Small Batch Italian Anisette Cookies

These cookies make the rounds of pinterest and social media every so often, especially around holiday times.  Anise is one of those flavors that many people have strong feelings about.  They either pick out all the black jelly beans to throw out, or to hoard for themselves.  I love black licorice and anise has a licorice flavor.  Now I understand this cookie can be made with lemon or almond extract instead of anise, but I wonder why one would bother making an anise cookie if one wasn't going to use anise.  I do love almond and lemon flavor though, so whatever floats your boat.  This is an old Italian cookie and I wish I could have found the significance, if any, of the 'S' or twist shape but they are just as often made as round drop cookies.  I liked the twist best and went with that version.  The texture is very soft and tender, kind of like those frosted Lofthouse sugar cookies, only more so.  Hubby loved them.  I thought they were very nice and would love them with tea or coffee.  A beautiful, subtle licorice flavor, even with adding some extract to the icing.  My extract is decades old, I wonder if it fades...  Also, this is a much smaller batch because most recipes that I saw made about 5 dozen cookies and we don't need that many!  If you like soft, cakey cookies and licorice flavor, this is definitely a cookie to try out.

Italian Anisette Cookies
makes 1½ dozen

½ cup (113g) butter, softened
¼ cup + 1 tbsp (82.5g) sugar
2 large eggs, room temp
2 tbsp + 2 tsp (38g) milk, room temp
2 cups (250g) all purpose flour
2 full tsp baking powder
½ tsp ground aniseed (optional)
⅛ tsp salt
⅔ tsp anise extract (I used ¾ tsp)

Frosting:

½ tbsp butter
1 cup (113.5g) confectioners' sugar
2-3 tbsp (28-42.5g) milk
⅛ tsp anise extract (optional)

Colored sprinkles

Preheat oven to 375ºF.  Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and set aside.  In a stand mixer or large bowl, cream together butter and sugar.
Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each.  Stir in the anise extract. Add the flour and milk, starting and ending with flour, in alternating portions of each until fully combined.  Dough will be soft and slightly sticky.
Using a medium cookie dough scoop or spoon and floured hands, take a 1½ tbsp portion of dough and roll into a long rope, about 7-8 inches long.  Shape into ‘S’ or twist shape on a parchment lined or ungreased cookie sheet: Coil into an oval and lightly pinch the ends together.  Twist/flip one loop up over itself to cover the seam.  Leave a couple inches between cookies as they will puff up as they bake.

Bake for about 8-10 minutes.  Remove to cool completely on a rack.  When cookies are cool, frost and add sprinkles of choice.

Frosting: In a medium bowl, melt ½ tbsp butter. Add in 1 cup of confectioners’ sugar.  Stir in extract is using, and enough milk to achieve the desired consistency for frosting the cookies.  Brush, drizzle, or pipe on cookies, apply sprinkles right away and return to rack to set.  Let cool completely and store in airtight containers.

 

If you want to make a full batch of 5 dozen:

Full batch:

    1½ sticks of unsalted butter
    1¼ cups granulated sugar
    6 large eggs, room temp
    ½ cup milk, room temp
    5-6 cups unbleached all purpose flour
    6 generous teaspoons baking powder
    1½ tsp ground aniseed (optional)
    ½ teaspoon salt
    2 teaspoons anise extract

Frosting:

    1 tablespoon of unsalted butter
    ½ pound of confectioners’ sugar
    4-6 tablespoons milk