This recipe collection of Italian Christmas cookies includes old-fashioned, traditional versions as well as fun flavors of old family favorites. Get inspired to add something new to your holiday baking list this year! Lots of variety here, from anginetti to pizzelle, ricotta to pignoli and more.
Color me surprised that on some parts of the internet "Italian Christmas cookies" refers to one specific kind of cookie (judging by the search results, an often lemon-less anginetti?), but lucky ones of us know there are so many delicious kinds of Italian Christmas cookies out there to be enjoyed throughout the holiday season.
I believe the term is much better suited to a collection of Italian cookie recipes rather than just one. So break out your rainbow nonpareils, put on a Tony Bennett Christmas album, and peruse these recipes to find something new (or old - maybe something nonna used to make?) to add to your holiday baking list this season.
Note: This post will be continually updated as I publish more Italian cookies, so pin the image above or bookmark this recipe collection however you prefer to see what's new next year.
Frequently Asked Questions
Many of the individual Italian cookie recipes feature notes on freezing parts of the recipe, such as a block of dough or shaped cookies, and/or the baked cookies themselves. I have a block of dough ready for freshly-baked Italian sesame cookies in my freezer as we speak! When freezing dough, be sure to wrap it snugly in plastic wrap then place in an air-tight freezer bag or sealable silicone bag with all extra air pressed out to prevent freezer burn.
None of these cookies will spoil if mailed, but there are two considerations. First, pizzelle and Italian wedding cookies are on the more delicate side and risk arriving with some broken. Shape the wedding cookies into balls and not crescents for the best odds. Then any cookie with a white glaze and nonpareils can experience color bleeding as the days go by. You can this by omitting the nonpareils, or just ignore it! They still taste great.
Cucidati (also known as Italian fig cookies, or with spelling cuccidati) would be a great choice as it's a high-yield recipe, producing around eight dozen small cookies. Plus with their warmly-spiced dried fruit filling and flaky pastry, they're unique!
Pignoli cookies are the least-friendly for a cookie exchange party as the recipe - albeit fantastic - doesn't make a ton and the inputs (almond paste and pignoli nuts) are expensive.
Cookie Recipes
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