1/4 Italian Cookies

I have been wavering all week about what to call this recipe. The original recipe, inspired by my coworker, was for funfetti cookies. You know, like the cupcakes you had for your (twenty) fourth birthday with the rainbow sprinkles baked inside. This recipe called for literally a cup of sprinkles, and boy was I in luck when I went to my local Tedesci while I had 15 minutes to kill because I missed my bus. I still wasn't sure if I was going to make these funfetti cookies as I wandered around the little shop. Connah- Stowah, if you will. (Seriously, there is a real store called that in the North End.) Amidst the off-brand chips, dental floss and 8 kinds of coconut water (I'm sorry, but I can't get on board with it. I just don't like it. There, I said it.) I found THIS:

Life time supply of sprinkles

Huge jar of sprinkles. I now HAD to make the funfetti cookies. The recipe I used is adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod and Tasty Kitchen.

Cookies! That dishtowel in the back has a map of the London Underground on it, in case you were wondering.

 1 cup room temperature butter (whenever I bake, usually after dinner- I just let the butter sit on the counter while I cook and eat dinner, and by the time I'm done, the butter is soft enough to use)

1 cup sugar
3 tsp vanilla
1 egg
2 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup sprinkles
1/2 cup slivered almonds

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cream together butter and sugar until well combined, and then add vanilla and egg. In a separate bowl, combine all the dry ingredients except the sprinkles and almonds. Once everything else is mixed up, add the sprinkles and almonds, but do not overmix- stir until everything is just blended- you want the almonds and sprinkles to retain some integrity. Bake for 15 minutes on a parchment paper lined sheet. Cool on a wire rack.... (....or just eat right off the baking sheet like I did...) and enjoy!

So colorful

I'm not going to lie- I think I overbaked these a bit- my oven is extremely temperamental (I honestly didn't know that is how that word is spelled. You learn something new every day.) so I always opt for the longer end of baking times when a range is given. When I make them again (because I clearly have to with all the sprinkles of which I am now the proud owner) I will either bake them for less time, or add another egg or some milk. I didn't think they were as chewy as I would have liked them to be. However, since they were so crisp, and with the addition of the almonds, they reminded me of Italian Bakery Cookies!

Italian Bakery! Buttery, almondy cookies. Photo Credit: weheartastoria.com

 Since I am 1/4 Italian, that is why I am calling these "1/4 Italian Cookies" because they aren't quite funfetti cookies, but the funfetti cookies' Mediterranean cousin. Either way, they tasted good, and that's what matters!