Every Christmas we had a plethora of cookies to completely OD on! We baked the traditional American ones, gingerbread, ice box with gobs of frosting, and peanut butter kisses, to name a few, but my ALL time favorites were our traditional Italian cookies or biscotti. They just brought me a sense of home in a soul-filled way. They aren’t as sweet and typically are meant to “dunk” and since I am a coffee/dessert wine kinda girl, these fit perfectly into my world! Round these off with some cheese and you have created heaven after a meal. I’m simple, what can I say…well sorta…..
We always had 2-3 kinds of biscotti, drizzled with white, milk, or dark chocolate and dotted with various dried fruit and nut mixtures and to accompany the variety of those were my other favorite, the taralli. These cute little “donut” shaped rings are simply divine! After all 1/2 cup of marsala wine mixed with flour and sugar, what isn’t to love about that? After baking, they are dipped into a lemon glaze and into my mouth, one by one. I like to dunk them while warm so the lemon icing “seeps” into the cookie but if you want to have the glaze be more apparent, wait until they are cool and then dip. They look like mini frosted donuts, so cute.
So after a night of caroling or wrapping, we always sat down to our buffet of cookies, a drink of choice, and great conversation….now that’s is the magic of Christmas.
- FOR THE COOKIES
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon coarse salt
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ cup Marsala wine
- FOR THE ICING
- 2 tablespoons milk, more if needed
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 cup confectioners' sugar
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In a separate larger bowl, whisk together the sugar and egg until well combined. Stir in the olive oil and wine. Slowly add the flour mixture until well combined, kneading slightly until the dough is easy to handle and medium-soft.
- On a clean surface, use your hands and roll the dough into ½-inch-thick, cigarlike rolls. Cut each cigar into 6-inch pieces, folding each piece into a loop-shape. Press the dough with fingers to seal together. Place on a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet.
- Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until slightly golden. Remove to a cooling rack and cool completely.
- If you wish to ice them, whisk 2 tablespoons of milk and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice into 1 cup confectioners' sugar. It should be the consistency of thick whipping cream. Dip one side of the cookie in the glaze and let dry.
