These little gems were a special treat when I was growing up. I remember as a child my Mother taking me to a small Italian grocer in a nearby city. She went there for the cheap produce, handmade cheeses and lunchmeats. We would always stop at the store’s bakery on the way out and pick up a small white paper bag of these babies to eat on our ride home. This recipe is as close as I have ever found to the cookies of my childhood. Half pizzelle, half cake, these are perfect with an espresso or a tall glass of iced tea.
Italian Anise Cookies
COOKIE
* 1/2 cup butter, softened
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 3 large eggs
* 2 teaspoons anise extract
* 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (may need up to 3 cups)
* 1 tablespoon baking powder
* 2-3 tablespoons milk
ICING
* 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
* 3 tablespoons milk
* 1/8 teaspoon anise extract
* food coloring
* decorative candy sprinkles
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. For cookies, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing after each addition. Add anise extract.
3. Blend flour and baking powder. Start by adding about 1/3 of these dry ingredients to the butter/sugar in your mixer, then add 1 T. milk. Add another third of the flour and another 1 T. milk. Finally, mix in enough of the remaining flour until your dough is like a thick batter (it should be softer than a drop cookie dough).
4. Use a 1 T. cookie scooper to make simple round drop cookies – use wet fingers to pat any rough edges OR for an Easter-Egg look, roll 1 T. dough into an elongated ball.
5. Bake cookies 10-12 minutes (do not brown, you want them pale)
6. For icing: mix sugar, milk and extract to make a sugar glaze.
7. Hold cookie in your hand and turn upside down so you can dip the top half in the glaze; turn over and immediately top with sprinkles so they will stick.
8. Allow icing to harden overnight; then store in air-tight containers or freeze.
What cookies/biscuits remind you of your childhood?
– Angela Carter
