Everybody's All-American Italian Wine Biscuits

Almost 100 years ago, my great-grandparents immigrated to America from Sicily, across the ocean and through Ellis Island.  My great-grandmother brought cookie recipes with her that, over three generations now, my family has baked and loved during holiday seasons.  For the 4th of July, I made her recipe for Italian wine biscuits: a soft, almond-flavored cookie, glazed in sugar and adorned in red, white, and blue.  

While July 4th often conjures images of baseball and apple pie, this recipe and its story aren't too far removed.  My great-grandfather loved watching baseball, a true-blue Pittsburgh Pirates fan.  And although America's history of immigration is much too fraught a discussion for a cooking blog, I still like to dream of an America defined amelioratively by comings, goings, and all of the traditions sowed in between.

The only song I could possibly pair with a 4th-of-July treat is Simon & Garfunkel's "America," one of my all-time favorite songs to listen to as I drive north on the New Jersey Turnpike, with signs for New York City coming into view.

Cookie dough:

**This recipe makes a LOT of cookies!  Sometimes I'll try to reduce it to a third, but for my great-grandmother, I'm keeping it in its original form here.  But be warned--you'll need a lot of counter and/or table space!

--12 c. flour

--1 1/4 c. vegetable shortening

--1 pint whole milk (you really need the richness of the whole milk!)

--4 1/2 c. granulated sugar

--3 eggs

--3 tsp. baking powder

--2 tsp. vanilla extract

--2 tsp. almond extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  

In a (very large) bowl, cream together sugar and shortening.  Add eggs, milk, vanilla, and almond extract.  In a separate (very large) bowl, sift flour and baking powder.  Slowly add, a bit at a time, to wet mixture until combined and a pliable dough has formed.

*If you're dying any of the dough, separate it and knead in your food dye color of choice.  At Christmastime, my family makes both red and green batches, for "candy cane"-style braids.

Now, you're going to braid the cookie dough.  You'll need three small balls of dough for each braid, approximate one large ice cream scoop of dough.  Roll into a long and thin dough log, and repeat with the two other balls.  Lay them next to one another horizontally and press together at the top.  Now carefully braid them together and press together at the bottom of the braid to attach them.  Using a small knife, cut the braid into 2" pieces and arrange on a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Repeat until all dough has been used.  (Instead of braiding, you could also form the dough logs into shapes or designs of your choice.)

Bake for 10 minutes and remove promptly.  (*Note: If these have any golden coloring on top, they're overcooked!)  I usually place mine on sheets of foil when they're cool in preparation for the sugar glazing.  

Sugar glaze:

--1/2 c. water

--1 c. granulated sugar

--1/4 c. confectioner's sugar

In a small saucepan, boil the water and granulated sugar until thready (approximately 5-7 minutes).  Remove from heat and rapidly whisk in the confectioner's sugar until completely dissolved.  Using a pastry brush, lightly glaze each cookie.  If so desired, add sprinkles immediately after glazing.