Italian Soft Chocolate Raisin Cookies

🎄 Soft, delicious, cake-like cookies with
red, white & green candy sprinkles
for Christmas and the Italian flag.

Cookie Ingredients: 

1 1/2 cups chocolate covered raisins

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup shortening*

4 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon pink Himalayan or sea salt

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 eggs

1/3 unsweetened plain Greek yogurt

7 tablespoons almond milk (or milk of choice)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (or 3/4 teaspoon vanilla 1/4 teaspoon almond extract)

Icing Ingredients:

3 cups powdered sugar

4 tablespoons almond milk (or coffee)

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/4 cup candy sprinkles (optional)

Method:

Cut the chocolate covered raisins in half and set aside.

Heat the butter and shortening, over low heat, on the stove, just until melted. Remove from heat and sat aside. Or, place in a glass bowl or measuring cup and heat at 15 second intervals, in a microwave oven, just until melted and set aside.

Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to cream together the melted, butter, shortening and sugar for 2 to 3 minutes until well blended. Add the eggs, yogurt, milk and vanilla to the creamed mixture and blend in. Slowly add the dry ingredients, 3/4 cup at a time, beating on lowest speed, after each addition. Mix just until the dry ingredients are completely blended in. Stir in the raisins. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight. 

Heat oven to 350*. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.  Use a cookie scoop to make golf ball sized balls of dough. Roll so that the outer edges are smooth with none of the raisins on the outer surfaces of the balls. Place 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the cookies look dry and cracks have formed. Cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes and then transfer to wire racks to finish cooling completely before icing.

Baked and cooling before icing ~
They taste good just like this!

Sift the powdered sugar into a bowl and mix in the milk and vanilla to create a thick icing. Dip the tops of each cookie in the icing. Shake gently to remove any excess icing. If desired, sprinkle with the candy topping right away because the icing sets quickly. Return the cookies to racks for several hours, or overnight, so that the icing can set completely. Makes 6 dozen. Store in airtight containers for up to 2 weeks.

*I like to use butter flavored shortening.

Notes: These are delicious, soft, cake-like cookies with little bits of chocolate covered raisins! I think that they are prettiest when iced and decorated with red, white & green candy sprinkles, but colored sugar or other sprinkles may be used. They are a favorite❣

For Easter, I sprinkled pastel sugar
on top of the icing.

With gold sugar & gold candy sprinkles.

With chocolate, white & gold candy sprinkles.