Nonna's Cookies

When I was growing up my family had the same Sunday routine: church, lunch at Nanny and Poppy's, food comas, and dinner/night swims at Nonna and Nonno's house. We had the privilege of swimming everyday of the year living in Naples. 

One thing that I took for granted was the AMAZING food that was prepared every Sunday by my talented grandmothers. It was southern cooking for lunch, and delizioso italian for dinner. The other night I was seriously craving my Nonna's sugar cookies she would often make for dessert. So, embracing my sweet-tooth, I made a batch. I have to say, I was very impressed by the way the turned out! 

Here's what you'll need: 

For the cookies: 

1 cup butter, softened

3/4 cups sugar

1 teaspoon anise extract

1 teaspoon lemon extract

3 cups flour

3 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg

For the glaze: 

1 cup powdered sugar
Milk (measure depending on how thick you want the glaze)

SPRINKLES! :)

Here's what you'll do: 

Pre-heat oven to 350 F
Beat together butter and sugar until creamy
Stir in anise and lemon
Add dry ingredients - blend together
Add eggs - blend
Form dough into 1-inch balls and place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet
Bake for 15 (ish) minutes

Cool, Glaze, Sprinkle, Enjoy!

What are your favorite Sunday memories or traditions? Please feel free to comment below!

Fabulous Fall

Fall is fabulous. The rich colors of the leaves, the perfect weather, and of course a reason to devote all of your extra time in your kitchen baking fall yummies. I recently made these delicious low calorie pumpkin muffins I found while pinning away on Pinterest. I brought them to work and was told that "these are better than Starbucks" I almost cried. Best complement ever. Do yourself a favor and bake these immediately!

What you'll need:

1 Egg

1 can of Libby's Pure Pumpkin

1 box of Betty Crocker's Spice Cake mix

Cinnamon

Cream Cheese Frosting (optional, but totally worth the extra calories)

What you'll do:

Preheat oven to 325. Mix egg, pumpkin, and cake mix until it's nice, thick, and creamy. Place liners in your muffin tin and fill the mixture halfway. Sprinkle desired amount of cinnamon on top (I used A LOT, because I LOVE cinnamon) and place in the oven for about 20ish minutes (check on them at about 15, just to be safe). Let them cool, add cream cheese frosting (or not!), and ENJOY!

The good news: without the frosting you're looking at about 85 calories a muffin! (if you make 24) If you make about 18, it's about 100 calories! I told you fall was fabulous.