Vanilla Anise Drop Cookies
Light and delicate, these vanilla anise drop cookies are like a cross between meringues and springerle. The true marker of success with anise drop cookies is whether or not they develop “feet” or Füsschen and a top or Haubchen. During the resting, or aging, period a portion of the egg whites and sugar rises to creating a bit of a meringue-like top layer.
Ingredients
- •1 cup All Purpose Flour
- •1¼ cups Powdered Sugar
- •2 tsp. Vanilla Sugar
- •2 Room Temperature Eggs
- •½ tsp. Baking Powder
- •¼ tsp. Salt
- •3 tsp. Ground Anise Seed
Instructions
- Whisk the flour, salt, baking powder and ground anise seed together. Set it aside for later.
- Beat 2 room temperature eggs on medium for 1 minute until nice and frothy. Sprinkle in the powdered sugar over the eggs and beat for 2 minutes. Add the vanilla sugar and beat for total of 15 minutes. Mixture will become cream coloured. Sprinkle in the whisked flour mixture and beat on low for 1 minute.
- Spoon or pipe dough onto the greased and floured baking sheets. If using spoons, scoop out large walnut sized pieces of dough and carefully place them onto the baking sheets.
- If using a piping bag, try to get them about 1.5 to 2 inches in diameter. Within a few minutes, the tops will flattening.
- Set the baking sheets aside someplace warm and dry. Let them rest for 4 hours. As they age, they will harden up.
- Bake at 300 degrees for 15 - 17 minutes, depending on how large they are. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes. Gently remove them with a metal spatula and transfer to a wire rack to cool the rest of the way.
