Italian Anisette Cookies Recipes

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.

ITALIAN ANISETTE COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• In large bowl, mix flour, baking powder and white sugar. Make a well in the center and add oil, milk, 1 tablespoon anise extract, and eggs. Mix together until dough is sticky.
• Oil fingers and pinch off dough in 1 inch pieces. Roll into a ball and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet, 1 inch apart, flatten top slightly. Bake for 8 minutes. Dip cookies in Icing while warm.
• To Make Icing: Blend in 1 teaspoon anise extract and enough hot water to 1 cup confectioner's sugar to form a smooth icing.

ITALIAN ANISE COOKIES

Steps:

• Beat eggs together in a large bowl. Gradually stir white sugar into beaten eggs until smooth. Slowly pour vegetable oil and anise oil into sugar mixture until incorporated. Mix flour and baking powder together in a separate bowl; slowly add to sugar mixture, stirring with a wooden spoon until dough is dry.
• Refrigerate dough, 30 minutes to overnight.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a baking sheet.
• Roll dough into walnut-size balls and arrange on the prepared baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven until cookies are crisp around the edges, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool cookies on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
• Mix confectioners' sugar and milk together in a bowl until desired consistency is reached. Dip a fork into the icing and drizzle over cookies. Allow icing to harden.

ITALIAN COOKIES WITH ANISE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Beat butter and sugar for dough together in a bowl with an electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs, vanilla extract, and anise extract and blend. Combine flour and baking powder in a separate bowl; stir into butter mixture until blended.
• Take a ping pong-sized ball of dough and roll between your hands to form a rope. Connect the ends and twist into a figure 8 shape. Place on an ungreased baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough.
• Bake in batches in the preheated oven until edges are golden, about 10 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet for 1 minute before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Mix milk into confectioners' sugar for icing, stirring slowly. Add the anise extract and vanilla extract.
• Dip cooled cookies into the icing face-down and lay on wax paper or a wire rack.

ITALIAN ANISETTE COOKIES

Steps:

• In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs until foamy. Add sugar, salt, baking powder, anisette; beat until smooth.
• In a small bowl, beat together oil and room temperature butter until well combined. Stir into batter.
• Gradually add flour, beating only for a short time after flour has been added. Use more or less flour to make a soft cookie batter dough. (Using less flour will make for a lighter cookie). Dough should be soft, but stiff enough to form a smooth shape.
• Cover; refrigerate dough for several hours.
• Using a cookie scoop or two teaspoons, shape the dough into small balls; press bottom of cookies lightly onto lightly greased cookie sheets, while keeping the rounded tops.
• Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for about 15 minutes. The cookies should be crisp but do not brown - they should be very light in color.
• Using a spatula, transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool.
• To ice the cookies: In a clean mixing bowl, combine 1 cup confectioners' sugar with 4 teaspoons milk and 4 teaspoons Karo syrup. Stir until the icing is of a spreadable consistency, adding more milk if required. A few drops of anisette may be added for flavor; a drop or two of food coloring can be stirred in for a pastel-colored icing, if desired.
• Dip cookie tops into icing, then optionally sprinkle with colored cookie decorations.
• Makes approximately 3 1/2 dozen cookies.