Italian Horn Cookies

Total Time

Prep: 30 min. + chilling Bake: 10 min./batch

Makes

about 5 dozen

Updated: May. 21, 2022
My family has been making these delicate, fruit-filled Italian horn cookies for generations. They’re light and flaky, with the look of an elegant old-world pastry. —Gloria Siddiqui, Houston, Texas
Italian Horn Cookies Recipe photo by Taste of Home

Ingredients

  • 1 cup cold butter, cubed
  • 4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups vanilla ice cream, softened
  • 1 can (12 ounces) cherry cake and pastry filling
  • Sugar
  • Confectioners' sugar, optional

Directions

  1. In a large bowl, cut butter into flour until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in ice cream. Divide into 4 portions. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.
  2. Preheat oven to 350°. On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion to 1/8-in. thickness. With a pastry cutter, cut into 2-in. squares. Place about 1/2 teaspoon filling in the center of each square. Overlap 2 opposite corners of dough over the filling and seal. Sprinkle lightly with sugar.
  3. Place on ungreased baking sheets. Bake until bottoms are light brown, 10-12 minutes. Cool on wire racks. If desired, dust with confectioners' sugar before serving.
Italian Horn Cookies Tips

Can you use other fillings to make Italian horn cookies?

Absolutely! Other fruits besides cherry can work really well in Italian horn cookies, such as apricot, raspberry or even homemade preserves. Try more fruit cookies to find your favorite combinations!

How else can you shape Italian horn cookies?

You may see cookies like these across many cultures, shaped differently in each one. Crescents, like these chocolate almond crescents, or true horn shapes, like these pecan horns, are particularly popular.

How should you store Italian horn cookies?

Generally, cookies last about 5 days stored in an airtight container at room temperature, but these tricks tell you how to make cookies last longer.

–Rashanda Cobbins, Taste of Home Food Editor

Nutrition Facts

1 cookie: 79 calories, 4g fat (2g saturated fat), 10mg cholesterol, 32mg sodium, 10g carbohydrate (3g sugars, 0 fiber), 1g protein.