookies are firm a little dry. They get their sweetness from a citrus glaze that dries to a hard finish. I've made the glaze with lemon juice and orange zest in the past, and that's what I recommend, but I went with orange juice for this glaze. When you include the zest, it'll be visible in the glaze.

Simple Italian Cookies

1/4 cup butter (salted), softened

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 tsp orange extract

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg

1 egg white

1 1/2 cups flour (all-purpose)

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

Glaze:

Lemon Juice

Powdered Sugar

the zest of one orange

Directions:

Preheat the Oven to 350 Degrees F.

Mix the butter, sugar and extracts. Add in the egg and egg white. In another bowl (or your measuring cup) mix the flour and baking powder. Add the dry to wet, and mix until the dough comes together--it'll look crumbly, but it'll come together in the next step.

Pick up shooter marble sized pieces of dough and roll them between your palms until you have a long snake of dough. Knot the dough in any manner you please (suggestions include: pretzel, knot, heart, spiral) and place on a lined baking sheet.

Bake for 8-10 minutes. The top will be light, and the bottom will be slightly browned.

For the Glaze- Start out with two cups of powdered sugar, and add lemon juice by the teaspoon, mixing thoroughly after each addition, until you get a runny glaze. Add orange zest and mix. Wait for the cookies to cool before dipping them if you want a thicker glaze layer. If you're fine with a thin layer, dip while hot.