Kicking off a holiday family favorite cookie-making tradition! This easy recipe for Italian Anisette Cookies, passed down through generations, allows you to partake in the festive fun.
For the cookies:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
Cream butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl for a few minutes until smooth and creamy.
Add in eggs and beat well using a hand or stand mixer, for about a minute.
Add milk, anise extract, and vanilla extract and mix until combined.
Add 3 cups of flour and baking powder to a separate bowl and whisk until evenly combined.
Add flour mixture to the bowl with the wet ingredients in 3 parts. Add a cup every minute till flour is fully combined.
If your dough is too sticky you may add up to 1/4 cup flour additional as needed. The recipe notes 3 cups exact is usually sufficient.
Scoop dough into about 1 tbsp round balls. Make sure not to over roll or the cookies will come out hard.
Bake for 7-10 minutes, or until cookies are very lightly brown on the bottom (the recipe bakes for 8 minutes). Transfer to a rack to cool completely about 10-15 minutes.
For the glaze:
Whisk together powder sugar, milk and anise extract.
Dunk the tops of each anisette cookie into the glaze, and then sprinkle any sprinkles of your choice for decoration!
