Italian Anise Cookies

I am not much of a coffee drinker. Never have been. But when I see these cookies I get big coffee cravings. There is just something wonderful about pairing a couple of these up with a good cup o' Joe.



Recipe:

  • 1 cup softened butter
  • 1 cup of sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoons anise extract
  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons of milk

Glaze:

2 cups confectioners sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1/8 tsp. anise extract

Instructions:


  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  2. Cream the butter and sugar. Add eggs and anise extract.
  3. Blend flour and baking powder. Start by adding about 1/3 of these dry ingredients to the butter and sugar in your mixer. Add 1 T. milk. Add another third of the flour and another 1 T. milk. Mix in the remaining flour.
  4. Measure out the cookies by using a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop. I sprayed mine with cooking spray to keep the dough from sticking.
  5. Bake cookies for 12 minutes. They should just be starting to brown on the bottoms but just barely.
  6. Mix sugar, milk and extract to make a sugar glaze. It should be thin enough to dip the cookie tops.
  7. Turn each cookie upside down and dip the tops into the glace. Sprinkle with multi-colored non pariels.
  8. Place the cookies on a rack to cool. Let them sit out until the glace sets and store in a tight lidded container. The flavor actually gets better after the cookies sit for a few days

This is a wonderful light cookies with the texture of a soft biscotti.


This is what my dough texture looked like.


Here they are as they go into the oven.


This is what they look like when they first come out. Let them cool a bit before frosting them.


I've bought these at Italian stores for years but this is the first time I made them. I don't think I will be buying them anymore.


Halp!!!! Does anyone have a good sourdough bread recipe??? I am drowning in loaves of less than stellar sourdough and am getting quite tired of making this over and over and not getting great results. I am experiencing major sourdough fail!

Comments

These cookies look wonderful. I am a big coffee drinker, plus I love anise anything.

Don't look to me for sourdough bread recipes, Isaac and I are waiting on you.
Anonymous said…
I like both coffee and anise so I think these would be great at coffee break at work :-)

Have a great day now!
Christer.
brokenteepee said…
I adore anise but the hubby hates it.

I am not a big fan of sourdough as I have mentioned but I will look through my cookbooks for you.
Ronda Kisner said…
Wow! Those look extra tasty. I love all things Anise!

Good Luck on the sour dough!

(There is a lot of discussion of sour dough at http://www.mysisterskitchenonline.com/)
SharleneT said…
I love anise flavoring and will definitely make these cookies. Right now, we're dealing with heavy snow, so will have to wait a while.

I forgot. Did you make your own starter? I don't add yeast to mine. Just have half-and-half flour and water, sitting in an open dish on the counter for a couple of days, till it gets tangy, then I bake my bread and put about 1/2 cup aside for the next batch. (If I don't want to cook, right away, I just put it in the fridge, where it keeps a long time.) I've just never added yeast. This may or may not have helped... 8-(
Unknown said…
I LIKE Anise, but my hubby LOVES!!! Anise. These sound AWESOME!!!

Here's my recipe for a GREAT!!! sourdough @
http://heartnsoulcooking.blogspot.com/2009/09/finnish-farmers-sourdough-rye-bread.html
Texan said…
I am sure this cookie would go very nicely with a cup of coffee. Say 4 or 5 of them with a cup actually ROFL :O)..

Girly I got my best bread recipe from you! Never made bread before that LOL...So I am zero help on the sourdough recipe... sorry....
Mel Mel said…
Ooo, those look really good! I'm going to try these this week. I love anise and have been looking for a good cookie recipe. My aunt who was from Sicily used to make a good one and I was always sorry I didn't get the recipe from her. :-)
Michelle said…
Sorry, I am no help with the sour dough problem. But, the cookies look great and I will be trying them!
Ann said…
oh those cookies looks way too good.

Tim at everyday living makes sour dough bread all the time. I believe he has his recipe posted. if not I'm sure he could give you some suggestions.
the link is http://mrmomsunite.blogspot.com/
Millie said…
I think I could eat the whole batch!
i am making these tomorrow....i give up on the sourdough...for today...i'll be back at it tomorrow.....

determined to get it right...eventually...i hope
petoskystone said…
seriously addictive cookies
Anonymous said…
Oh, I've never heard of these before. They sound wonderful!
Hi JAZ,

thought I might share some of my research as I'm about to dive into the sourdough adventure myself (it's all fairly scientific stuff):

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/10856/pineapple-juice-solution-part-1

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/10901/pineapple-juice-solution-part-2

Ah yes, I started blogging again under a different site name; daily posts (yikes!); faces included (ack!). We'll see how it goes...

Take care :)
We don't know anything about sourdough making. But some one, among your readers, will have a grrreat recipe, betcha'!

Gentle winter hugs...