For the impromptu
fete for bestie A a week or so back, I was charged with creation of the perfect party favor for our lunch bunch. Being that it was, afterall, an wedding engagement celebration and small shower of sorts; I knew exactly the favor these gals would love - traditional Italian wedding cookies!
Recently, neighbor friend R prepped some of these powdered sugary wonders for an informal wedding reception for friends C and S. The cookies were just delish and I was convinced when I asked her for the recipe she would reply with the name of a local bakery. Well, to my surprise, the local baker was none other than herself and she was sweet enough to share her secret recipe with me! The best part ... as complicated as they look and the name may sound, traditional Italian wedding cookies only require just a few oh so simple steps to follow and voila ... the perfect party favor!
To make these sweets, simply follow this easy recipe.
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups finely chopped ground almonds
- 4 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup confectioners' sugar for rolling
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Cream butter in a bowl, gradually add confectioners' sugar and salt. Beat until light and fluffy. Add almonds and vanilla. Blend in flour gradually and mix well.
3. Shape into balls (or crescents) using about 1 tablespoon for each cookie. Place on ungreased cookie sheets, and bake for 15-20 minutes (look for crack in top of one of the cookies). Do not brown. Cool slightly, and then roll in the extra confectioners' sugar.
Batch makes about 50-60 cookies.
Once my cookies were out of the oven, I made sure they were completely cooled before they took a roll in the confectioners sugar. This is key! If you roll too soon, these treats get real sticky! After a quick roll in the sugar, they were packaged up in individual treat boxes. Each box was filled with raffia shreads and 2 cupcake liners. 6 little sweets were added and then each box was tied with a bow.
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| Cookies in the favor boxes |
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| Tied with bright pink ribbon and ready to go! |
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| Topped off with perfect monogram stickers from bestie M |
