Italian Christmas Cookies Recipe

These will be perfect on a plate, along with some Christmas Gooey Butter Cookies, Christmas Crack, and Snow Kiss Cookies for a festive dessert platter. Everyone will love these, and you’ll love how easy they are to make!

Easy Italian Christmas Cookies

These Italian cookies are often made with anise, which is a licorice flavor. Not everyone loves that flavor, so I swapped it out for vanilla and topped it with an amazing almond glaze. They are fluffy, decadent, and very festive. They are a great cookie for kids to help with. This recipe makes quite a big batch, which is perfect for gift-giving and having enough to eat, too. Plate them with these classic Linzer Cookies, these Peppermint Meltaways, or these Eggnog Cookies, and you will have the most delicious cookie plate that is perfect for Christmas!

Ingredients in Italian Christmas Cookies

Ricotta cheese is the secret ingredient for moist and tender cookies. Check out all of the ingredients at the bottom of the post for all of the exact measurements!

Butter: Soften the butter, but don’t melt it. Sugar: The sugar makes these cookies nice and sweet. Flour: I used all-purpose flour in this recipe. Baking Soda and Baking Powder: These leavening agents help make the cookies soft and fluffy. Ricotta cheese: The ricotta cheese is the secret ingredient to making these cookies nice and soft. Eggs: The eggs bind all of the ingredients together. Vanilla: This is what makes these cookies so good! Powdered Sugar: This is the base of the glaze Milk: Add this slowly so you don’t make the glaze too runny. Almond Extract: This gives the Italian Christmas cookies an almond taste. Sprinkles: I use red and green for Christmas but feel free to change those up and serve these all year round.

How to Make Italian Christmas Cookies

These cookies are simple to make, and I love adding on different sprinkles. In fact, change up the sprinkles with different colors, and you can use them all year long!

Add the milk to the glaze slowly: Add a tablespoon of milk one at a time to get the desired consistency instead of all at once. You can make it thick or thin, depending on what you like. Sprinkles: Change the color of the sprinkles for the holiday or occasion. You could use black and orange for Halloween or pink or blue for a baby shower. You can serve these cookies any time of the year despite their title! Flavoring: These are very flexible cookies. Change out the vanilla extract for peppermint, almond, coconut, or any other flavoring, and add a complimentary flavoring in the icing, orange, cocoa, etc. Don’t overbake: These shouldn’t be brown on top. If you overbake them, they will turn out to be dry. How to glaze the cookies: If you glaze these Italian Christmas cookies while they are slightly warm, the glaze can seep into the cookie! Always decorate with your sprinkles right after you glaze so that they’ll stick. Scoop: If you have one, use a cookie scoop so they are the same size; they’ll cook easier that way.

At Room Temperature: Let the cookies set for up to 24 hours before transferring to an airtight container. Letting them set up will keep the glaze from becoming wet and slimy. They will last for about 5-7 days when stored at room temperature. In the Freezer: Once the cookies are cooled and before you add the glaze, place them in an airtight container or ziplock bag (label it with the date), and they will last for about 2 months. Glaze the frozen cookies after they are thawed.