Italian Frosted Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients

• 0.3 cup double-acting baking powder 
• 3 cups confectioners' sugar as needed
• 8 ounce cream cheese softened
• 5  eggs 
• 7 cups flour all-purpose
• 1.5 teaspoons ground allspice 
• 1.5 teaspoons ground cinnamon 
• 1.5 teaspoons ground cloves 
• 0.5 cup butter parkay® (such as )
• 0.3 cup orange juice 
• 1 large orange zest 
• 1 teaspoon salt 
• 1 cup cocoa powder unsweetened (such as Hershey's®)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract to taste
• 0.5 cup vegetable shortening crisco® (such as )
• 0.5 cup walnuts chopped
• 2 cups sugar white
• 3 tablespoons milk whole as needed

Equipment

• bowl
• baking sheet
• oven
• whisk
• hand mixer

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Whisk flour, white sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and salt in a large bowl. Stir orange zest into flour mixture.
3. Mix vegetable shortening and margarine into dry ingredients, using your hands, until mixture is crumbly.
4. Beat eggs and vanilla extract in a bowl with an electric mixer until foamy; add egg mixture, 1/4 cup orange juice, and 1/4 cup milk to flour mixture and knead dough in the bowl until thoroughly combined and dough doesn't stick to your hands, about 8 minutes. Dough will be stiff. Knead cream cheese thoroughly into dough, followed by walnuts.
5. Form dough into balls about 1 1/2 inches in diameter and place onto ungreased baking sheets.
6. Bake cookies in the preheated oven until lightly browned, 12 to 14 minutes. Cool cookies on racks.
7. 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.
8. Dip tops of cookies into frosting and place frosted cookies on racks with waxed paper underneath to catch drips.
9. Let cookies dry overnight.