Peschi Dolci: Sweet Peach Cookies

Growing up Sicilian, we knew how to party! It seemed every weekend we attended some sort of a special event or get together. I remember frequenting different banquet halls all throughout Illinois and being amazed with the most elaborate dessert tables.

Sicilians really do have the sweetest tooth of all the Italians. Even if we were just going over to a family member’s house, they would always, and I mean always, have multiple pastries, cookies or cakes available for consumption. There was always so much to choose from and of course, I just had to try them all.

One of the cutest cookies I came across were these delectable sweet peach looking cookies. I mean they literally look like peaches, how adorable. So now that it is peach season, even though these cookies are traditionally served at holidays or special occasions, I wanted to share my recipe for Peschi Dolci or sweet peach cookies.

Peschi Dolci

Yield: about 15 peach cookies

Prep/decoration time: 25 minutes

Cook time: 12 minutes

Inactive time: 20 minutes

Total time: 57 minutes

For the cookie dough:

1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 Tablespoons sour cream

Lemon zest from 1 lemon

For the filling:

1/2 cup pecans or walnuts or almonds

1/2 cup peach jam

Reserved cookie crumbs

For decoration:

2/3 cup Peach liqueur, divided

Red food coloring

Yellow food coloring

Fine sugar

Green leaves

For the cookies:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.

3. In a large bowl cream, the butter with sugar and lemon zest with a hand mixer.

4. Add egg and mix until well combined. Then add in vanilla extract and sour cream.

5. With mixer on low, incorporate flour mixture to butter mixture. (Be careful not to overmix.)

6. Scoop about 1 Tablespoon of dough and shape into balls.

7. Place the balls on the prepared baking sheets and flatten the balls slightly.

8. Bake for 12-14 minutes until bottoms are just starting to brown. (It's very important not to over bake these cookies!)

9. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.

10. When cookies are cooled, carefully scoop out the cookie centers and place them in a bowl. (This will be used for the filling.)

For the filling:

1. Grind nuts and reserved cookie centers in a food processor with peach jam to make a paste.

2. Place the filling into a piping bag fitted with a plain tip if you have one.

3. Pipe the cookie centers with the filling and match two cookies together to form a sandwich.

To decorate cookies:

1. Add about 1/3 cup peach liqueur into 1 small bowl. Add yellow food coloring. Add another 1/3 cup peach liqueur into another bowl and add red food coloring. In a third bowl add a bit of fine sugar.

2. Dip about a half of each sandwiched cookie into the yellow liqueur and then dip the other half into the red one. Let it drain a bit and then roll into sugar to coat evenly.

3. Place the peach cookies onto a serving platter and decorate with green leaves if desired. Enjoy!

I hope you enjoy these cookies as much as I do! Our blog has numerous recipes for different cookies so be sure to check it out and subscribe. We also have a Virtual Just Peachy: Sweet and Savory Workshop coming up to toast to the season this weekend. You'll make all of this peach goodness along with our chef:

• Arugula and Basil Salad with Quick Pickled Peaches, Avocados and Toasted Almonds
• Peach-Bourbon Chutney with Goat Cheese and Herb Crostini
• Peach-Vanilla Bars with Shortbread Crust

Yield: 15 cookies

Author: Lisa Counts

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Peschi Dolci: Sweet Peach Cookies

Prep time: 25 Min Cook time: 12 Min Inactive time: 20 Min Total time: 57 Min

Ingredients

For the dough

• 1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 Tablespoons sour cream
• Lemon zest from 1 lemon

For the filling

• 1/2 cup pecans or walnuts or almonds
• 1/2 cup peach jam
• Reserved cookie crumbs

For decoration

• 2/3 cup Peach liqueur, divided
• Red food coloring
• Yellow food coloring
• Fine sugar
• Green leaves

Instructions

For the cookies

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
3. In a large bowl cream, the butter with sugar and lemon zest with a hand mixer.
4. Add egg and mix until well combined. Then add in vanilla extract and sour cream.
5. With mixer on low incorporate flour mixture to butter mixture. (Be careful not to over mix)
6. Scoop about 1 Tablespoon of dough and shape into balls.
7. Place the balls on the prepared baking sheets and flatten the balls slightly.
8. Bake for 12-14 minutes until bottoms are just starting to brown.
9. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.
10. When cookies are cooled carefully scoop out the cookie centers and place them in a bowl.

For the filling

1. Grind nuts and reserved cookie centers in a food processor with peach jam to make a paste.
2. Place the filling into a piping bag fitted with a plain tip if you have one.
3. Pipe the cookie centers with the filling and match two cookies together to form a sandwich.

For decoration

1. Add about 1/3 cup peach liqueur into 1 small bowl. Add yellow food coloring. Add another 1/3 cup peach liqueur into another bowl and add red food coloring. In a third bowl add a bit of fine sugar.
2. Dip about a half of each sandwiched cookie into the yellow liqueur and then dip the other half into the red one. Let it drain a bit and then roll into sugar to coat evenly.
3. Place the peach cookies onto a serving platter and decorate with green leaves if desired.

https://www.thechoppingblock.com/blog/peschi-dolci-sweet-peach-cookies