Angeletti Cookies

I made these as a Christmas cookie this year, and even though it's now a few weeks past Christmas I wanted to share because they don't have to be Christmas cookies, and on top of that, they were freakin' awesome. The recipe showed up in my inbox one day on an email from Real Simple magazine, and I thought they looked tasty and fun. A few weeks later when I wanted to try a new Christmas cookie recipe I went looking for it because they had looked so good.

Angeletti Cookies
Source: RealSimple.com

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled, plus more for rolling the dough
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Glaze:
1 1/3 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons multicolor nonpareil sprinkles, for decoration (optional)

Heat oven to 375° F.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the butter, granulated sugar, vanilla, and eggs until blended. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt and mix until just combined (do not overmix).

With floured hands, roll level tablespoonfuls of the dough into balls and place on parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing them 2 inches apart. Bake until puffed and the bottoms are pale golden, 7 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Make the glaze: In a small bowl, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar, 2 tablespoons water, and the vanilla until the mixture forms a thick but pourable glaze (add more water if necessary).

Dip the top of each cookie into the glaze and let set, rounded side up, on a rack set over a piece of parchment paper. Sprinkle with non-pareils, if using. Allow the glaze to set, about 20 minutes. Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

*****

Now, I love a good cookie, but these were freakin' fantastic!! The boy was really excited to help with the frosting part, and he was pretty impatient waiting for the cookies to cool enough so we could do that step. Then it turned out he didn't really like dipping them, but he did have a blast sprinkling the non-pareils all over them (and my counter and anything that was in about a two foot radius of the cookies...four year olds get a bit over-zealous when it comes to putting sprinkles on cookies, in case you didn't know that). I had some Christmas non-pareils that were red, green, and white mixed together, so I used those to make them a little more festive. When I make them throughout the year, I'll stick to the regular multi-colored kind.

We all agreed that these may just be our new favorite Christmas cookie. I'm taking dinner to a friend on Friday night and thinking of making a batch of these for her (and her kids if she decides to share them).