You only need 6 ingredients to make authentic Italian wedding cookies. These sweet little treats are flavored with almonds and vanilla. Also known as Mexican weddings cookies, anginetti, or Russian teacakes, it’s fair to say this tasty cookie is popular all over the world!
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There’s no reason to visit the bakery when making your own is this easy. It’s also a quick recipe because you don’t need to chill the dough. Simply combine the ingredients, roll them into little balls and bake!
These are amazing when served warm from the oven, but they will also stay fresh for a week. Wedding cookies make cute gifts too if you wrap them in cellophane and add a colorful ribbon. They’re also nice little snacks for special occasions such as birthday parties, bridal parties, baby showers, and so on.
And if you enjoy Italian cookies, then lemon biscotti and cranberry almond biscotti are two more easy cookie recipes that you just have to try!
Main Ingredients
This delicious cookie recipe only calls for 6 different ingredients, most of which I’m sure you have on hand. These are the key ingredients you are going to use:
- Confectioners’ sugar: For sweetness. Also known as powdered sugar, 10x sugar, or icing sugar, this ingredient is used in the cookies themselves and they are also rolled in it before serving. This extra-fine sugar sticks to them and gives them a delicate finish.
- Finely ground almonds: For both texture and flavor. The nutty taste of wedding cookies is down to the ground almonds. There are two kinds of ground almonds; the peeled kind and the unpeeled kind. Ground almonds, also known as almond meal, are basically just ground up unpeeled almonds. Almond flour is made by grinding peeled almonds so it’s much lighter in color. For Italian wedding cookies, I recommend the unpeeled kind. If you can’t find this at the store, make your own by throwing unsalted, unpeeled almonds in the blender and pulsing them in short bursts. Don’t let it run continuously or else the nut oils will be released and this will make them soggy. When the almonds are mostly all ground but still have a bit of texture, they’re ready to use.
- Vanilla extract: Adds a delicate hint of flavor. Vanilla features in so many delicious dessert recipes, everything from matcha cookies to crème brûlée, as well as these wedding cookies of course. Use real vanilla extract, not the synthetic version, and throw in a little extra if you really love it!
- Salt: To balance the sweetness. A pinch of salt stops them from being too sweet. You don’t really taste it in the finished cookies, but it does improve how they taste.
- Unsalted butter: Gives a rich flavor. There is quite a lot of fat in these cookies, but it does give them a wonderful flavor! Also, the fat from the butter helps bind the ingredients because this is an eggless recipe. If you only have salted butter, reduce the amount of salt you add to the dough to just ¼ teaspoon.
Instructions Overview
This is one of my favorite cookie recipes because these little bites are so simple to prepare. First of all, you need to cream the butter with confectioners’ sugar and then you can mix in the almonds, vanilla, and salt. Add in the flour and mix well.
Now you can shape the dough into little balls and arrange them on cookie sheets. Bake them for about 15 minutes and then roll them in confectioners’ sugar. Once they’re completely cool, roll them in more confectioners’ sugar.
Common Questions
They are popular around Christmas time as well as at weddings and celebrations, but where did the name "wedding cookie" come from? Actually, nobody is sure because this recipe is found, in some form or another, in various countries around the globe. I think the mystery only adds to their charm!
It’s believed they were introduced to Pennsylvania by Greek and Italian immigrants. Actually most wedding cookies, even now, are made at home rather than bought.
Keep the cookies loosely covered with plastic wrap at room temperature or in the refrigerator if you prefer. This way, the cookies will keep for a week or even as long as 10 days. As for freezing them, they will freeze, but don’t add the second coating of powdered sugar before freezing them for the best result. You can roll them in more sugar after thawing.
Chopnotch Tips
- Bring the butter to room temperature before starting the recipe. It’s easier to mix that way.
- Use a cookie scoop or ice cream scoop to break off pieces of dough before rolling them up in your hands, to get them more or less the same size.
- There’s no need to grease the baking sheets. The cookie dough contains plenty of butter so the cookies aren’t going to stick.
Italian wedding cookies are bite-sized little treats that are quick and simple to make. The best ones are, of course, homemade with love.
Related Recipes
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Recipe
How to Make
Italian Wedding Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup confectioners' sugar, divided
- 1½ cups unsalted butter
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1½ cups almonds, finely ground
- 1½ tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F.
- Cream together ¾ cup of confectioners’ sugar and butter until light and fluffy, and then mix in the salt, ground almonds, and vanilla extract. Mix in the all-purpose flour until well combined.
- Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and space them 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove them from the oven and let them cool for a few minutes. The cookies should still look pale in color when you take them out.
- Roll the warm cookies in the remaining confectioners’ sugar and place them on a wire rack to finish cooling completely. Once cool, dust with more confectioners’ sugar, and then serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Bring the butter to room temperature before starting the recipe. It’s easier to mix that way.
- Use a cookie scoop or ice cream scoop to break off pieces of dough before rolling them up in your hands, to get them more or less the same size.
- There’s no need to grease the baking sheets. The cookie dough contains plenty of butter so the cookies aren’t going to stick.
