Keeping Italian Tradition in Pebble Beach…
(Originally published in 2017.)
It is primavera season in California, not much of a change in our evergreen climate. On daily walks we are seeing more baby quail, that is always a thrill. Today we will make the dough for Sicilian Easter cookies. It is the same basic dough for basic “S” cookies, a traditional cookie perfect for any season. Bella Sophia loves to mix this dough with her Nonna. She always leaves some plain (unfrosted) too for her Padrino, so he can dip in his morning espresso. We will save half the dough for making Sicilian Easter baskets. Planning to dye eggs soon so that we can have egg basket cookies for Sunday breakfast. Hippity hoppity…hippity hoppity…Pasqua is on the way!
Nonna’s Sicilian S Cookie Recipe:
-Cooking on Huckleberry Hill-
-Have fun making this recipe.-
(We will save half of this to use for Easter egg basket cookies, plan on making those tomorrow). The dough also freezes well!
Pre-Heat oven to 375 degrees. Prep baking sheets with parchment paper.
Ingredients:
4 1/2 cups flour
1 cup – 1 1/4 cup sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup Crisco
1/4 cup whole or 2% milk
1 tablespoon vanilla
Grated orange or lemon peel (1-2 citrus fruits)
3 large eggs
STEPS:
- In a bowl, mix all ingredients, except frosting ingredients, mixing by hand until smooth.
- Form into long, 1″ thick string, cut into smaller pieces approximately 3″ long, shape into an “S”. See Photo below.
- Bake at 350 – 400°F for 10 – 15 minutes, checking for doneness.
- Cool and Frost. You can also leave some plain as they are dipped with coffee.
FROSTING:
3/4 to 1 box or bag confectioners’ sugar
milk, drizzle as needed to combine to drizzle quality
vanilla, 2 tsp.
3 drops yellow food color or red to make pink (or color of choice-optional). Bella Sophia likes to make pink.
Mix sugar and milk (as needed) and vanilla until smooth. Frost top of cookie, let dry 15 minutes on a wire rack or parchment paper, flip cookies and frost other side. Frosting both sides “seals” the cookies. Let air dry. Store in air tight container or freeze in zip-lock bag. ENJOY!
