Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays emerge early in the stores. We see evidence of them in our mailboxes. Catalogs spill over with gift-giving ideas. The hustle and bustle will come, but it is not yet here. While this calm before the storm lingers, it is time to make cookies. The family recipe to which I refer is Grandma’s Anise Cookies. (It came to us from Grandma’s mother.)
Her recipe is an overnight recipe of only 4 ingredients. The trick is to do it on a clear day. Without the proper conditions, the cookies will not frost themselves.
Start with 4 eggs. Beat at high speed till light.
Slowly add 1.5 cups of sugar to the eggs.
You will want a dependable standing mixer for this job, since you will mix the sugar and egg mixture at high speed for 1/2 hour. The mixture will become light and thick.
When the half-hour mixing is completed, add 6 drops of anise oil. (Extract will not give the strength of anise flavor desired. Anise oil will. I got my anise oil at my local pharmacy. At this rate of use, one bottle lasts many Christmases.)
Also add 1.75 cup flour slowly into the mixture.
Beat for an additional 5 minutes.
Butter and flour cookie sheets.
Place batter by the teaspoonful on cookie sheets.
Let cookies sit overnight. Bake the next morning at 325° for 8 minutes or less.
These cookies freeze well. This recipe makes about 60 cookies.
photo credit: Wenda Grabau
photo credit: Wenda Grabau
photo credit: Wenda Grabau
photo credit: Wenda Grabau
photo credit: Wenda Grabau
photo credit: Bretta Grabau
photo credit: Wenda Grabau
photo credit: Wenda Grabau
I want one! So yummy!!
I have some in the freezer. You will get to enjoy some.
oh good! 🙂
I got 2 batches made.
Just found this recipe and it is the closest I can find to the one handed down through my mother’s side of the family (my recipe calls for powder sugar in place of sugar).
Do you know where this recipe comes from? We always considered them “Italian” (and always made at Christmas) but I can’t find any Italian anise cookie recipes that are similar. I’d love to find out if they were passed down from my Irish or Italian roots or perhaps were just a favorite recipe that became a family tradition somewhere along the way.
Thanks!
Hi there,
We call these cookies a family favorite at Christmas time.
I don’t know that I can answer your question, but we got the recipe handed down from our German ancestors. That would date to the early 1900s and I would assume from the later 1800s, too.
Maybe the variation in sugar could indicate where your recipe is from. Good Luck and thanks for stopping by!
I’m looking for recipe for cookies like these only vanilla drop cookies. I lost my Omas recipe. Thank you
The Lord gave us a clear sky yesterday so that I mixed up another batch to serve for Christmas.
I have not tried this cookie with real vanilla before. I suppose it is worth a try. I have made a batch with an extract before.
I did not find it as full-flavored as the oil can make them.
I hope you have success and can enjoy again the taste of your Oma’s cookies.
Merry Christmas,
Wenda Grabau
These were always my father’s favorite cookies. I tried these last night/today with no success. Not sure what went wrong. It was/is a clear day. What size are the eggs? What speed is the mixer on? I used crushed anise seed because I couldn’t get oil or extract, but my grandma always did that, so I don’t think that was the problem. It must come down to the weather! So finicky, these cookies!
Hi Susan,
I am not sure what to tell you.
I do use my own eggs. We have about 50 hens and get large to extra large eggs from them. They are brown eggs and they are very fresh (maybe 4-6 days old).
I have an old Mix Master standing beater that I use for the mixing. I use the top speed and mix the recipe for half and hour, before adding the anise oil. That gives me a lot of air bubbles dispersed in the mixture
I bought the anise oil at a pharmacy, the grocery store did not sell it. I have never tried the anise seed. One bottle will probably last a lifetime.
The one failure I had was when I used anise extract. It could also easily been the atmospheric pressure of the day, too, that worked against me.
I mix the batter, and let the cookies sit all night long to form their “frosting” top.
If you have a cloudless sky all day and through the night, I think it should be sufficient atmospheric pressure to do the cookies. (My brother-in-law from Arizona makes these, too.)
Let me encourage you to try, try, try again. You will get there. And when you do, you will be happy for the accomplishment.
I used to have trouble getting a high angel food cake. I tried and tried. Finally I got it.
I hope that some of what I do might give you a bit of insight into the cookie-making.
Again, keep trying.
I am glad to hear from you.
Wendy Grabau