For the moistest, most intense mostaccioli imaginable, Miraglia Eriquez increased the cocoa, hazelnuts, and spices. And these little frosted cookies only get better with age, so feel free to bake them up to four days ahead of when you plan to serve them.
Cookies keep, layered between sheets of parchment paper, in an airtight container at room temperature 4 days.
Recipe information
Total Time
2 1/2 hr
Yield
Makes 2 1/2 dozen cookies
Ingredients
For cookies:
For icing:
Preparation
Make cookies:
Step 1
Preheat oven to 325°F with rack in middle. Butter a large baking sheet.
Step 2
Pulse hazelnuts, sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and cloves in a food processor until nuts are finely chopped, then add butter and zest and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal with some small (roughly pea-size) butter lumps. Add juice and liqueur and pulse until dough comes together into a ball but is still crumbly. Form level tablespoons of dough into balls and flatten to about 1 1/2 inches in diameter, arranging 1 inch apart on baking sheet.
Step 3
Bake cookies until puffed and slightly cracked, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.
Make icing while cookies cool:
Step 4
Whisk together all icing ingredients until smooth.
Step 5
Dip tops of cooled cookies into icing and transfer to a wax-paper-lined baking sheet. Let stand until icing is set, about 1 hour.
