Italian Knot Cookies

Oh, you should be proud of me.  This is the post and recipe that almost never happened.

For the last few nights I have been all-consumed by Hallmark Christmas movies.  I was finally, finally, able to pull myself away from those sappy, ridiculously predictable, but completely addictive, Christmas movies long enough to post this recipe for you before the holidays!  I’ll make this quick so that I can get back to those awfully delightful movies you can make these Italian knot cookies, too.  These are the holiday cookies of my childhood.  I remember how they would take over the kitchen table on cooling racks, with their slow-dripping lemon icing falling into thick, sweet, droplets onto the awaiting parchment paper.  My brothers and I would reach under the racks to scoop up the icing remnants, like my children do now.  I remember how these cookies would overflow onto the kitchen countertop and the dining room table, in their shiny Christmas tins.  We anticipated ruining our appetites with these cookies all season long.

Traditional Knot cookies are a little dry – in a good and delicious kind of way.  However, in my grandmother’s recipe binder I found a handwritten note explaining how to make these cookies just a tad softer using cream cheese.  Her note read “with half cream cheese.”  Half…  Just half.  Half of what we wondered.  Years ago we’d debated whether it meant 1/2 cup or 1/2 of a brick package.  I opted to go with half of an 8 ounce-sized brick package.  Whether or not that is correct, I will never know.  However, these cookies are delicately sweet, slightly soft, and perfectly crumbly.  They have been long taste-tested by my family over the years.  The consensus is that they taste just like Nana’s, and that’s an honor for me.

Unlike some Italian knot recipes where the dough is rolled out into a concentric circle forming the appearance of a knot, these cookies are rolled out and tied into actual loose knots.  They are baked for 15 minutes, with care not to overcook.  Then they are dipped into a sweet, thick icing.  There are two types of icing my grandmother would make, one with anisette for the grown-ups (like the original recipe suggests) and the other was a lemony icing that we ALL liked.  I’ll share both.  Lastly, they are sprinkled (or loaded up!) with colorful nonpareils.

These cooki…  Wait...  This is the movie where two strangers are stranded in a snowstorm at the airport and they constantly bicker, but then they end up sharing a car to drive to the city, and the woman’s fiance is waiting for her there, but it’s so obvious that she has feelings for the stranger-man now, even though she refuses to acknowledge that and… eek!  Ok, I won’t keep you any longer from making these cookies.  Enjoy some with a ridiculously predictable movie, too!

How sticky the dough should be & how to form the knots

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Italian Knots

Traditional Italian knot cookies with a tender crumb and a lemony icing. Anisette version also provided.

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: cookies

Servings: 0 makes 36-52, depending on size

Author: Chasing the Seasons

Ingredients

• 16 tbsp butter (2 sticks), room temperature I use salted butter
• 4 oz cream cheese (half of an 8 oz. brick) room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 tsps baking powder
• 6 eggs room temperature
• 1 tbsp vanilla
• 5 cups flour, or what it will take, plus more for dusting unbleached, all-purpose

Icing:

• Juice of 2 lemons, freshly squeezed
• 2-4 cups confectioner's (powdered) sugar, plus more as needed Adjust thickness to your liking
• rainbow nonpareils small colorful sprinkles
• -OR- (Anisette version):
• 1 oz Anisette
• juice of 1 orange
• 2 cups confectioner's sugar, plus more as needed Adjust thickness to your liking
• rainbow nonpareils small colorful sprinkles

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat and set aside.
• Preheat the oven to 350 F. (177 C).
• In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, cream cheese, vanilla, and sugar. Mix well by hand or with a hand mixer. Add the eggs and mix just enough to combine - take care not to overmix.
• In a separate large bowl, combine the baking powder and flour, mixing well to incorporate. Add the flour into the egg mixture and, using a rubber spatula, gentle stir it in by hand; lifting and folding until a shaggy, sticky dough forms. Adding more flour if necessary.
• Add the dough to a lightly floured a work surface and to knead for 10 full minutes, adding more flour as necessary. Take care to scrape clean your work surface and hands, periodically, if there is excessive dough stuck to either, as this will help to form a dough that is smooth. The finished dough should be slightly sticky, but not so sticky that it can't be handled. (see video in post and recipe notes below for more detailed information)*
• Form the dough into a large smooth ball and set aside. Scrape your work surface clean of any stuck-on dough before rolling out the knots.
• To begin making the knots, pull a piece of dough about the size of a walnut. Roll between your palms into a ball and then, on your work surface, roll the dough down toward you and out with your fingers to form a strip (about 5-inches [13-cm] in length, and approximately as thick as your finger) and tie into a loose knot.*
• Place each knot onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving space between each one as they will bake up a little larger. Wrap the remaining dough in plastic wrap and keep at room temperature between batches.
• Bake for 14-15 minutes - do not overcook. The cookies will only tan on the bottom, they will not turn slightly golden on top. Cool completely on a baking rack.

Icing:

• In a medium bowl, squeeze the lemon juice (or optional Anisette and juice of an orange) and combine with confectioner's sugar, mix well until smooth. Using as much sugar as is needed to make the icing thick. Icing will always run off the knot, so the thinner, the more runny it will be. Be sure to place wax/parchment paper or foil under the racks to catch the droplets.
• Dip the top of a completely cooled knot into the icing, allowing much of the excess to drip back into bowl. Place the iced cookie onto the rack and proceed with another cookie in the same manner. Ice a few cookies before proceeding to add a pinch of rainbow nonpareils on top.**
• Alternatively, (this is often what my grandmother did for us grandkids) after dipping the cookies into the icing and allowing the excess to drip off, dip the cookie straight into a bowl of rainbow nonpareils for a more "loaded up" cookie and set on the rack to fully dry.
• After the icing is thoroughly dry and has hardened, turn the knots over and let dry any icing that may have accumulated on the underside.
• Store at room temperature in air tight containers. Cookies will last for a few days.

Notes

*The perfect dough will be slightly sticky to the touch, but not so sticky that it leaves remnants of dough behind.  It should pull away easy and clean from your hands and work surface.  See short video in post demonstrating the perfect texture for rolling into knots.  Also there is a "Highlights" tab on my Instagram page with more video demonstration.

Note that even when the dough feels "just right" continue to knead and develop it a few more times to check, it may begin to stick to your hands and work surface again, that's ok, just add a little more flour, knead a few more times and check again. 

Slightly sticky dough is important to create the perfect knot.  An overly floured dough will create a dough that will be far too slippery and dry to roll, conversely, if it is too sticky forming a knot will be difficult.  Take your time and add a little flour at a time when kneading.  

Remember these cookies are on the slightly drier side after they've baked anyway, as they're supposed to be, but don't compromise the integrity of the cookie with more flour than is needed.  A good rule to follow is a little more flour at a time, knead, and go from there.

**If the icing is still quite wet and drippy, the sprinkles may slide and bleed, give the icing a few seconds to stop dripping before adding sprinkles.

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