Welcome to the 4^th Annual Italian Christmas Cookies class!

A platter of beautiful homemade cookies is one of the highlights of the holidays; even better if they are Italian cookies. Step inside a pasticceria in any Italian town, or an Italian bakery anywhere else, and you will be met with a near-endless selection of cookies: butter cookies and nut cookies, fruit-filled and rolled, chocolate-dipped, spiced, and sandwiched.

In past years we’ve made Baci di Dama, Ricciarelli, Chocolate Amaretti, and Giuggiulena (sesame candy). We’ve even made Panforte di Siena, the lovely, dense, spiced confection that graces holiday tables all over Tuscany (and beyond).

Here’s what on the baking menu this year:

• BISCOTTI AL COCCO E CIOCCOLATO FONDENTE: These delicately crispy coconut biscotti are dipped in bittersweet chocolate. They veer gently away from tradition but are still somehow quintessentially Italian.

• BISCOTTI DI FROLLA ALLA NOCCIOLA: Buttery shortbread dough is known as “pasta frolla” in Italian. Depending on the ratio of ingredients it can be used as a tart shell or rolled and cut into buttery cookies. This holiday version is made with a buttery hazelnut dough that is cut into moons and stars, then decorated with chocolate drizzles and/or sprinkles.

• FIG JAMARETTI: Almond paste in the dough gives these sliced and iced cookies a sweet and tender crumb with just a tinge of bitterness. The cookies are topped with fig (or your favorite flavor) jam and drizzled with orange-vanilla icing.

All classes take place on Zoom. Spaces is limited to 12 students so that everyone can receive the individual instruction necessary to master specific techniques. You will receive a list of ingredients and equipment needed a week before class. The day before, you will receive the complete recipes and an email with a link to the class on Zoom.

Join me for this cookie celebration!