Anise Cookies

By jgroeneveld

Anise is a favorite Italian flavoring, especially for cookies. Serve these with espresso coffee and some anisette liqueur, and you will take your guests to Italy.

Ingredients

• Icing:
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1 cup fine semolina flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1 large egg, 2 egg yolks
• 2 Tbsp sambuca
• 1/2 tsp Anise extract
• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 Tbsp milk
• 1/4 tsp Anise extract
• 1 cup confectioner's sugar

Preparation

Step 1

Stir together flour, semolina, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. In a spouted measuring cup, whisk together egg, yolks, sambuca, and anise extract.

In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until the combination is light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg-yolk mixture to the mixer, and beat on medium until smooth.

Add flour mixture, and beat on low just until combined. Remove dough from mixing bowl, wrap in plastic, and chill until firm, about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Roll the dough into four dozen balls, and bake in batches on parchment- lined sheet pans, rotating the pans from the top to bottom racks in your oven halfway through the baking time, until golden, about 16 to 18 minutes per batch. Cool completely on racks.

Make glaze:
Whisk milk and anise extract into confectioners’ sugar to make a smooth glaze the thickness of pancake batter. Add a little more milk or confectioners’ sugar to adjust consistency. Dip or drizzle the cookies with glaze, and let set on a rack.