ITALIAN FROSTED CHOCOLATE COOKIES

Italian Frosted Chocolate Cookies image

I make these cookies each year at Christmas. They are a favorite of family and friends. This recipe makes approximately 120 cookies.

Provided by Anonymous

Categories World Cuisine Recipes European Italian

Time 9h15m

Yield 120

Number Of Ingredients 20

Ingredients

7 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (such as Hershey's®)
¼ cup baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 ½ teaspoons ground cloves
1 ½ teaspoons ground allspice
1 teaspoon salt
1 large orange, zested
½ cup vegetable shortening (such as Crisco®)
½ cup margarine (such as Parkay®)
5 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract, or to taste
¼ cup orange juice
¼ cup whole milk
½ (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
½ cup chopped walnuts
3 tablespoons whole milk, or more as needed
1 teaspoon orange juice, or as needed
3 cups confectioners' sugar, or more as needed

Steps:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Whisk flour, white sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and salt in a large bowl. Stir orange zest into flour mixture. Mix vegetable shortening and margarine into dry ingredients, using your hands, until mixture is crumbly.
Beat eggs and vanilla extract in a bowl with an electric mixer until foamy; add egg mixture, 1/4 cup orange juice, and 1/4 cup milk to flour mixture and knead dough in the bowl until thoroughly combined and dough doesn't stick to your hands, about 8 minutes. Dough will be stiff. Knead cream cheese thoroughly into dough, followed by walnuts.
Form dough into balls about 1 1/2 inches in diameter and place onto ungreased baking sheets.
Bake cookies in the preheated oven until lightly browned, 12 to 14 minutes. Cool cookies on racks.
Beat 3 tablespoons milk, 1 teaspoon orange juice, and 1 cup confectioners' sugar in a bowl until smooth; gradually beat in remaining confectioners' sugar until frosting is thick and drizzles slowly from a spoon.
Dip tops of cookies into frosting and place frosted cookies on racks with waxed paper underneath to catch drips. Let cookies dry overnight.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 78.1 calories, Carbohydrate 12.8 g, Cholesterol 8.8 mg, Fat 2.7 g, Fiber 0.5 g, Protein 1.3 g, SaturatedFat 0.7 g, Sodium 83.2 mg, Sugar 6.5 g