The pleasant bite of anise gives these beautiful cookies a grown-up appeal. This recipe is from Mary McAvoy of Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, who has been baking since she was ten years old.
Cookies keep, layered between sheets of wax paper or parchment, in an airtight container at room temperature 1 week.
Recipe information
Total Time
4 hr (includes chilling)
Yield
Makes about 3 dozen
Ingredients
Special Equipment
Preparation
Step 1
Soak anise seeds in boiling-hot water until most of water is absorbed, about 15 minutes.
Step 2
Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.
Step 3
Beat together butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes in a stand mixer (preferably fitted with paddle attachment) or 4 minutes with a handheld. Beat in 1 egg and anise seeds with any remaining soaking liquid until combined. Reduce speed to low, then mix in flour mixture until just combined.
Step 4
Divide dough into 4 balls and flatten each into a 4-inch disk. Chill disks, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, about 3 hours.
Step 5
Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 350°F.
Step 6
While oven preheats, roll out 1 piece of dough (keep remaining dough chilled) on a well-floured surface with a well-floured rolling pin into a 7-inch round (slightly less than 1/4 inch thick; if dough becomes too soft to roll out, chill on a baking sheet until firm). Cut out as many cookies as possible from dough with cutter and transfer to 2 ungreased large baking sheets, arranging cookies about 1 inch apart. Beat remaining egg in a small bowl with 1 tablespoon water to make an egg wash. Brush each cookie lightly with egg wash, then sprinkle with some of sesame seeds.
Step 7
Bake cookies, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until bottoms are golden, 10 to 12 minutes total, then transfer with a metal spatula to racks to cool completely.
Step 8
Gather scraps and chill until firm enough to reroll. Make more cookies with remaining dough, scraps (reroll only once), and sesame seeds, then bake on cooled sheets.
Recipe notes (20)
Back to toprsquared1
13 years ago
Yummy little cookie. Served with chocolate pots de creme. I also ground the anise in a mortar then added the boiling water. Also did not use the sesame seeds. Sprinkled with Maldon salt before baking. They are very good paired with chocolate.
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blonke
16 years ago
Forgot to mention that I ground the anise seeds and then soaked them in the boiling water. I too find whole anise seeds not that pleasant to bite into.
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blonke
16 years ago
Anise is a grown-up taste preference I find. Kids didn't go for these even though the anise flavor was very mild. I used spelt flour which worked fine. Also rolled dough into a log then chilled and just sliced the log into cookies, quick and easy.
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lamb2love
16 years ago
These are very good - the texture is excellent. However, I didn't think the sesame seeds added much, and I didn't care for having the whole anise seeds in the cookies. Next time I make these, I will ground the anise seeds so they mix throughout the batter. I also thought they could be sweeter and saltier. I baked two sheets as directed, and for the rest, instead of topping with seeds, I sprinkled with coarse sugar and salt. I liked those much better, and they were just as pretty with sparkling sugar crystals on top. Also, to save time, instead of patting dough into a round and rolling and cutting, I rolled it into a log before chilling, and simply sliced crosswise into thin cookies. Much easier!
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Armandocorpus
17 years ago
These are great, simple cookies not without sophistication. The recipe is easy. I wonder how they'd do with a little anisette....but I didn't have any so...problem solved. Great big meal end-er with some team or fruit.
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estigirl
18 years ago
This cookie is amazing!! I actually added some of the toasted sesame seeds to the cookie dough for added flavor and it made the cookies "sing"! Perfect with a hot cup of tea!
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bettina88
21 years ago
These cookies were great! I would highly recommend making them one day and then rolling out the next. They do get soft rather quickly so the less you put the dough in your hands and roll it around the better. Also, after pouring the boiling water over the anise seeds and letting them set for 15min, I also stuck them in the microwave for 30 sec after the water got cold. To add a Christmas look, skip dying the seeds and sprinkle with red or green sugar.
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