Italian Tea Cookies

2 ¼ C (11 ¼ oz/319 g) all-purpose flour
pinch salt
2 t (8 g) baking powder
1 egg, room temperature
¾ C (5 ¼ oz/150 g) sugar + extra for rolling
¼ C (59 ml) milk, room temperature
¼ C (59 ml) vegetable oil
½ t almond*

*Note: I used almond extract but lemon or vanilla extract works equally as well.

Position oven rack in middle position and heat to 350° F (177° C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicon baking mats. Set aside.

In medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt and baking powder. In large bowl, using hand mixer, beat together egg and sugar until light and frothy. Add milk, oil and vanilla, beat well. Using a spatula, fold in flour mixture, a little at a time, in to the wet ingredients until fully incorporated. Do not beat.

Turn out dough on to lightly floured surface and with floured hands knead gently until combined. Dough will be slightly sticky so don’t over flour. Shape dough into a log and remove equal pieces of dough to form into oblong shapes (approximately 4 x ¾-inch). Roll pieces in granulated sugar and place on prepared baking sheets leaving 1-inch between cookies. I recommend baking one cookie sheet at a time. It takes a little longer, but cookies bake much more evenly than doing two pans at a time.

Bake for approximately 10 to 15 minutes, rotating pan one half turn midway through baking. Cool on pan for 5 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 18 to 21 cookies

8 May 18 – Used America’s Test Kitchen (ATC) flour weight, not recipe weight, 381 vs 289 g. Substituted almond for vanilla extract. Mixed easily with hand mixer. Mixed on high speed for approx 2 minutes. Turned lighter in color. Used large bowl for dry and medium for wet. Next time I would reverse size. Flour was difficult to incorporate into wet ingredients but doable with patience. Did a little bit at a time using spatula to mix. It finally came together but was a bit sticky. Floured counter and hands to handle dough. Made into log and cut off pieces before rolling in my floured hands followed by rolling in sugar. That seemed to work best. Sizing was a bit tricky but I ended up with 19 as opposed to 21 pieces but not bad for the first try. Baked first batch in island oven for 13 mins. Did spread slightly while baking. Make sure you leave 1 to 1 ½-inches between cookies. Little to no browning on tops with only a slight browning on bottom. Recommend carefully shaping cookies to maintain uniform log shape. First batch possibly slightly under done. Adding 1 to 1 ½ mins second on batch. Better texture and good flavor. Almond flavor a nice addition. Baked second batch for 14 minutes. Tops about the same but bottom a bit darker. Recipe was easy, fast and straight forward.