Italian Wedding Cookies are a traditional Italian cookie made with almond flour, butter, and dusted with powdered sugar.
Traditional Italian Wedding Cookies are simple and delicate cookie that's subtly sweet with a hint of almond flavor. These cookies are great for special occasions or whenever you are craving a light and sweet treat.
If you love authentic Italian cookies, be sure to try these Italian Pistachio Cookies, Cranberry Almond Biscotti, or Italian Thumbprint Cookies. If you love ricotta cookies, don't miss these Chocolate Chip Ricotta Cookies or Pumpkin Ricotta Cookies.
You'll Love Italian Wedding Cookies
Italian wedding cookies are delicious bite-sized treats often served at weddings, baby showers, bridal showers, and other special occasions. They are tender, buttery cookies with a delicate almond flavor, dusted with powdered sugar for a beautiful finish.
This Italian wedding cookie recipe is a very easy recipe using only simple ingredients, including almond extract. These cookies are an elegant treat that is actually very easy to make.
If you've never had these before, the texture is similar to Mexican wedding cookies or Russian tea cakes. They are light and slightly crumbly and have a subtle nutty flavor.
You are going to love the subtly sweet flavor of these melt in your mouth cookies that pair perfectly with a cup of coffee or tea. This easy recipe comes together fast and is great for any occasion.
You can decorate these cookies with a simple glaze and colorful sprinkles, or just top with powdered sugar to look like snowball cookies. Either way, they are totally delicious!
These are also the perfect cookie to make ahead. They stay fresh for days in an airtight container, or you can freeze them and make ahead.
So, if you love simple and delicious Italian cookies, be sure to give these cookies a try.
Ingredients and Variations
- All purpose flour: classic Italian wedding cookies have a combination of almond flour and all purpose flour. Weigh the flour for accurate measurement.
- Almond flour: here, you can use store-bought almond flour or make your own with ground almonds.
- Butter: this is a butter heavy cookie. You will need two sticks (one cup) of unsalted butter. If you are using salted butter, just omit the additional salt in the recipe.
- Powdered sugar: icing sugar is needed to both sweeten the cookie dough as well as provide a powdered sugar coating for the cooled cookies.
- Vanilla: use a little bit of pure vanilla extract to sweeten the flavor.
- Almond extract: the almond extract will really bring out the almond flavor of the cookie. You can omit if you'd like or use lemon extract instead.
- Optional Nuts: different versions of Italian wedding cookies will have chunks of nuts in it such as almonds, walnuts, or pecans. Feel free to add a ½ cup of chopped nuts to the batter if you'd like. You could even add mini chocolate chips.
- Optional Glaze: some Italian wedding cookies are topped with a glaze and sprinkles. You can make an easy glaze with powdered sugar and milk, and just dip the tops of the cookies in the glaze.
How to Make Italian Wedding Cookies
To start, you will need to line a baking sheet or cookie sheet with parchment paper; set aside. You can make this recipe using either a stand mixer with paddle attachment or in a large bowl with an electric mixer.
Step 1: cream together butter and sugar
In a large bowl, use a hand mixer or stand mixer on medium speed, to mix together the butter and powdered sugar until well incorporated. Add in both the vanilla and almond extracts.
Step 2: mix together dry ingredients
In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, all purpose flour, and salt until well combined.
Step 3: make the batter
Lastly, pour the dry ingredients into wet ingredients and mix until a dough is formed. The mixture will be crumbly, but should be able to hold its shape when pressed together. If you are adding nuts, this is the time to incorporate them into the batter.
Step 4: shape and bake
Use a small cookie scoop to measure out dough balls. You can place the round dough balls on the baking sheet or make them into traditional crescent shapes.
Bake in a preheated oven for about 11-13 minutes. The color of the Italian wedding cookies won't change much.
Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for five minutes then move to cooling rack to cool completely. Once the cookies are room temperature you can top them with either the glaze or powdered sugar.
The best way to dust with powdered sugar is to do it using a fine mesh sieve right over the cooling rack.
Recipe Tips
- Butter: if you are using salted butter, simply omit the additional salt in the recipe.
- Texture: the final texture of this cookie is delicate and slightly crumbly with a hint of almond flavor.
- Note that the cookie won't change color much after it's baked. The bottom of the cookie will turn a light golden color when it is done.
- Be sure the cookie is completely cooled before dusting with powdered sugar.
- Storage: Italian wedding cookies can be made ahead and kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days. You can also refrigerate for a week or freeze for up a month.
Frequently Asked Questions
Italian wedding cookies are bite-sized treats made from finely ground almonds, powdered sugar, butter, and flour. After baking, these cookies are dusted with powdered sugar, creating a sweet and nutty cookie often enjoyed at weddings and special occasions.
Traditional Italian wedding cookies do not contain eggs in their recipe.
Traditional Italian wedding cookies do not typically contain leavening agents like baking powder or baking soda. This also gives them their characteristic crumbly texture and smooth taste.
More Traditional Italian Cookies
Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-star rating in the recipe card below and/or review in the comments section further down the page.
Italian Wedding Cookies
Equipment
- baking sheet
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup powdered sugar, plus extra for dusting
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour (270 grams)
- 1 cup almond flour (110 grams)
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat; set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the softened butter and powdered sugar together with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about a minute. Add the vanilla extract and almond extract to the butter mixture, and continue to beat until well combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the all purpose flour, almond flour, and salt.
- Gradually add the dry ingredient mixture to the butter mixture, mixing on low speed until a dough forms. It may seem crumbly, but it should come together when pressed.
- Using your hands, shape the dough into 1-inch balls or crescents and place them on the prepared baking sheet, leaving a little space between each cookie.
- Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for about 11-13 minutes or until they are just beginning to turn golden around the edges.
- Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Once the cookies are completely cooled, dust them generously with powdered sugar. You can do this by placing some powdered sugar in a fine-mesh sieve and tapping it over the cookies.
Notes
- Butter: if you are using salted butter, simply omit the additional salt in the recipe.
- Texture: the final texture of this cookie is delicate and slightly crumbly with a hint of almond flavor.
- Note that the cookie won't change color much after it's baked. The bottom of the cookie will turn a light golden color when it is done.
- Be sure the cookie is completely cooled before dusting with powdered sugar.
- Storage: Italian wedding cookies can be made ahead and kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days. You can also refrigerate for a week or freeze for up a month.
- Optional Nuts: different versions of Italian wedding cookies will have chunks of nuts in it such as almonds, walnuts, or pecans. Feel free to add a ½ cup of chopped nuts to the batter if you'd like. You could even add mini chocolate chips.
- Optional Glaze: some Italian wedding cookies are topped with a glaze and sprinkles. You can make an easy glaze with powdered sugar and milk, and just dip the tops of the cookies in the glaze.
Kate
I love these light and tasty cookies. So good!
Kristen
These cookies were so good! I need to make more cause we ate them all so fast!
Andrea
These cookies are totally delicious and addictive. They are perfect for gift giving and any Holiday table.
Beth
This is one of the best wedding cookie recipes I've made. You perfectly captured the flavor and the subtle sweetness that makes these cookies so fantastic!
Vicky
I am Italian and these cookies bring back lots of memories for me! The taste is authentic and they go perfectly with a cup of coffee.