(Iced cookies - Authentic Italian recipes from Apulia)

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400 g (14 oz) all purpose flour plus extra for dusting
100 g (3 1/2 oz) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
120 g (4 1/4 oz) sugar
2 eggs, beaten
5 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla powder
8 g (1/4 oz) baking powder
1 lemon juice
90 g (3 1/4 oz) icing sugar
6 tablespoon Italian grappa

Time:
preparation: 50 minutes
cooking: 30 minutes
Difficulty:
medium difficulty
Nutrition Facts (amount per serving):
Calories: XX (kCal) - XX (kJ)
Protein: XX (g)
Total fat: XX (g)
Total carbohydrate: XX (g)
Sugars: XX (g)

Put the butter together with the milk in a little saucepan and let it melt on a low heat. Switch off the gas and add the sugar, stirring.
Mix the flour, vanilla and baking powder on a pastry board; then make a well in the middle and add the eggs. Then pour in the melted butter a little at a time while, slowly, you are drawing in the flour from the edge of the well. Work until a smooth, elastic dough forms.
Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Line the bottom of some baking sheets with waxed paper.
Divide the dough into cylinders 10-12 cm long (4-5in). Flatten everyone lightly and then coil. Arrange them on the baking sheets, at a distance. Bake for about 10 minutes. The surface doesn't become golden.
Let them cool.
Meanwhile prepare the icing.
Put the icing sugar together with 120 ml (1/2 C) of water and bring to the boil on a very low heat. Boil for a minute and then add lemon juice and liqueur. Let all the ingredients boil for a minute.
Brush the surface of the cookies. Let them dry; the best thing would be to put them in the warm oven.

Note

- Very tasty cookies from traditional cuisine of Apulia. Serve it with tea of after dinner.
- We prepared the icing in a different way. We put the lemon juice, icing sugar and 6 tablespoons of Cointreau liqueur in a little saucepan. We boiled the ingredients for some minutes and then added the water. We kept on boiling until the mixture has thickened. Then we halved the mixture and added some drops of different colours for food. We let the two kinds of icing cool and then brushed the cookies with them. In this way the icing is soften.