These Italian cookies are soft, almond flavored cookies topped with icing and colorful sprinkles . A classic dessert that’s perfect for the holidays or any other special event.
When the winter months roll around, I find myself baking up plenty of dessert recipes including eggnog cake , thumbprint cookies , Oreo stuffed cookies , peppermint patties , peanut brittle and these delightful little Italian cookies.
These Italian cookies are a traditional recipe that never goes out of style. How could anyone resist soft pillowy cookies dipped in icing and showered with sprinkles?
Feel free to switch up the sprinkle colors to decorate them for Christmas or any other occasion. You can serve them with some of my favorite holiday treats like reindeer chow , buckeye balls , peppermint bark and pizzelles .
- Italian Cookies Ingredients
- How Do You Make Italian Cookies?
- Tips For The Perfect Italian Cookies
- Quick Tip
- Recipe FAQs
- Flavor Variations
- More Cookie Recipes You’ll Enjoy
- Love This Recipe?
- Italian Cookies Recipe
Italian Cookies Ingredients
To make Italian cookies make sure you have butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, almond extract, flour, baking powder and sprinkles. For the frosting you will need powdered sugar, vanilla extract, almond extract and cream.
How Do You Make Italian Cookies?
To make Italian cookies first make the dough by beating together butter and sugar with a stand mixer or electric mixer. Add eggs, vanilla extract and almond extract and mix it all together. Next add the flour and baking powder, and mix until it is just combined. With the dough complete, scoop it out and roll it into balls with your hands. Let the balls chill in the freezer to prevent them from spreading too much during baking. The dough goes into the oven for a few minutes until the edges are lightly browned. Let the cookies cool on a wire rack. When the cookies are cool, they are ready for frosting.
Make an easy frosting by whisking together powdered sugar, cream, vanilla extract and almond extract in a medium bowl. Dip the cookies in this frosting and add a few sprinkles. When the frosting dries the cookies are ready to eat!
Tips For The Perfect Italian Cookies
- When scooping the dough, use a cookie dough scoop or measuring spoon to make sure cookies are all the same size.
- When you shape your dough into balls, make sure your hands are a little damp , but not wet.
- Let the glaze harden for about an hour before serving the Italian cookies.
Quick Tip
Make sure the balls of dough are completely smooth to get minimal cracking during baking.
You can freeze these Italian cookies in an airtight container or bag for up to 2 months. I recommend freezing the cookies before you’ve frosted them, then thaw and add the frosting and sprinkles right before serving.
Go ahead and freeze this cookie dough in balls for up to 2 months. Just thaw them overnight in a refrigerator and bake them as stated in this recipe when you are ready to serve them.
You can store these Italian cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
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Flavor Variations
While these Italian cookies are delicious as-is, you can change up the flavor to suit your taste.
- Flavorings: You can use your favorite flavor extracts such as anise or lemon instead of almond extract. Try adding some almond paste, cinnamon, orange zest or even a little honey for extra flavor.
- Chocolate Chips: Feel free to add some mini chocolate chips to the cookie dough.
- Coloring: You can add a little food coloring to the frosting for a fun twist on the classic recipe.
- Nuts: Finely chop nuts like pistachios, pine nuts, walnuts or almonds and mix them in the dough.
These cute little treats are always a hit with kids and adults alike. I make these every year for Christmas with red and green sprinkles and everyone always asks me for the recipe!
More Cookie Recipes You’ll Enjoy
Red Velvet Cookies
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Chocolate Covered Oreos
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Peanut Butter Blossoms
30 mins
No Bake Peanut Butter Cookies
10 mins
Avalanche Cookies (No Bake)
6 mins
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Ingredients1x2x3x
For the cookies
- ▢ 1/2 cup butter softened
- ▢ 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- ▢ 3 eggs
- ▢ 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ▢ 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- ▢ 3 cups all purpose flour
- ▢ 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ▢ 1/4 cup rainbow sprinkles
For the frosting
- ▢ 2 cups powdered sugar
- ▢ 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ▢ 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
- ▢ 3 tablespoons heavy cream can also use milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick silicone baking mats.
- Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of a mixer, then beat for 2-3 minutes or until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs, vanilla extract and almond extract. Beat until smooth.
- Add the flour and baking powder to the bowl. Beat until just combined.
- Use lightly damp hands to roll 2 tablespoons of dough into a smooth ball. Repeat with remaining dough.
- Place the cookies 2 inches apart on the baking sheets.
- Place the sheets of cookies in the freezer to chill for 20 minutes.
- Bake each pan of cookies for 9-11 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned.
- Transfer the cookies to a rack and cool completely.
- For the frosting, place the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, almond extract and cream in a bowl, then whisk until smooth.
- Dip the top of each cookie into the frosting, then add the sprinkles on top of the cookies.
- Let the cookies sit for 1 hour for the frosting to harden, then serve.
Notes
- Make sure the balls of dough are completely smooth to get minimal cracking during baking.
- When scooping the dough, use a cookie dough scoop or measuring spoon to make sure cookies are all the same size.
- When you shape your dough into balls, make sure your hands are a little damp, but not wet.
Nutrition
These thumbprint cookies are soft vanilla cookies filled with fruit jam and baked until golden brown. An easy and classic cookie recipe that’s perfect for parties, after school snacks and special occasions.
When the holidays roll around, I find myself in the kitchen whipping up plenty of festive Christmas recipes including Italian cookies , Oreo stuffed cookies , eggnog cookies , Nutella cookies and these beautiful little thumbprint cookies.
Thumbprint cookies are a classic for good reason – they’re simple yet look so impressive, and they couldn’t be any easier to make! You can customize your cookies by adding any number of fillings and coatings for a sweet treat that’s delicious any time of the year.
- Thumbprint Cookies Ingredients
- How Do You Make Thumbprint Cookies?
- Tips For Perfect Cookies
- Quick Tip
- Recipe FAQs
- Flavor Variations
- More Great Cookie Recipes
- Love This Recipe?
- Thumbprint Cookies Recipe
Thumbprint Cookies Ingredients
To make this recipe, you will need butter, granulated sugar, light brown sugar, a large egg, vanilla extract, all purpose flour, baking soda, salt and jam.
How Do You Make Thumbprint Cookies?
Thumbprint cookies are all about the perfect dough that bakes up crisp on the outside, yet soft on the inside. Make this dough by beating sugar, brown sugar and butter together. Mix in an egg, some vanilla, flour and baking soda and the dough is ready to go. Chill the dough in the fridge and roll it into balls. Dip the dough balls in sugar, then place them on a baking sheet. Press wells into the cookies with a spoon. Fill the cookies with a little jam, you can use any flavor of your choice. Bake until light golden brown, then cool and enjoy.
Tips For Perfect Cookies
- Keep the dough cold when you roll it into balls. If the dough warms up, it can get sticky and the balls can become rough instead of smooth. You can place sticky dough in the fridge or freezer to chill if needed.
- After you put the jam in the cookies, place the sheet pan of cookies in the freezer for about 10 minutes before baking. Chilling the dough prevents the dough from spreading too much as it bakes.
- Some dark jams and jellies can “stain” the dough of the cookies. If you are worried about staining, avoid using blackberry or grape jams or jellies. I typically use raspberry, strawberry or apricot jam.
- Make sure you don’t overfill the cookies or the jam may bubble over and run down the sides of the cookies.
- If your balls of dough crack as you make the indentations in the middle, your dough may be overly cold and stiff. You can simply patch any cracks with your fingers .
Quick Tip
If you have trouble shaping the dough into balls, try putting a little cooking spray on your hands.
You can freeze baked thumbprint cookies. Just place them in an airtight container in a single layer. If you want to stack cookies, put a piece of waxed paper, plastic wrap or parchment paper between the layers. The frozen cookies stay fresh for about a month. When you are ready to eat the cookies remove them from the container and let them thaw on the counter.
There is no need to refrigerate thumbprint cookies, and they will stay fresh at room temperature in an airtight container for 5 days.
It’s very important to chill your cookie dough before you bake it. This will prevent the cookies from spreading too much in the oven.
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Flavor Variations
While this recipe is delicious as written, you can easily customize the flavors to suit your tastes.
- Coatings: Try rolling your balls of cookie dough in coatings such as sprinkles, coconut, finely minced almonds, pecans, walnuts or cinnamon sugar.
- Fillings: The filling possibilities are endless and include ingredients such as Nutella, lemon curd, chocolate ganache, marshmallow cream or caramel sauce.
This thumbprint cookie recipe is so fun to make because you can fill the cookies with all different kinds of flavors. This is a holiday classic that never goes out of style!
More Great Cookie Recipes
S’mores Cookies
27 mins
Monster Cookies
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Cake Mix Cookies
20 mins
Snowball Cookies
50 mins
Chocolate Spritz Cookies
20 mins
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Ingredients1x2x3x
- ▢ 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- ▢ 1/2 cup granulated sugar plus more for rolling the cookies
- ▢ 1/4 cup light brown sugar packed
- ▢ 1 egg
- ▢ 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ▢ 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- ▢ 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- ▢ 1/4 teaspoon salt
- ▢ 1/2 cup jam
Instructions
- Place the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar in the bowl of a mixer. Beat until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add the egg and vanilla extract, then beat for 1-2 minutes or until well combined.
- Add the flour, baking soda and salt to the bowl. Beat until just blended.
- Place the dough on a large sheet of plastic wrap and form it into a disk. Cover the dough completely with the plastic wrap, then refrigerate for at least one hour, or up to 3 days.
- Remove the cookie dough from the refrigerator about 10 minutes before you plan to use it.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Roll the dough into 1 inch balls, then coat each ball in granulated sugar.
- Place the balls of dough 3 inches apart on 2 sheets pan lined with parchment paper or silicon baking mats.
- Use your thumb, the back of a teaspoon, or the round end of a pestle to make an indentation in each cookie. Be gentle as you make each indentation so that the cookies don’t crack.
- Fill each cookie with 1/2 teaspoon of jam.
- Place the trays of cookies in the freezer. Chill for 10-15 minutes or until cookies are firm.
- Bake for 10-11 minutes or until light golden brown around the edges. Let sit for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack and cool completely.
Notes
- Keep the dough cold when you roll it into balls. If the dough warms up, it can get sticky and the balls can become rough instead of smooth. You can place sticky dough in the fridge or freezer to chill if needed.
- If you have trouble shaping the dough into balls, try putting a little cooking spray on your hands.
Nutrition
Italian Cookies
Ingredients
For the cookies
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/4 cup rainbow sprinkles
For the frosting
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
- 3 tablespoons heavy cream can also use milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick silicone baking mats.
- Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of a mixer, then beat for 2-3 minutes or until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs, vanilla extract and almond extract. Beat until smooth.
- Add the flour and baking powder to the bowl. Beat until just combined.
- Use lightly damp hands to roll 2 tablespoons of dough into a smooth ball. Repeat with remaining dough.
- Place the cookies 2 inches apart on the baking sheets.
- Place the sheets of cookies in the freezer to chill for 20 minutes.
- Bake each pan of cookies for 9-11 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned.
- Transfer the cookies to a rack and cool completely.
- For the frosting, place the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, almond extract and cream in a bowl, then whisk until smooth.
- Dip the top of each cookie into the frosting, then add the sprinkles on top of the cookies.
- Let the cookies sit for 1 hour for the frosting to harden, then serve.
Notes
- Make sure the balls of dough are completely smooth to get minimal cracking during baking.
- When scooping the dough, use a cookie dough scoop or measuring spoon to make sure cookies are all the same size.
- When you shape your dough into balls, make sure your hands are a little damp, but not wet.
