The holidays would not be complete without some sweet, traditional treats! One of my absolute favorites as a child were anise seed cookies. They not only smelled heavenly coming out of the oven with a blend of anise, cinnamon, cloves and molasses, but provided the perfect decorating surface for creative frosting and sprinkle interpretations. It makes over four dozen cookies (depending on the size of your cookie cutters, of course) and is a great cookie exchange go-to. Perhaps this will become a Christmas classic for you as well!
Ingredients
– white sugar – shortening – egg – molasses (preferably dark) – sour milk (to make, combine milk and vinegar) – anise seed – flour – baking soda – salt – cinnamon – cloves
Directions
Mix 4 1/2 cups flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp cloves in a large bowl, setting aside. In a separate mixing bowl (I use my KitchenAid mixer), cream 2/3 cup sugar and 1/2 cup shortening together. Mix in 1 egg and 2/3 cup molasses. Add 1/2 cup sour milk and anise, mixing until completely combined. To make sour milk, add 1/2 tsp vinegar to a liquid measuring cup, then fill to 1/2 cup line with milk. Slowly add the dry ingredient mixture, stirring throughout. This may start to become difficult – the dough fills up the majority of my KitchenAid mixer bowl. Tightly wrap the dough in wax paper, and refrigerate for several hours (letting it chill for at least 4 hours).
Once the dough has properly chilled, prepare your cookie cutting station: clean a flat counter surface or large pastry board, and place a 1/2 cup of flour in a corner. Spread a light layer of flour along the entire surface – this dough gets sticky! Start to work with the dough – I have found that it is manageable broken into 4-5 portions, warming it in your hands and starting to press it out. Once pliable enough, roll it out to approximately 1/8″. Flip the dough over occasionally as you flatten it out to ensure that it doesn’t stick to the surface. Tip: if you do not have a rolling pin, you can use a wine bottle as an emergency replacement (taping plastic wrap around the bottle for cleanliness purposes).
After rolling out the dough, start to cut out your cookies and preheat the oven to 375 degrees. I would recommend dipping the cookie cutter into flour each time you use it to ensure the cutters cleanly slice through the dough. Another word of advice: cut the cookies as close together as possible without sacrificing the shapes – the fewer times you have to re-roll the dough, the better!
Place the cookies on ungreased baking sheets – you will want 1-2″ around the cookies, but they will not spread significantly so you can fit quite a few on each pan. Bake for 8-10 minutes, aiming for shorter overall baking time if you prefer softer cookies. Cool the cookies on waxed paper. Once completely cooled, it’s time for frosting!
For the frosting, you will need powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and milk. In a bowl, combine 3 cups of powdered sugar, 1/4 tsp vanilla, and 1-3 Tbsps of milk, adding very slowly and mixing completely. You will want a glue-like consistency, but not on the runny side. Remember, you can always add more milk if needed, but you cannot remove it from the mixture once you’ve started (though you can add more powdered sugar to thicken the frosting back up). For decorating purposes, you can add food coloring if you prefer colorful frostings, though keep in mind that sugars and sprinkles also provide the opportunity to make them festive. Sometimes less is more, though this is a chance to get creative!
Set the iced cookies on waxed paper to dry overnight. To store, you can use waxed paper to create layers – I wouldn’t recommend stacking them directly on top of each other. Don’t forget to enjoy, and share with friends, family and coworkers alike.
Happy Holidays!
Until next time,
SugarSource
SugarSource 