These anise cookies, also known as Italian Anisette Cookies, are a holiday favorite in my family. These cookies remind me of when I was a little girl and my mother would make her mother’s anisette cookie recipe. The great thing about this recipe is that can make a ton of cookies which is perfect for gift baskets, holiday parties, or showing someone appreciation, the list can go on. This is also a great activity to get your toddler excited about cooking and/or baking with you in the kitchen. My oldest son Cole enjoyed rolling the doe into balls, helping make the glaze, dipping the cookies, and of course, his favorite part was sprinkling the rainbow sprinkles on top of the cookies. Rainbow is his favorite color, besides dark blue.
Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do!
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Total Time: 25 min. Cooking Time: 10 min. Serving: 72 cookies total (depending on how large you roll them)
Equipment Needed: cookie sheets, mixing bowls, stand mixer, wire cooling racks
Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter or margarine
1/4 cup shortening
3/4 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
5 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. anise extract (or you can use vanilla or lemon extract instead)
colored jimmies or nonpareils
Glaze:
2 cups confectioners’ sugar (sifted)
3 Tbsp. milk
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
For Cookies:
1. 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. In a separate bowl, sift or whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to creamed mixture gradually. If the dough is too sticky to roll in the palm of your hands, add flour to firm it, but it should be very soft. Roll dough in small balls (these tend to really puff up while baking) and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Place in the oven @ 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes (the botton should be lightly browned but tops remain white). Remove cookies to wire rack and cool completely before glazing.
Glaze:
1. Mix milk GRADUALLY into confectioners’ sugar to make a thick glaze. Dip the top of each cookie into the glaze. Sprinkle with colored jimmies or nonpareils while the glaze is still wet.
pro tip: dip about 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.
