Italian Leaf Cookies Recipe
Italian Leaf Cookies Recipe brings the magic of Italian bakeries home — buttery dough, almond essence, and golden leaves that melt in your mouth.
Equipment
- Mixing bowls (one large, one medium)
- Electric hand mixer or stand mixer (you’ll want this for creaming butter)
- Spatula (For folding and scraping down the bowl)
- Large leaf or star tip piping bag (Wilton 352 or 1M)
- Baking sheets
- Parement paper or silicone baking papers.
- Cooling rack
- Fine mesh sieve (used with the fine powdered sugar dusting)
- Optional but fun:
- Leaf-shaped cookie cutters (unless you wish to roll the dough, you can opt to pipe the dough)
- Food-safe paintbrush to brush on edible gold dust (if you are feeling fancy)
Ingredients
For the Cookie Dough:
- 1 cup 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
- ½ tsp almond extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour sifted
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- ¼ tsp salt
Optional for Decoration:
- Powdered sugar for dusting
- Melted chocolate for dipping
- Crushed pistachios or edible gold flakes for garnish
Instructions
Preheat and Prepare:
- Preheat your oven to 350 o C (175 o C). Prepare line two baking papers or silicone mats with parchment.
Cream the Butter and Sugar:
- Place the butter and powdered sugar in a big mixing bowl and beat till light, fluffy, and pale. This will require approximately 2-3 minutes using an electric mixer on medium speed.
Add the Egg and Extracts:
- Add the egg, vanilla and almond extract. These Italian Leaf Cookies are made special with the almond that gives them a nice nutty smell.
Combine the Dry Ingredients:
- Whisk flour, cornstarch, and salt in another bowl. This should be added gradually to your butter mixture but to combine it only. Shake, not mix too much — you do not want a wet dough.
Pipe the Leaves:
- Pour the dough into a piping bag with a leaf or star shaped tip. Roll little circles of leaves on your ready baking sheets and make sure there is spacing of about one inch between cookies.
- Tip: Make the dough wonderfully easy to ease the bag perfectly soft in the first minute of holding it in your hands.
Bake to Perfection:
- Bake 10-12 minutes or until the edges are barely changing to golden. The centers must continue to be pale.
Cool and Decorate:
- Allow to cool down on a wire rack. After cooling, it is best to sprinkle with powdered sugar or dunk half of each cookie into melted chocolate and cover with crushed pistachios.
- And there you are, the best little bunch of Italian Leaf Cookies you ever made.