Apart from the obvious lemonade, when life hands me lemons, I make cookies. To be specific, I make anginetti, tart little twists that tend to be synonymous with spring.
These lemon twist cookies are delectably dense but not overly sweet and glisten with a tangy lemon glaze. They are often compared to taralli but are softer and can go by several different names including: ciambelline and tarallucci in Italian or anglicized as lemon knot cookies; lemon iced cookies; Italian Wedding Cookies; and lemon drop cookies.
These popular biscotti are a typical southern Italian dessert (the classic recipe is from Campania in the region of Naples) whose recipe can be found in the repertoire of many a nonna with many variations of course. Some recipes call for butter while others list oil as an ingredient; they can be flavored with sweet vermouth, anice or limoncello; the citrus component can come from lemon juice or orange juice with the addition of lemon zest or lemon extract. When it comes to shaping (as their many monikers have already suggested) they can be shaped as basic drop cookies, or as knots, twists or wreaths and finished off with either sprinkles or coarse sugar.
Anginetti can be found on many a special occasion sweet table and are usually nestled in among the Easter treats on our celebratory banquet as well. They are the perfect accompaniment to an espresso, a cup of tea or a glass of sweet liqueur and I would say are also easy, peasy, lemon squeezy when it comes baking. So, if life gives you lemons, try making these traditional Italian cookies which I promise you’ll be in knots over. Buon Appetito!
Anginetti
Ingredients for Cookies
5 cups all-purpose flour
5 tsp baking powder
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 ½ cups melted butter
1 cup of milk
1/8 tsp of salt
Zest of 1 lemon
4 tbls lemon juice
Sprinkles or coarse sugar if desired
Ingredients for Glaze
1 ½ cups powdered sugar
5 tbls limoncello
Zest of 1 lemon
1 tsp of lemon juice
Method
In a large bowl cream together, the butter and sugar until fluffy then add in eggs one at a time followed by lemon juice
In another bowl combine flour, salt and baking powder. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, alternating with the milk
Let the dough rest for 10 minutes (you can also the chill the dough overnight if you would like to prep the cookies ahead of time)
Once the dough has rested it can either be dropped onto a parchment lined cookie sheet or it can be rolled and shaped into knots or twists for baking
Bake in a 350-degree preheated oven for 12-15 minutes (the bottom of the cookies will be slightly browned when ready). Allow the cookies to cool.
While the cookies are cooling whisk together the ingredients for the glaze.
Dip the cookies into the glaze then immediately add the sprinkles and let the cookies dry for about an hour.
