Commitment Cookies

One of Forrest's oldest friends proposed to his long-time girlfriend last weekend. He orchestrated a surprise engagement party so that after the proposal he and his new fiance would walk into their home filled with all of their family and friends. The party was perfect! Simple and elegant with bottles of wine and champagne and gourmet chocolates and strawberries for the guests to enjoy. I wanted to bring something to add to the spread and I thought these little cookies would be an excellent addition. Mike is from a pure-bred Italian family and has the perfect last name to go along with his genes. These Italian Wedding cookies were very fitting for the occasion, not to mention delicious!

Italian Wedding Cookies
Adapted from Rocco DiSpirito

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup confectioners sugar, plus 1/3 cup, for rolling
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups finely ground blanched almonds
• 5 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups sifted all-purpose flour

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Cream butter in a bowl. Combine sugar and salt in a seperate bowl. Gradually add confectioners sugar and salt.

Beat until light and fluffy. Process almonds in a food processor until finely ground.

Add almonds and vanilla.

Blend in flour gradually and mix well. Using 1 teaspoon of dough at a time, first roll the cookie into a ball.

Then shape into a 3 inch snake by rolling the ball in an up and down motion between your hands. Place snake on an un-greased baking sheet and carefully shape into crescents.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Do not brown. Cool slightly, then sprinkle with extra confectioners' sugar.

Be very careful when handling these cookies because they are very fragile and will crumble easily.