Italian Easter Cookies Recipe (Soft & Buttery)

Italian Easter Cookies are perfectly tender and melt-in-your-mouth delicious! This is one of my family’s favorite Italian Easter desserts, and I think it will be one of your favorites, too! When it comes to a fun Easter cookie recipe, this simple recipe will get you the best results! 

 

Imagine your favorite sugar cookie, but with a soft, pillow-y, and thick texture that’s completely irresistible — that’s exactly why we love these easy Easter cookies so much!

You’ll need to make a double batch of these Italian butter cookies because they’ll be gone in no time. Luckily, the process is simple and kids can even help decorate.

Now is the perfect time to make this sweet treat.

Italian cookies like this are topped with fun pastel colors of sprinkles and make the perfect cookie for Easter Sunday. (I also think that this is the perfect breakfast cookie, too. Don’t judge.)

Italian Easter Cookies Recipe

Looking for more festive holiday cookies to bake? Create brightly colored circus animal cookies for Easter, Christmas, or anything in between! 

Our cannoli’s also make a great dessert, the filling is amazing!

You can also play with different shapes and festive sprinkles to match spritz cookies to any occasion. Or try this peeps marshmallow fudge that the kids will love!

Italian Easter Cookies Recipe Tips and Tricks

• Bring butter and eggs to room temperature. This is essential for creating a smooth dough, and it helps the other ingredients incorporate faster as well. 
  
  It wouldn’t hurt to measure out the milk to warm on the counter as well.
  
• Don’t overwork the dough! It will be just a little bit sticky, but a light dusting of flour on your work surface is plenty to prevent sticking while rolling out the logs. 
  
  And since it’s already nice and thick, it won’t need to be refrigerated first.
  
• Form the shapes gently. Be careful not to smash the dough when tying the knots — they will puff up in the oven, so it’s fine if they aren’t tightly secured. 
  
  For the donut shape, wrap the log around your finger and pinch the ends together. Then, gently roll at the seam to round it out.
  
• Tip for baking: These easy Easter cookies are best when the bottoms just start to turn golden brown. 
  
  I found that 9 minutes was just the right amount, so they are cooked through but still soft and tender.

Do your best to get the strips of dough into equal pieces so that when you start to make the knot of these traditional Italian Easter cookies, you’ll have cookies that are pretty similar in size.

You don’t want to have a bunch of large cookies and then a few smaller cookies because you want them to cook bake evenly in the oven. 

You can practice a bit on the dough before putting them on the prepared baking sheets, but remember to not overwork the piece of dough! 

How To Color Cookie Icing

First, opt for gel coloring — you can achieve gorgeous pigmented colors with a fraction of the drops needed with the traditional liquid version.

Since we’re aiming for pastels, use the tiniest drop to start and mix thoroughly into the glaze. You can always add a little bit more if desired.

For these Italian Easter cookies, I used Americolor gel food coloring in: Lilac, Fuschia, Sky Blue, and Lemon Yellow.

Italian Butter Cookies FAQ

Enjoy!
With love, from our simple kitchen to yours. 

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Other Easter Dessert Recipes

Italian Easter Cookies Recipe (Soft & Buttery)

Donna Elick

Italian Easter cookies are perfectly tender and melt-in-your-mouth delicious! This authentic Italian cookie recipe is easy to make, too!

5 stars from 6 reviews

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Prep Time 45 minutes mins

Cook Time 9 minutes mins

Total Time 54 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine Italian

Method Oven

Servings 20 cookies

Equipment

• stand mixer
• cookie scoop
• measuring spoons
• cookie sheets
• heat-resistant silicone spatula
• wire cooling rack

Ingredients

 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• ▢ 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• ▢ 2 large eggs, room temperature
• ▢ 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ▢ 1 teaspoon almond extract
• ▢ 2 tablespoons whole milk
• ▢ 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ▢ 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ▢ 1 teaspoon salt

Icing

• ▢ 3 cups powdered sugar
• ▢ 2-4 tablespoons whole milk
• ▢ 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• ▢ 1 teaspoon almond extract
• ▢ gel food coloring, in purple, pink, blue and yellow
• ▢ rainbow sprinkles

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• In a mixing bowl, beat together butter and sugar until creamed.

  Add eggs one at a time, beating to combine between each.
• Beat in vanilla and almond extracts. Mixture will be pale yellow and slightly separated.
• In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.
• Add half of the milk to the butter/sugar mixture, then half of the flour mixture, the remaining milk, and then the remaining flour. Mix just until combined, scraping the bowl as needed.
• Use a 1 ½ tablespoon cookie scoop to form scoops of dough. Place each scoop of dough on a lightly floured surface and roll into a 6-7” log. Twist the log into a knot for half of the cookies. For the other half of the cookies, form donut shapes by joining the two ends of the log together – or simply roll the scoop of dough into a ball and then press your finger down into the center of it to make a hole, shaping the “donut” around your finger.
• Place cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

  Bake for about 9 minutes or until the bottoms of the cookies are just slightly golden brown.
• Transfer cookies to a cooling rack to cool.
• Meanwhile, whisk together all of the icing ingredients to form a smooth glaze. Divide the glaze between four bowls and add a tiny drop of gel food coloring to each bowl. Stir to distribute the coloring evenly throughout the glaze.
• Dip a cooled cookie into the glaze; hold it above the bowl for a few seconds to allow the excess glaze to drip off. Place on a sheet of parchment paper and sprinkle with nonpareils. Leave untouched until glaze sets and is dry to the touch.

Donna’s Notes

Cookies will keep in an airtight container, on the countertop, for 4-5 days. Freeze for up to 1 month.

Italian Easter cookies are soft and almost dough-y. They melt in your mouth and are sooooo delicious. Almost like a sugar cookie, but soft and pillowy and thick. These were gone in no time in my house.

Try not to overwork the dough. It is nice and thick and does not need to be refrigerated at all. It will be just a little sticky, but sprinkling a very light layer of flour on your work surface is plenty to prevent sticking while rolling the dough into logs. Tie the knots gently so you don’t smash the dough. The cookies will puff up in the oven, so don’t worry too much about making a perfect or tight knot.

Don’t add a lot of extra flour while forming the shapes – it will make the cookies tough.

These are best baked just until the bottoms are slightly golden brown. I found 9 minutes to be the perfect amount of time. They are cooked all the way through, but so soft and tender.

To color the glaze, you need just the tiniest drop of food coloring, particularly for pastel colors. I used Americolor gel food coloring in: Lilac, Fuschia, Sky Blue, and Lemon Yellow.

 

Nutrition

Serving: 1 | Calories: 183cal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 28mg | Sodium: 169mg | Sugar: 25g | Fiber: 1g | Calcium: 34mg | Iron: 1mg

All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe’s nutritional value will vary depending on the ingredients used, measuring methods, and portion sizes.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Originally published March 2022, updated and republished February 2024

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