A Girly Girl

I have four older brothers so growing up I could have gone one of two ways: I either could have been a tom-boy, playing street hockey with my brothers, or I could have been a girly girl, constantly wearing a dress, or more accurately, a tu-tu.
As you can guess by the name of this post, I was the latter. Yes, at any point during my childhood you would have found me ballet dancing around my bright pink bedroom, playing with my mother's make-up or teasing my hair. And though I've grown up, I still have an affinity for high heels, dresses and all things that make me feel like a woman.

Tonight, I am getting together with some people from my writers' group, and since we're predominantly female, I've made Zuccarini, the girliest cookies around.
These Italian sugar cookies are topped with lemon butter cream and mounds of flaky shredded coconut which reminds me of taffeta.

My mother always made these cookies especially for me, and as I was icing these last night, I thought of the last time we made them together.
On the night before my bridal shower my mom, mother-in-law, best friend and I all sat at my mother's kitchen table, icing these cookies and laughing. Even though I was alone in my kitchen yesterday, I felt connected to these women who are so monumental in my life.

So the next time you are getting together with your girlfriends, whip a batch of these up. I guarantee everyone will love them.

Zuccarini

1 1/2 sticks of butter
1 cup of sugar
6 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons of baking powder
3 1/2 color cups flour

for the icing:
3 cups powdered sugar
1 stick of butter ( softened)
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons milk

1 bag of shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 425 degrees
Cream the butter and sugar, then add eggs one at a time. Beat well. Add the vanilla and mix well. Slowly add in the flour and baking powder. Mix until incorporated. Drop teaspoons of dough onto a greased cookie sheet two inches apart. Bake for 6 minutes or until the bottoms are slightly golden. Place on a cooling rack.

For the icing:
Mix powdered sugar, lemon, butter and milk together in a large bowl until smooth. At this point you can divide the icing into a few separate bowls and add food coloring into each bowl. My mother usually makes one pink bowl of icing and one pale green. She leaves the last one white for a nice array of color. I like mine all white, like little snowballs.
Ice cookies and top with shredded coconut.
Place cookies in an air tight container and they will last 4 days.
You can also freeze the cookies in an air tight container and defrost them at room temp two hours before serving. ( or you can eat them frozen like I do).