Anise Drops KA

By mariannefeldman

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/anise-drops-recipe
Germany, meet France! One bite into these flat, lighter-than-air crisp cookies (a.k.a. Self-Frosting Anise Drops), and you'll recognize the traditional licorice flavor of holiday springerle. During the long rest period of the scooped cookies, however, some of the egg whites and sugar in the mixture will also have risen to their top surface to form a meringue-type layer that's absolutely reminiscent of French macarons.

Ingredients

• Volume Ounces Grams
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature @ 50 grams = 150 grams
• 209 g sugar
• 206 g King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 teaspoons anise seed

Preparation

Step 1

1) Beat the eggs until they're frothy. Add the sugar gradually, beating all the while.

2) Once the sugar has been added, continue to beat the mixture at medium-high speed for 5 minutes.

3) Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

4) Add the dry ingredients to the egg/sugar mixture, and beat at medium speed for 3 minutes.

5) Stir in the anise seed.

6) Drop the dough by teaspoonfuls onto well-greased and well-floured or parchment-lined baking sheets, shaping the dough into rounds with a spoon, if necessary.

7) Let the cookies stand at room temperature, uncovered, for at least 8 hours. Note: food safety common sense prohibits you from nibbling on any unbaked cookie dough while these cookies are "aging."

8) When you're ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 325°F. Bake them for about 10 minutes, or until they're a creamy just-golden color, not brown, on the bottom.

9) Remove the cookies from the oven, wait 5 minutes, then loosen them from the parchment/pan with a spatula. Continue to cool the cookies right on the pan.

Yield: about 4 1/2 dozen cookies.