Italian Butter Cookies Delicious morsels from the Old Country

Delicious glazed Italian anise cookies

Italian Anise Glazed Cookies

Traditions and memories with the kids
A too small plate of Italian glazed butter cookies. I am pretty sure that is a portion. Get your own.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love these cookies.  A) They are delicious and crumbly and perfectly sized for a bite.  2) They smell and taste of anise, which is one of my all-time favorite flavors.

The first time if visited my sister in Boston, I found the North End. I walked among the streets taking in all that I imagined happening there 200 years ago (not much there.  A few miles away, however, well, that’s a different story for a different recipe.)  I found a bakery and knew I had to have something, anything, made in the North End to go with dinner.

As soon as I stepped in, the smell of anise grabbed me by the shoulders and said, “Yo, I’m heah!”  Well, that was it.  I had to have two dozen cookies.  I managed to save some for my sister, who, as it happens, doesn’t like anise.  I didn’t know that.  It never came up.  So, what is a brother to do?  Eat them all.

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Italian Glazed Butter Cookies

h/t Joe Casottana

Delicious glazed Italian anise cookies
5 from 1 vote
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Italian Anise Cookies

I just love these cookies.  They are so good and I almost don't want to share.  

Course Dessert
Cuisine Italian
Servings 6 people
Author Dann Reid

Ingredients

  • 12 oz Butter, room temperature
  • 10 oz Granulated sugar
  • 5 each Eggs
  • 1.5 T Vanilla Extract
  • 1.5 T Anise Extract
  • 5 C All purpose flour
  • 5 t Baking powder
  • .25 t Salt
  • 3.5 oz Whole milk
  • Extra flour for hands

Glaze

  • 4 oz Granulated sugar
  • 2 T Light corn syrup
  • 1/3 C Water
  • 2 C Confectioner's sugar
  • 1/2 t Vanilla extract

Rainbow Nonpareils

Instructions

  1. In a separate medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

  2. In the mixing bowl, paddle butter with the granulated sugar until creamy. Add eggs one at a time and then the flavoring.

  3. Add a quarter of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, mixing to incorporate. Add one-third of the half and half and mix. Gradually add and repeat the process until all the ingredients are incorporated. Mix just to combine after each addition.

  4. You will end up with sticky dough. That's expected.

  5. Wrap the dough into a disc shape and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

    Prepare the glaze. In a small saucepan whisk the granulated sugar, water, and corn syrup together. Heat over medium heat, stirring until the mixture comes to a boil. Boil for 30 seconds. Remove the pan from the heat, add the vanilla. Let the mixture rest till warm, like bathwater.

  6. Transfer the sugar base into a mixing bowl. Gradually mix in the confectioner's sugar with the whisk attachment until smooth.

  7. Place a few tablespoons of flour in a small bowl (for dusting your hands). When the dough is chilled, use a small disher to measure out some dough. With floured hands, roll the dough into a 2-inch ball and place it on the baking sheet. Continue scooping and rolling, dusting your hands each time. Place the cookies two inches apart on the pan. Refrigerate the dough whenever it gets too soft to work with.

    Bake the cookies at 350 degrees F for 10-15 minutes, until the tops are set, and the bottoms are lightly browned.

  8. Let the cookies rest for a couple of minutes before placing them on a cooling rack.

  9. Save the glazing process for after all the cookies are baked. When the cookies are completely cooled, you can glaze them. One at a time, dip the cookie in the glaze and immediately sprinkle it with nonpareils. (Don't put on too many, or the colors will bleed.) Place the glazed cookies on a cooling rack and set it over a parchment-lined or wax-paper-lined pan to catch the drips. It will take about 4 hours for the glaze to fully dry, so wait to store or package the cookies.

    Once the glaze has dried, store the cookies covered at room temperature for up to a week. Hahahahh! Yeah, right. I mean, yeah, a week.

  10. If you store them in a plastic container, the cookies will become very moist. Instead, use a paper lunch sack or a plate covered loosely with plastic wrap.

  11. Any leftover glaze can be kept at room temperature for three days, then refrigerated for a week.

Recipe Notes

The icing seems a tease.  It wasn't enough.  Test your own versions but a slightly smaller quantity of powdered sugar will make it a bit more fluid.  It's great glaze, just the recipe seems to make too little.

Of course, the kids will love that these cookies A, are cookies and 2, have sprinkles.  So, don’t disappoint the kids.

Author: Dann Reid

Hello. I'm a dad and husband and baker and chef and student of history, of economics and liberty.

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