Italian Anisette Cookies

A week before Christmas and the city is in a new kind of quiet — COVID cases still high, holiday gatherings officially discouraged but happening anyway in whatever form people can manage. Ryan firehouse is on a high-call pace. I am on winter break as of Friday and the sudden stillness of not teaching five days a week is something I have to adjust to every year, and this year more so because teaching remotely has collapsed the boundaries between home and work in ways that are hard to untangle.

I made the Christmas cookie list and executed most of it this week: kolaczki done last week, gingerbread done, now Russian tea cakes (powdered sugar, ground pecans, butter, rolled into balls — Babcia Rose calls them wedding cookies and insists they are Polish, regardless of the name), a batch of chocolate peppermint bark for the firefighters on Ryan crew, and starting tomorrow: pierogi. My version. Not Babcia Rose version, which is better, but mine, which is good and which takes me four hours and multiple rooms of the apartment because I clear the dining table for the rolling.

Christmas gifts this year are practical and inexpensive and mostly things I made or found on Aldi clearance or at the dollar store. I bought Ryan a really good cast iron skillet he has been wanting, which was on sale and is the kind of gift that says: I know what you actually want. He got me something I do not know about yet. He has been slightly smug about it for two weeks. I am prepared to be charmed.

The blog this week is a full holiday cookie box post: all five recipes, costs, timeline for making ahead, packaging suggestions. It is a long post and one of the most practical things I have written. My readers are going to use this. The comment section has been the most activity I have seen since the pandemic pantry cooking posts. December is for this. December is for passing along the recipes.

The Italian anisette cookies are the ones I almost always forget to include on the list and then remember at the last minute — and every year I’m glad I did. They fit the cookie box the way a good supporting character fits a story: unassuming, reliable, and somehow the thing people mention first when they reach the bottom of the tin. They’re not the showstopper (that’s the kolaczki), but they’re the cookie that makes the box feel complete, and in a December that has asked everyone to find completeness in smaller things, that feels exactly right.

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 12 minutes | Total Time: 45 minutes | Servings: 48 cookies

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/4 cup whole milk
2 teaspoons anise extract
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For the glaze:
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
3–4 tablespoons whole milk
1/2 teaspoon anise extract
Rainbow nonpareil sprinkles, for topping

Instructions

Preheat oven. Heat oven to 350°F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
Mix dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
Beat wet ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk eggs and sugar together until pale and slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Whisk in the melted butter, milk, anise extract, and vanilla extract until combined.
Form the dough. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until a soft dough forms. It will be slightly sticky but should hold its shape when rolled.
Shape cookies. Scoop dough by heaping teaspoons and roll into smooth balls. Place 1 inch apart on prepared baking sheets.
Bake. Bake for 10–12 minutes, until the bottoms are just golden and the tops are set but still pale. Do not overbake — these cookies stay soft. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely before glazing.
Make the glaze. Whisk together powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons milk, and anise extract until smooth. Add the remaining tablespoon of milk as needed to reach a thin, pourable consistency.
Glaze and decorate. Dip the top of each cooled cookie into the glaze, letting excess drip off, then immediately top with sprinkles. Set on the wire rack and allow glaze to set fully, about 15 minutes. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 10 days, or freeze unglazed cookies for up to 2 months.

Nutrition (per serving)

Italian Anisette Cookies — The Holiday Cookie Box Recipe That Earns Its Place Every December