Anise Cookies (Anisdukaten)

© All rights reserved, Thorsten Kraska, 2009

Advent and christmas time are accompanied by the descent scent of spices like cinnamon, cardamom, cloves or ANISE. These buttery and brittle cookies have this wonderful flavor of anise. In these cookies anise seed as well as star anise is used.

Anisdukaten (anise cookies, anise ducats)
(for about 40 cookies)

1 tablespoon anise seed (finely grounded)
0.5 teaspoon star anise (finely grounded)
125 g butter (softened)
125 g sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla sugar
1 dash salt
5 egg yolks
250 g all purpose flour

and:
6 tablespoons sugar mixed with 1 teaspoon star anise (finely grounded)

I used freshy grounded anise. For anise seed I use a mortar and pistil. For the star anise I use an electric mill. I sieve it through a fine meshed sieve to get finely grounded star anise.

Mix butter, finely grounded anise, sugar, vanilla sugar, and a dash of salt. Add one egg yolk and mix for about one minute. Add the secoind egg yolk and mix again. repeat until all egg yolks are used. Add flour and mix only until blended. Wrap dough into clinch film and put in the fridge for about one hour.

Line baking trays with parchment paper. Take dough out of the fridge and divide into about 40 pieces (or less if you like cookies larger). Roll pieces into small balls and place on the trays. Press slightly a nice looking star anise into each cookie so that it is flatten slightly too.

Let rest cookies on tray for about 30 minutes at a very cool place (e.g. fridge, cold room). Meanwhile preheat oven to 200°C

Bake anise cookies for about 10 to 12 minutes until golden. Take out of the oven and roll the still warm cookies in the prepared star anise sugar. Let cool completely on a cooling rack. You can store the cookies for about 2-3 weeks in an airtight container.