A little dove in the sky, a funny bunny in the garden: happy Easter!

 la ricetta in italiano qui

I love baking bread, and my passion has grown even more after I met Simili sisters, and learned so much during their cooking classes.

But my family is very large, all men and ... you know what it means about feeding them? ... they are never full and satisfied! :-), so it's really hard for me to be punctual and with my oven.

But I am lucky to have an artisanal bakery in the neighbouroughs, Zambiasi Bakery in Cavaion Veronese, my favorite and should you ever be here it will be certainly worth to stop in.

You can find so many different types of bread and pastries, all high quality, and when talking with Nicola (the baker) about flours, doughs, leavenings, is always a surprise and something new to add to my knowledge.

These last days have been very busy for him, continously baking Easter doves, and when the other day he showed me the leaving room, I felt like a little child, eyes  in adoration  of the incredible parade of trays full of doves of every size! I asked him to be an employee fro free for a week ... he did not say yes neither not ... shall I have hope?

 

But he was so kind to give me the recipe for these delicious shortbread, crispy and happily auspicious for this holiday season.

 

I had to fit the ingredients to a home-baking, but the result was very satisfactory, now I am waiting for his comment, I left some at the store, along with a bottle of fresh homemade limoncello.
The dough is very soft, but workable, even with no rest in the fridge.

 

For 40 big cookies you need:

400 g soft butter
400 g sugar
grated lemon/orange zest, as you prefer

3 eggs
the 2/3 of a beaten egg
(the remaining third, diluted with a little milk, is for brushing)
1 kilo all purpose flour
30 g baking powder

a pinch of ammonium bicarbonate
50/70 g milk at room temperature

 

Mix well butter with sugar and citrus zest.
Add eggs, one at a time, until well amalgamated.
Add flour and baking powder, and milk (50 g were sufficient for me9. Must be a soft dough.
Roll out  on a lightly floured surface and cut out the cookies using your favorite cutters. Place them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Brush with beaten egg diluted with a little milk and decorate with granulated sugar, almonds, colored confetti.
Bake at 180° for about 10/13 minutes, depending on size, until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

 

Can be stored for long in an airtight box.

This recipe is my personal entry to WHB # 328

 hosted by Bri from Briggishome  for Italian edition,
Haalo from Cook almost Anything for English version.
Thanks again to Haalo who manages greatfully all events,
to Bri for Italian edition.
Thanks again to Kalyn for her successfull idea!
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