S Cookies: How to Make This Cool Sicilian Christmas Cookie
Especially every holiday season, I love to make Italian-inspired dishes. I’ve made several Italian cookies in the past, so I searched for a new one for this year. These Sicilian S cookies are the perfect cookie to enjoy with your coffee or tea. They are crunchy, sweet, but not too sweet, and you can dress them up with a glaze and sprinkles, or keep them plain. If it’s not super obvious, the S stands for Sicily.
The only slightly challenging part about making Sicilian S cookies is getting them into the S shape. I personally enjoyed the process. Just like when I was a kid playing with play dough, I rolled out the dough into snake shapes and then bent them to make the S shape. I also added a thick glaze onto mine. I actually dipped them twice to make it a bit thicker. Some people use the non-pareils for color and texture, just like a lot of Italian cookies have on them.
My Favorite Italian Cookie Recipes
If you’re looking for other Italian cookie recipes here are some of my other favorites:
Italian Wedding (Christmas) Cookies
Panettone Bread (not cookies, but classic Italian bread during the holidays!)
Sicilian S Cookies Recipe
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoons baking powder
1 1/4 sticks softened unsalted butter
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg, plus 1 egg yolk
water
For the Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk (I used almond)
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350°. Add the flour, sugar, and baking powder to a large bowl and cut the butter (I used a fork, you can also use your hands) until the mixture becomes like a meal or is very small like couscous. Set aside.
In a separate bowl whisk together the eggs and vanilla.
Transfer the dry ingredients to a clean surface and form a well in the center. Pour the wet ingredients to the center of the well and knead the dough for 4-5 minutes or until it forms a smooth cookie dough.
If the dough is dry add 1 tablespoon of cold water at a time while kneading until the dough is soft. If the dough is too wet, add one tablespoon of flour until it is no longer sticky. Place the dough in a bowl and chill in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
Take the dough out and take about 2 tablespoons of dough and roll it out on a clean surface until it’s about a ½” to ¾” in diameter and 5”-6” in length. Curl ends to form an S shape. Add each S-shaped cookie to a cookie sheet tray lined with parchment paper about 2” apart.
Bake the cookies on the bottom rack of an oven for 350° for 10 – 12 minutes, or until very lightly browned on the bottom. The cookies stay very light in color, but you don’t want to overcook.
While the cookies are cooling, whisk together powdered sugar and milk in a small bowl until combined then dip the top of the s cookie in the glaze and set on a rack until the glaze hardens.