I’ve been in a lemon mood lately, so I’ve been dreaming up all kinds of lemon desserts in my head. A few of them have actually made it out of my head and into my kitchen. One of those were these little lemon anise cookies.
I love the flavor of anise–sweet and woodsy with a bit of a licorice flavor. The other day I got to thinking about some little Italian anise cookies I had made a few years ago, and decided they would be even better with some lemon added. So I pulled the recipe out and started making some notes until I came up with a version I thought might work. The result was a little cookie/tea cake that has a tangy lemon glaze on the outside and a wonderfully soft anise lemon center.
These cookies make perfect dunking cookies because they are cakey enough to soak up liquid, but they don’t disintegrate when you dunk them.
Lemon Anise Cookies
Makes 55 – 75 (depending on how big you make them)
Dough
3/4 cup sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted
2 large eggs
1/4 milk
1 tsp. anise extract
zest of 1 lemon, finely grated
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
Glaze (recipe follows)
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly grease baking sheet(s).
2. Make Dough: Beat sugar, butter, eggs, milk, anise extract, lemon zest, and lemon juice together in a large bowl with mixer until blended. On low speed, beat in flour, baking powder, and salt until blended.
3. Drop rounded measuring teaspoons of dough 2 inches apart onto the prepared baking sheet(s).
4. Bake 8 to 10 minutes until bottoms are light golden. Remove cookies to a wire rack to cool.
5. Make Glaze.
6. Dip tops of cookies in glaze. Let set and then dip again (optional), and let set. Store airtight at room temperature up to 2 weeks or freeze up to 1 month.
Glaze: Whisk together 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, 2 Tbsp. lemon juice, and 2 tsp. milk in a small bowl until smooth.
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
what gogous looking cookies and I love the combination of lemon and anise.
These cookies look beautiful! The combination of lemon and anise sounds delicious. I love desserts made with lemon in the summer – they always taste so fresh!
the combination sounds deliciously intriguing!
I love you! I get to go shopping for new ingredients. I’ve never used anise before. Woot!
I’ve never been an anise/licorice fan, but I think I could be tempted by these!!!
I get in lemon moods too! I have never tried cooking or baking with anise. I am super excited to try these! Thanks…you’re great!
I'm really not a huge anise fan but for some reason I LOVE these cookies! Yours look delicious :)
Thanks Steph! You could always leave the anise out and go with some almond flavoring instead!
i made these cookies they are great they are just like my moms but i am hopeing you can help my house had a fier and i lost a lot of my old itlain recipes would you have the staroffle recipe and if youdo could you please email it to me or send me a answer thank you and god bless
Just made these and they are wonderful! Sophisticated and tasty.
They are delicious, but I’d recommend putting the batter in the refrigerator for alittle bit before scooping onto the cookie sheet as the batter is a bit loose,.
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