Star Anise-Honey Cookies

August. Schools starting. Aaliyah enters second grade with the confidence of a child who has already determined her life path (doctor-who-cooks, per her ongoing career plan) and who approaches school the way Rosetta approaches everything: systematically, thoroughly, and with zero tolerance for people who waste her time. DeAndre enters fourth grade and is tall enough that Earl suspects he'll be six feet by middle school, which means the offensive tackle dream is alive and well.

I made back-to-school lunches for both kids — packed in the insulated bags Tamika bought, with sandwiches and fruit and a cookie each. The cookies were my contribution: oatmeal raisin, Mama's recipe, the ones she made for our school lunches in the shotgun house, the ones that made every kid at my lunch table want to trade. Big, chewy, thick with oats and raisins and brown sugar, the kind of cookie that a child remembers at forty because the taste carries the feeling and the feeling was: someone loves you enough to bake for you.

I dropped the lunches at Walter Jr.'s house Saturday evening, and DeAndre looked in the bag and said, "Big E, are these your cookies?" I said yes. He said, "These are the best cookies in the world." I said, "Your great-grandmother's recipe." He said, "Great-Grandma Pearlie Mae?" I said, "The one and only." He took a cookie and ate it slowly, deliberately, with the concentration of a boy tasting history, and I watched him and thought: The chain. The chain from Mama to me to DeAndre. The cookies are the chain. The cookies are the love.

Mama’s oatmeal raisin recipe isn’t written down anywhere — it lives in my hands now, the way it lived in hers. But whenever I want to give someone a cookie that carries that same weight, that same message of I thought about you while I made this, I reach for something with a little warmth and a little mystery to it. These Star Anise-Honey Cookies have that quality — fragrant and golden and just unusual enough that a child will stop mid-bite, the way DeAndre stopped, and ask you what’s in them. That question is the beginning of the chain.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 12 min | Total Time: 32 min | Servings: 36 cookies

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground star anise
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup honey
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Coarse sugar or turbinado sugar, for rolling (optional)

Instructions

Preheat and prep. Preheat your oven to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
Whisk dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, ground star anise, and cinnamon until evenly combined.
Cream butter and sugars. In a large bowl, beat the softened butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together with a hand or stand mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Add honey and eggs. Beat in the honey, then add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the vanilla extract and mix until incorporated.
Combine wet and dry. Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually add the flour mixture, mixing just until no dry streaks remain. Do not overmix.
Portion the dough. Scoop rounded tablespoons of dough and roll into balls. If desired, roll each ball in coarse sugar before placing on the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart.
Bake. Bake for 10—12 minutes, until the edges are set and the centers look just slightly underdone. They will firm up as they cool.
Cool on the pan. Let cookies rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Nutrition (per serving)

Star Anise-Honey Cookies — The Chain That Runs from Mama to DeAndre