Aniseed Rings Cookies

Aniseed rings have been a popular sweet choice for decades. While a bag makes a tasty snack, you can elevate these tasty, tangy sweets even further with these delicious cookies. The aniseed flavour is carried through the cookie with the use of anise, so you can be sure of a deliciously tasty aniseed hit with every bite.

Ingredients to Make 12 Cookies:

To make a batch, you will need;

100 grams of flour

½ teaspoon of baking powder

A pinch of salt

40 grams of sugar, plus an additional tablespoon

One small egg yolk

50 grams of room temperature unsalted butter

One tablespoon of brandy

¼ teaspoon of toasted anise

12 Aniseed Rings

Method:

Preheat your oven to 175ºc and prep a baking tray lining it with parchment or silicone paper.

Cream together the butter and sugar, but hold the additional tablespoon in reserve for later. Once the butter mixture is light and fluffy, beat in the egg, anise and brandy. Sift and fold in the dry ingredients and mix until the dough is smooth.

On a small plate, spread the remaining sugar. Using a lightly floured board or work surface, roll out your dough until it is a ½ centimetre thick. Use a cookie cutter to create your cookies, rerolling the scraps until all the dough has been used. Place each cookie on to the sugar and put on the baking tray, sugar side up.

Bake your cookies for approximately twenty minutes or until the edges have become golden. While the cookies are still hot, gently push an aniseed ring into the centre of each cookie. Allow the cookies a minute or two on the tray before you allow them to cool on a wire rack. Your cookies will stay fresh for several days if stored in an airtight container.

Variations:

Whether you are planning a special occasion or simply want a tasty treat, these cookies are deliciously sophisticated. However, you don’t need to stick to the basic aniseed rings for decoration. You can use sugar aniseed rings to add a little more sparkle or for an even more sophisticated flavour, use chocolate aniseed rings. As the cookies are still hot when you place the ring in the centre, the aniseed ring will form into the cookie, but you won’t get the same jelly mess you would get if they were baked. This means that you will still have a distinct ring pattern on the cookie. You can also experiment with different cookie cutter shapes and use more rings to create patterns on your cookies. Crown shaped cookies look especially regal when there is an aniseed ring on each point. You can also create a very attractive ring-shaped cookie, three or four aniseed rings as decoration.

If you are wanting to get a little creative with your baking and are in need of sweet supplies, contact us. We are one of the best chocolate shops in Perth, with a fantastic range of classic sweets, imported candy and other traditional favourites. Our team would be delighted to assist in finding the perfect sweet treat for any occasion.