Sicilian Chocolate Spice Cookies

Delicious chocolate cookies with the spices of the holidays. Slightly crispy on the outside, with a tender center. Great to have all winter long!

Prep Time 45

Cook Time 8

Time to bake additional batches 16

Total Time 1 9

Course Dessert

Cuisine Italian

Servings Dozen

If baking the same day, preheat the oven to 400℉ Prep two baking sheets with silicon mats or parchment paper, set aside.
In a large bowl, use a mesh strainer to sift together all dry ingredients. Use a large strainer/sifter if possible, so you can add all dry ingredients before sifting. Give a stir after all dry ingredients are the bowl to ensure the flavors are well mixed. Set aside.
Cream together shortening and brown sugar. Then add eggs, one at a time to shortening and brown sugar mixture. Add the vanilla.
Scrape down the side of the bowl, then start to add the dry ingredients. Alternate with adding the milk. Once the mixture is almost together, add the orange zest and the chocolate chips. Finish mixing by hand.
Using a small scoop to shape the cookies. Leave 1½" - 2" between them, but they shouldn't spread much at all. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, let cool before finishing with glaze.

Combine powdered sugar and lemon juice (you can also substitute orange juice if you prefer). Slowly add the liquid in until you get the consistency you want. I prefer it a little thicker so the white stands out on the dark cookie. Glaze a some, then add the sprinkles, glaze some more...the glaze can set up fairly quickly, preventing the sprinkles from sticking.
Let glaze step up completely before storing. The thicker the glaze, the more time they will need. Then store in an air tight container for up to a week.

You can freeze them and bake from frozen. You just need space in your freezer (I used 2 9x13 pans). Follow the same steps through shaping. Since they are not baking, you can place them very close together. Once they have frozen solid, you can transfer them to a container or bag for storage until ready to bake. Bake & glaze as usual, though baking time might be closer to 10 minutes. I take them out of the freezer as soon as I start to preheat the oven, this gives them some time to thaw.
As with all baking, make sure to have an oven thermometer. Use that to gauge the temp, not when you oven says it's ready. In most cases there is a significant amount of time before it really hits the temp you want. In this case, for my oven, it took 15 minutes after the oven said it was at 400.
Because the cookies are small, this recipe makes a lot of cookies. Although the baking time is only 8 to 10 minutes, unless you have a double oven, you have at leave 2-3 rounds of baking. So plan on 20 to 30 minutes to get them all baked.
I make them very small (using a 1 Tbsp/#60 scoop) but you easily double that (2 Tbsp/#30 scoop). Just adjust the bake time to 10 - 12 minutes.
I have only made these with shortening, but if you prefer butter, this article from Better Homes & Gardens talks through making the substitution.
Our family has always used multicolored sprinkles, so that is always what we think of when we make them. However, feel free to use whatever color you like to make them your own.

Keyword Cookies

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!