"How to Make Wedding Cookies" by London A

Each Christmas, wedding cookies are always made on my mom’s side of the family. Wedding cookies are balls of dough covered in homemade glaze and sprinkles. These are extremely popular in my whole family since everyone loves them, and also because they are very meaningful to us. When I lived in Ohio, every year on Christmas Eve my family and I traveled to West Virginia where my aunt and many of my other relatives live. We celebrated the holidays by spending time with our entire Italian family (which is huge) and eating as much food as we could. My Great-Aunt, who we called Aunt DeeDee, would spend the days leading up to Christmas cooking lots of different kinds of food that my whole family loves, ranging from gnocchi to fried zucchini to fritas (which are pieces of fried dough covered in sugar; they’re absolutely delicious). In my family, food is always something that helps bring everyone together.

To make these wedding cookies, there are a few ingredients you will need:

·      ½ cup of butter

·      3 eggs

·      ½ cup of sugar

·      2 tsp of vanilla extract

·      3 cups of flour

·      3 tsp of baking powder

For the glaze:

·      ½ cup of warm milk

·      1 teaspoon of almond extract

·      1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

·      1 box (or 1 pound) of confectioners’ sugar

·      Colored sprinkles

1) First, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cream the butter, adding eggs, sugar, and vanilla. Mix these ingredients together well.

2) Next, using a separate bowl, stir flour and baking powder together. After this, add flour to the butter mixture.

3) Use your hands to shape the pieces of dough into loose knots. Bake this for 8 to 10 minutes.

4) To make the glaze, combine the milk and both of the extracts in a large bowl. Add sugar to the mix; whisk until all lumps are dissolved and the glaze is smooth.

4) As soon as the cookies are removed from the oven, quickly immerse two or three at a time into the glaze that was previously made. Remove the cookies with a spoon or your fingers.

5) Place the cookies on wire racks to drain. Then, quickly top each with sprinkles.

6) Let them dry for 24 hours before storing them in airtight containers.

Now the cookies are done! This has always been a dessert I’ve loved making, and I hope you try this and like them as well!

Some more background information leading to the decision of writing this recipe:

After my Aunt DeeDee passed away a few years ago, my relatives kept the food tradition alive by continuing to make Christmas dinner, particularly the signature wedding cookies. Wedding cookies are a huge signature dish for our family since it reminds us so much of my aunt. The reason I chose to write about this certain cookie is that I was very close to my aunt and always looked up to her; I also wanted to choose one of my favorite desserts that she used to make.

My aunt was a prominent leader in my life who kept the entire family close. I’m extremely grateful for this because even though I have seen my relatives very few times within the last few years, nothing has changed; when we go to visit, it’s as if no time has passed at all. This meaning behind the cookies is the reason that this recipe is so important to my family and me!