Italian Wedding Cookies Recipe

This recipe for Italian Wedding Cookies is the only one you’ll ever need!

Foolproof and delicious, this recipe uses just 6 ingredients to make wonderful, melt-in-your-mouth Italian cookies.

Italian Wedding Cookies pile onto a wooden board. — Sweet, snowy, and buttery goodness!

The name of these cookies, Italian Wedding Cookies, is a bit of a misnomer. By this, I mean the “Italian” part, not just the “wedding” part. Many countries have similar cookies. For example, Russian tea cakes with walnuts, Swedish or Mexican wedding cookies, Greek kourabiedes, and Austrian kipferin are all similar.

Table of Contents

Why you’ll love this recipe

These cookies are blissful – sugary, rich, and buttery. The texture is the absolute highlight of these almond shortbread cookies. One bite and you’ll be in love!
Loaded with almonds and coated in sweet, powdery sugar, these are guaranteed crowd-pleasers and popular for all occasions, not just weddings. They are perfect for holidays, baby showers, bridal parties, and any time you want a buttery, nutty cookie.
But let’s be practical here: you’ll want to make this cookie recipe because it’s so easy, and you can’t go wrong. If you’ve never made cookies from scratch, this is a great place to start. And if you love sweet, sugar-coated treats like cuccidati and Italian chocolate cookies then you’ll love these too!

For complete ingredient quantities and full instructions, please scroll to the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page.

Ingredients

Salted Butter – good quality butter produces the best results.
Granulated White Sugar – I like to use fine granulated white sugar, but regular works just as well.
Brandy – just a little for flavor. Don’t worry about the alcohol content; it will cook off during baking. See below for substitutions.
Flour – regular, all-purpose, plain flour is needed here. There is no need for rising agents or fancy flours.
Almonds – use whole, unblanched almonds, which means with skins. These need to be toasted and coarsely ground. Pre-ground nuts won’t give the nutty crunch that makes these cookies so amazing! However, use pre-toasted nuts if you prefer.
Powdered Sugar – also known as “confectioners” or sugar. The traditional white, sugary coating is what makes these sometimes called Almond Snowball Cookies. Looking at the photos, you can see why!

How to Make Italian Wedding Cookies

Four step process showing how to make this Italian cookie recipe.

Preheat oven to 320ºF/160ºC. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Toast almonds for 5-10 minutes until fragrant and the skins crack. Cool, then chop coarsely in a food processor or crush in a bag with a rolling pin. Aim for a mix of fine and larger pieces.

Beat together the softened butter, sugar, and brandy. I use an electric mixer. However, this mixture does not need much aeration, so a wooden spoon will also work. The butter and sugar must be lightened and creamy.
Then, stir in the flour and chopped nuts. Use your hands to work the mixture until combined.
Now roll scant tablespoons of dough (I have a little cookie scoop (ice cream scoop), which measures approximately 1½in/3.5cm across (size #60 or #70 cookie scoop) and place them on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes. The cookies will puff but shouldn’t color too much.
When the cookies have almost cooled but still have a little bit of warmth, sift powdered sugar into a small bowl and roll the cookies in the sugar until well coated. Dust with more powdered sugar before serving.

Substitutions

Almonds: Instead of all almonds, substitute walnuts or pecans. Or use hazelnuts instead of almonds—like these Baci di Dama. Try a combination of pecans, almonds, and pistachios.
Salted butter: Use unsalted butter with 1/2 teaspoon of fine salt.
Brandy: Omit the brandy and add a teaspoon of vanilla extract instead.

Variations

Earlier, I mentioned that variations of this recipe can be found around the globe. Many of the recipes vary the nuts or add spices and make other changes, but the basic recipe is the same – a sugar-coated, scrumptious butterball cookie! Here a some variations I sometimes use:

Buttery: For a more buttery cookie, halve the quantity of almonds.
Italian Butterball Cookies: Omit the nuts and replace them with an additional 1/4 – 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour.
Cinnamony: Add a teaspoon of cinnamon or other spice that you enjoy.

Storage

Arrange in an airtight container with baking paper between the layers to prevent the cookies from sticking. When stored in this way, they will keep fresh for a week.

For longer storage, freeze the baked cookies in an airtight container with baking paper between the layers. Remember to dredge in extra powdered sugar before serving.

Tips for Success

Pile of white sugar coated cookies on wooden board with espresso cup in the background.

Ground almonds don’t work well for this recipe. Toasting and crushing the almonds produces the best result. The contrast of textures is one of the best characteristics of this almond melt-away cookie.
Have the butter at room temperature so it creams well with the sugar. You want to make sure the butter and sugar combine perfectly. Otherwise, there’ll be pockets of cookie dough with lumps of butter. That’s not going to be good. Learn a good method for softening butter easily in my Easy Vanilla Cake recipe.
Roll barely warm cookies in powdered sugar for best results. By barely warm, I mean almost fully cooled. The sugar will melt and clump into a sticky mess on a hot or warm cookie. Then, sieve extra powdered sugar over before serving for a perfect presentation.
This recipe can be doubled or tripled with no change to the cooking time. This recipe can also be halved.

FAQ

What are Italian wedding cookies made of?

Italian wedding cookies are made of butter, sugar, flour and almonds. They’re buttery, crumbly cookies that are popular during the holidays but also perfect for any occasion, such as birthdays, bridal showers, and afternoon teas.

What is the difference between Mexican and Italian wedding cookies?

These cookies are very similar, and both are buttery and tasty! The main difference is in the nuts used to make them. Italian Wedding Cookies use almonds, while the Mexican version uses either walnuts or pecans.

Where did Italian wedding cookies originate?

It is believed that these cookies originated in medieval Arabia and were introduced to Europe through expanding trade routes. Over time, countless countries adopted the concept, creating their own unique variations. Today, these cookies are enjoyed worldwide.

Pile of white sugar coated cookies, one cookie at the top with a bite taken out.

Italian Chocolate Cookies – with two types of chocolate and the crunch of walnuts.

Savoiardi – sponge finger cookies that are perfect for tiramisu.

Cantuccini – everything you need to know to make almond biscotti.

Italian Peach Cookies – these look just like fresh peaches but taste like Italian heaven.

Italian Pignoli Cookies – simply delicious!

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