These cookies are very light and cake like with a yummy frosting. For our Christmas cookie party I made the frosting with almond extract and vanilla extract. For New Years I dug out my homemade vanilla from last january and found the one I made with whiskey instead of vodka. The vanilla had a whiskey smell and masked the vanilla and thought it was kind of a waste. Tabitha and Becca thought it would be good to bake with so I decided to use it in the frosting for these cookies. I used a lot of butter, powdered sugar a touch of milk and a lot of this whiskey vanilla so you could really taste it and it was great on these cookies. I had these crunchy silvery balls to garnish from the baking store which made them look festive. This recipe is a keeper. They look great and taste great. The crunchy silvery balls are very cool!
This recipe was found on food.com that was taken from Taste of Home. They are Old Fashioned Italian Christmas cookies. The ricotta in the batter got me interested enough to try these. I am glad I did.
COOKIES
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 (15 ounce) carton ricotta cheese
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
FROSTING
1⁄4 cup butter, softened
3 -4 cups confectioners’ sugar
1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 -4 tablespoons milk
colored sprinkles (i used silvery crunchy balls)
DIRECTIONS
For Cookies:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar.
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in ricotta and vanilla.
Combine flour, salt and baking soda; gradually add to creamed.
mixture.
Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto greased baking.
sheets. Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned.
Remove to wire racks to cool.
For Frosting:.
In a mixing bowl, cream butter, sugar and vanilla. Add enough.
milk until frosting reaches spreading consistency. Frost cooled.
cookies and immediately decorate with sprinkles (or crunchy silvery balls or whatever seems right at the moment)