Chocolate Almond Marsala Cookies Recipes

CHOCOLATE-ALMOND MARSALA COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toast almonds in oven on a rimmed baking sheet until fragrant and lightly toasted, about 12 minutes. Let cool; coarsely chop. Reduce oven temperature to 250 degrees.
• Stir together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Beat 1 egg with the wine; stir into flour mixture. Stir together almonds, orange peel, and chocolate; stir into flour mixture. Stir in honey.
• Knead dough on a generously floured work surface just until it holds its shape. Divide dough into 2 pieces; pat each into a 10 1/2-by-1 1/2-by-1-inch rounded log. Refrigerate dough 15 minutes.
• Cut each log into 3/4-inch-thick slices. Gently press edges of each slice to flatten. Lightly beat remaining egg. Place cookies, standing vertically, on a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet. Brush tops with beaten egg.
• Bake 20 minutes. Raise oven temperature to 350 degrees; bake until cookies are deep golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool on sheet on a wire rack.

CUCCIDATI - ITALIAN FIG COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl of food processor add all dry ingredients: sifted flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cold butter cut in cubes. Process until you get a crumbly dough without big lumps.
• Add eggs and vanilla extract. Process again until dough starts to come together.
• The whole process can be done with dough blender which is really handy.
• Transfer the dough onto a work surface and shape it quickly with your hands forming a smooth ball. Add some milk if the dough doesn't come together.
• Cover with a plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge for 20-30 minutes.
• You can also make the dough the night before and keep it in the fridge. Make sure to take it out at least 2 hours before making cooking, otherwise it'll be too hard to roll.
• Steep dried figs in hot water for about 30 minutes. Take them out on a paper towel or linen towel and pat-dry to remove excess liquid.
• In a food processor add figs, candied fruit and Marsala wine. Process until you get a nice paste.
• In a food processor pulse nuts and dark chocolate. Or you can roughly chop them with a sharp knife. Set aside.
• In a big bowl mix together fig paste, chopped nuts with chocolate, raisins and cinnamon.
• Preheat oven to 350F (175C).
• Cut off a piece of the dough and roll it out on a lightly floured surface to approx. ⅛ inch (3 mm) thick. Cut out a rectangular shape and save trimmed edges.
• Place fig filling lengthwise closer to one edge of the rectangle and fold the dough over to the other side brushing with some water the very end of the dough before closing it. This helps to seal the seam.
• Place formed log seam side down and using a pastry cutter or a sharp floured knife cut it into 1 inch (2.5 cm) cookies.
• Arrange the cookies on a baking sheet line with parchment paper or a silicone mat about ½ inch apart from each other.
• Bake in preheated to 350F (175C) oven for 15-20 minutes or until lightly golden brown around the edges.
• Let cool.
• Repeat with the remaining dough (including trimmed dough leftovers) and fig filling.
• Beat egg white until foamy, add a pinch of salt and lemon juice.
• Continue to beat, slowly adding confectioners sugar. Increase speed to high and beat for another few minutes until soft peaks form.
• Once cookies are chilled to room temperature, dip them in the icing and top with color sprinkles.
• Let dry for a few hours before packing.
• If it's too cold or humid inside you can turn on the oven and heat to 85F (30C) and let your cookies dry in the oven for 20-60 minutes, checking on them occasionally.

CINNAMON-ALMOND STARS

Steps:

• Cookies: Pulse almonds with 1/4 cup brown sugar in a food processor until finely ground. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.
• With a mixer on medium speed, beat butter with remaining 1 1/4 cups brown sugar until fluffy, about 4 minutes. Beat in egg and Marsala until combined. Reduce speed to low and add almond and flour mixtures, beating until just combined.
• Divide dough in half and shape each half into a disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours and up to overnight.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Let dough stand at room temperature until pliable. Roll out one dough disk on a lightly floured surface to just under 1/4 inch thick. Using a 3 1/2-inch cookie cutter, cut out as many stars as possible, rerolling scraps once. Arrange stars 2 inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets.
• Bake, rotating sheets once, until edges are golden, 9 to 11 minutes. Let cool on sheets 1 minute, then transfer cookies to a wire rack; let cool completely. Repeat with remaining disk of dough.
• Icing: With mixer on medium speed, beat confectioners' sugar, 3 tablespoons water, vanilla, and orange zest until smooth. Spoon mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a small writing tip, or a resealable plastic bag with a corner snipped off. Decorate cookies with icing and sprinkle with pearlized sugar; let set about 30 minutes. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container, between sheets of parchment or waxed paper, up to 1 week.

CHOCOLATE-ALMOND-MARSALA COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Toast the almonds in the oven on a rimmed baking sheet until fragrant and lightly toasted, about 12 minutes. Let cool; coarsely chop. Reduce the oven temperature to 250°F.
• Stir together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Beat 1 egg with the wine; stir into the flour mixture. Stir together the almonds, orange peel, and chocolate; stir into the flour mixture. Stir in the honey.
• Knead the dough on a generously floured work surface just until it holds its shape. Divide the dough into 2 pieces; pat each into a 10 1/2 × 1 1/2 × 1-inch rounded log. Refrigerate the dough 15 minutes.
• Cut each log into 3/4-inch-thick slices. Gently press the edges of each slice to flatten. Lightly beat the remaining egg. Place the cookies, standing vertically, on a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet. Brush the tops with beaten egg.
• Bake 20 minutes. Raise the oven temperature to 350°F; bake until the cookies are deep golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool on the sheet on a wire rack.

CHOCOLATE-ALMOND-MARSALA COOKIES

Steps:

• Stir together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl. Beat 1 egg with the wine in a small bowl; stir into flour mixture. Stir in almonds, orange peel, and chocolate. Stir in honey.
• Knead dough on a generously floured work surface just until it holds its shape. Divide dough in half; pat each half into a 10 1/2 by 1 1/2 by 1-inch rounded log. Refrigerate logs until cold, about 45 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 250°F. Cut each log crosswise into 3/4-inch-thick slices. Gently press edges of each slice to flatten. Lightly beat remaining egg. Stand cookies upright 1 inch apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush tops with beaten egg.
• Bake 20 minutes. Raise oven temperature to 350°F. Bake until cookies are deep golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes more. Let cool on sheets on wire racks. Cookies can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature up to 2 days.

CANTUCCI {ITALIAN ALMOND BISCOTTI}

Steps:

• In a large bowl mix flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. Lightly beat the eggs and add to dry ingredients. Add vanilla extract and/or lemon zest. Work with your hands or standing mixer until crumbly dough forms.
• TIP: take a small piece of dough and try to roll it into a ball. If the dough comes together nicely and you're able to form a sticky small ball than you're on the right track (see notes).
• Add almonds and continue to knead until almonds are well combined with the dough.It's normal for almonds to fall out at first, as you continue kneading you'll be able incorporate all of them (and maybe even more, if you prefer).
• Divide the dough into 3 parts.Dust work surface lightly with flour. Roll each part into a thin log - about 2 inch (5 cm) thick and 10 inch (25 cm) long.Arrange logs on a baking sheet well apart from each other. They will puff in the oven (see images).
• Brush with ½ beaten egg.
• Bake in a preheated to 350 F (180C) oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes until lightly brown.
• Once out of the oven let cool for 10 minutes. Cut with a sharp knife slightly on the diafgonal into about ½ inch (1.5 cm) thick slices.
• Place cantucci cut side up back on the baking sheet.
• Bake for the second time at 350 F (180C) for another 10-15 minutes. Biscotti should not brown but dry a little bit. They will still be soft straigh out of the oven but with harden as they cool.

MARSALA COOKIES

Steps:

• 1 Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease 2 large baking sheets. 2 In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Pour 1/2 cup of the sugar into a small bowl and 1/4 cup of the Marsala into another. 3 In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar until well blended. Beat in the remaining 1/4 cup of Marsala, the oil, and the vanilla extract. With a wooden spoon, stir in the dry ingredients. Knead briefly until well blended and shape the dough into a ball. 4 Divide the dough into 6 sections. Cut one section into 8 pieces. Roll each piece between your palms into a 4 × 1/2-inch log. Shape the log into a ring, pinching the edges together to seal. Repeat with the remaining dough. 5 Dip the top or bottom of each ring first in the wine, then in the sugar. Place the rings sugar-side up and 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake 18 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Have ready 2 wire cooling racks. 6 Transfer the baking sheets to the racks. Let the cookies cool 5 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer them to the wire racks to cool completely. Store in an airtight container up to 2 weeks. From "1,000 Italian Recipes." Copyright 2004 by Michele Scicolone. Used with permission of the publisher, Wiley Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.