Frosted Anise Cookies Recipes

YA MAMMA'S FROSTED ANISE COOKIES (COPYCAT)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Cream butter, shortening,and sugar until smooth; add eggs and beat well.
• In another bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, and salt with a whisk.
• Add flour mixture to butter mixture along with anise extract and cream and,using a wooden spoon, mix well.
• Form dough into small balls and place onto ungreased cookie sheets several inches apart.
• Flatten slightly (using a sugared glass or the palm of your hand) and bake approximately 12 minutes.
• Remove to racks to cool then frost.
• For frosting, melt butter over low heat in a small saucepan.
• Add sugar, milk, and anise extract and stir until smooth.
• Dunk tops or sides of cooled cookies into the icing, then dunk into a dish of sprinkles to decorate.
• Frosting will harden once it dries.

ANISE COOKIES

Steps:

• Melt butter and shortening together. Add the sugar; mix well. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in the anise extract. Sift or whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Add to creamed mixture gradually. If the dough is too sticky to roll in the palm of your hand, add flour until firmer, but it should be very soft. Roll dough in small balls (these tend to really puff up with all the baking powder in them!) and place on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake @ 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes (the bottom should be lightly browned but the tops should remain light). Remove cookies to wire rack and cool completely before glazing.
• Next time I will be more careful with the flour, I think I added a bit too much. The tops of my cookies cracked. I also used my cookie scoop and filled it half way, which seemed to work pretty well.
• Mix milk GRADUALLY into confectioners' sugar to make a thick glaze... make sure to keep it on the thick side. Dip top of each cookie into glaze. Sprinkle with colored jimmies or nonpareils while glaze is still wet. I usually dip 10-12 cookies, return them to the wire rack (with wax paper under the racks to aid in clean up!) and then sprinkle those cookies before starting to dip more.
• I dipped and sprinkled 5 at a time, that seemed to be the magic number before the glaze would start to harden.

ANISE SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and extract. Combine the flour, aniseed, salt, baking powder and baking soda; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. , Shape into 1-in. balls; place on greased baking sheets. Flatten with a glass dipped in sugar., Bake at 375° for 8-10 minutes or until set. Cool on wire racks. If desired, decorate cookies with frosting and sprinkles.

ITALIAN ANISE COOKIES WITH ICING AND SPRINKLES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
• 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.
• 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 brownie batter (it should be softer than a drop cookie dough).
• 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.
• Bake cookies 10-12 minutes (they won't be brown but the insides will be soft and cake-like).
• For icing: mix sugar, milk and extract to make a sugar glaze. HINT: When I make the icing, I make it thick but then I microwave it for 10 seconds so it is thin enough for dipping. Also, I like to divide the mixture in thirds, and then add ONE DROP of food coloring to each batch (pink, green, yellow).
• 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.
• Allow icing to harden overnight; then store in air-tight containers or freeze.

SELF-FROSTING ANISE COOKIES

Steps:

• Sift flour, baking powder and salt together several times.
• Beat eggs at low speed until frothy, turn mixer to medium, slowly, gradually beat in sugar (about 1 tbl at a time) Turn mixer to a low speed; add sifted dry ingredients slowly, beat 15 minutes longer, blend in anise.
• Using small cookie scoop or teaspoon drop onto greased cookie sheets,work quickly.
• Allow to stand in a cool place several hours or over night, the top of the cookie should be dry to the touch.
• Bake at 325 F about 14 minutes, should not brown.
• Makes about 10 dz.