Nana’s Anginetti Cookies

I had been dreaming of baking in the tent for a long time and I am so fortunate that The Great American Baking Show made my dream come true. My love of baking was sparked by a simple cookie. A traditional Italian cookie that can be found on thousands of cookie trays for weddings, birthdays and holidays. They are traditionally known as “Biscotti Anginetti “ and are also referred to as lemon drops, but in my house they are known as Nana’s Sprinkle Cookies. My grandmother made these for every holiday and occasion. They are a soft butter cookie, flavored with either vanilla or lemon and covered with a simple confectioner’s icing and nonpareils. These were the first cookies I learned to bake. My earliest memory is baking these cookies with my mom when I was home sick from school.

I use the exact same recipe that my mother and grandmother used and whenever I bake them it brings me right bake to when I was a child.

The recipe contains simple ingredients, but when put together they create this slightly sweet, soft, tender cookie that can be eaten anytime of the day starting with breakfast to a midnight snack and everything in between.

In order to get the soft texture of this cookie it is important to make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature and that you add your flour judiciously…more on the flour later.

Another ingredient that adds to the soft and tender texture of these cookies is the confectioner’s sugar which contains cornstarch. I have never tried these cookies with organic powdered sugar which has no cornstarch but does include tapioca starch as an ingredient. It is definitely on my to-do list.

I start by creaming the room temperature butter and confectioner’s sugar until smooth.

Next the eggs are added one at a time, beating well until the egg is incorporated.

After about the 4th egg you may find that the dough is not coming together and the mixture looks a bit curdled. Keep pressing on until you have incorporated all 6.

Next add the vanilla and salt and beat until incorporated.

Earlier I had mentioned being judicious when adding your flour, by that I mean that you may not need to add all 6 cups which is why the recipe has a range for the flour of 600-720 grams. What I like to do is add 1 cup of flour and 1 teaspoon of baking powder at a time and beat with the mixer on low until just incorporated. Continue adding 1 cup of flour and one teaspoon of baking powder until you have add 5 of each. I then like to whisk together the remaining cup of flour and teaspoon of baking powder.

Sprinkle half of the remaining flour onto a flat surface and remove the dough from the bowl and place it on top of the flour. The dough will be sticky. Flour your hands and gently incorporate, by kneading, as much flour as you need so that the dough is smooth but is still the slightest bit sticky. Don’t be tempted too add more flour. It took me quite a few times making the dough to really know when I’ve added just enough flour.

I like to shape the dough by taking a 20 gram ball of dough and rolling it into a rope 4” long and creating a knot. This is a very versatile dough that can be made into many shapes.

I’m sure you will love these cookies and much as my family. I hope that these cookies will spark a love of baking in someone like they did for me.