Star Anise Cookies

Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Christmas, North American
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Servings: 24 cookies
Calories: 162kcal
Author: Lord Byron's Kitchen
Star Anise Cookies are rustic and simple cookies that are filled with the familiar licorice flavour we all know and love.  Not super sweet, these cookies pair very well with the icing drizzle, and uses only common pantry ingredients!
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Ingredients

For the Cookie:

  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
  • 1 teaspoon ground anise
  • 1 teaspoon anise extract

For the Icing:

  • 2 cups confectioner's sugar
  • 3 teaspoons anise extract
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • 1/4 cup silver dragees, or any sprinkles you desire

Instructions

For the Cookie:

  • In a large bowl, use a hand-held mixer to combine the butter and sugar until well blended.
  • Add the anise extract and beat into the butter mixture.
  • Add the ground anise and the flour and blend into the butter mixture until just incorporated. Do not over mix!
  • Turn the dough out onto a sheet of plastic wrap and wrap tightly. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
  • In the meantime, preheat your oven to 350 degrees and prepare a baking sheet by lining it with a silicone mat or parchment paper. Set aside.
  • Dust a flat surface, such as your counter top, with flour and roll the chilled dough out with a rolling pin to 1/4 inch thick.
  • Use a star-shaped cookie cutter to cut out the cookies.  I didn't have a star cookie cutter shape, so I used a snowflake shape.  
  • Transfer the dough to the baking sheet using a flat, slotted, metal spatula. Leave 2 inches between each cookie.
  • Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven promptly and allow cookies to rest for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack to finish cooling.
  • Re-roll the left over dough, and bake the next batch.

For the Icing:

  • Once the cookies are completely cooled, whisk together the icing ingredients.  Drizzle the icing over the cookies and top with the silver dragees.
  • Leave the cookies undisturbed so that the icing can dry and harden.  Once dried, the cookies can be stacked in a food-safe container and stored in the fridge or freezer.

Notes

The number of cookies will depend on the size of the cookie cutter you decide to use.

Nutrition

Calories: 162kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 20mg | Sodium: 68mg | Potassium: 15mg | Fiber: 0g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 4.7% | Calcium: 0.6% | Iron: 2.9%