Unbelievably Decadent Italian Chocolate Cookies

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2. Whisk flour, white sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and salt together in a large bowl. Stir in orange zest, then mix in vegetable shortening and margarine with your hands until mixture is crumbly.

3. Beat eggs and vanilla in a bowl with an electric mixer until foamy. Add egg mixture to flour mixture along with 1/4 cup orange juice and 1/4 cup milk; knead in the bowl until dough is thoroughly combined and stiff and it doesn’t stick to your hands, about 8 minutes. Knead cream cheese thoroughly into dough, followed by walnuts.

4. Form dough into balls about 1 1/2 inches in diameter and place onto ungreased baking sheets.

5. Bake cookies in the preheated oven in batches until lightly browned, 12 to 14 minutes. Cool cookies on racks.

6. Make the frosting: Beat 3 tablespoons milk, 1 teaspoon orange juice, and 1 cup confectioners’ sugar in a bowl until smooth. Gradually beat in remaining confectioners’ sugar until frosting is thick and drizzles slowly from a spoon.

7. Dip tops of cookies into frosting and place onto racks with waxed paper underneath to catch the drips. Let cookies dry, 8 hours to overnight.

Tips

For the frosting, I’ve found that exact measurements aren’t that important. As long as the consistency is right, the frosting will be good. Add some milk and orange juice (more milk than orange juice, about a 90-10 ratio) to get the right consistency. If it gets too thin, add some more powdered sugar. You can add food coloring to the frosting and decorate with sprinkles if desired.

After frosting the cookies, let them dry overnight on a drying rack over waxed paper. The waxed paper makes cleanup much easier because it catches the dripping frosting.