Rich had picked up a bottle of Disaronno to share and enjoy as a cocktail (sparkling or otherwise) with folk at our most recent game night; and was extolling its virtues while noshing on some faux madeleines when he opined that this almond liqueur would surely make a fine addition to that most favored cookie. By happy coincidence, I had a recipe for these little Italian cookies stashed in my ‘stuff to try’ file from realsimple.com.
Now, the Real Simple recipe doesn’t call for Disaronno, but I figured “Hey! Italian shot, Italian cookie; badda bing!” – ermmm, or something like that…
Irregardless – use your favorite liqueur or stick to the called for vanilla, but MAKE. THESE. COOKIES. They are the very definition of both ‘real’ and ‘simple’ – and have the added advantage of being wicked tasty as well.
But, wait! – you say: ‘I don’t have a big mixer, or hours to spend making fancy little cookies!’
Well, fret ye not – all you really need is about an hour (most of that waiting for stuff to cool), a bowl, and a spoon. I DID use the microwave to melt the butter, but if you’re in a real minimalist mood, I guess you could just set it in a bowl on a hot sidewalk in the sun and let nature take care of things (and, ermmm, hope the squirrels don’t get to it).
INGREDIENTS:
Cookies:
•8 tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
•1/2 cup sugar
•1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract – I substituted the same amount of Disaronno and Rich was quite pleased with the results.
•2 large eggs
•2 cups flour
•2 tsp baking powder
•1/4 tsp kosher salt – I used coarse sea salt
Glaze:
•1-1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
•1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract – again, feel free to substitute a like amount of your liqueur of choice, I think Drambuie might also be nice.
•Multicolor sprinkles – these are an optional last step to trim the glazed cookies. I was fresh out of sprinkles, but had a six pack of rainbow sugar sprinkles leftover from a Pride Cake that worked a treat.
Heat oven to 375°.
Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a small bowl (I use a whisk).
Use the whisk to stir the butter, sugar, vanilla (or liqueur), and eggs together in a medium bowl until well blended.
Add the flour mixture and stir together with a wooden spoon until just combined (do not overmix).
You can roll the dough into little balls manually by flouring your hands and shaping tablespoons of batter – OR – use a small cookie scoop. I highly recommend the scoop method.
However you’ve created balls, drop them on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Using my 1 tbsp scoop, I got exactly two dozen cookies, which I divided between two cookie sheets.
Bake until the cookies for about seven minutes, until they are slightly puffed and the bottoms are golden – I did each cookie sheet separately. Transfer to a rack placed over some more parchment or waxed paper to cool.
Make the glaze by whisking together the powdered sugar, the vanilla (or liqueur) and 2 tbsp or so of water – I used 2 tbsp plus 1 tsp – to make a thick glaze.
Dip the top of each cooled cookie into the glaze and return to the rack. Add sprinkles or sugar, if you’re using them, and allow to set for about twenty minutes.
Cunning little cookies…