Anise

Anise Oat Kipferl

Name: Anise Oat Kipferl
Yield: Makes 30 cookies
Ingredients: 50g oats; 140g all-purpose flour; 45g sugar; 1 pinch of salt; 4 teaspoons anise seeds, divided; 100g cold butter; 1 egg; 4 teaspoons sugar

by: Sophia R

January 7, 2013

4.5

4 Ratings

Makes 30 cookies

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Author Notes

These crescent-shaped cookies are inspired by Italian anise seed-studded cookies called Giambelli di Vino – little donut-shaped cookies made with wine (hence the name), studded with plenty of anise seed, and rolled in sugar to give them a nice crunch. I created my own version: little crescents reminiscent both in look and texture of German Vanille Kipferl, crumbly from the addition of ground oats to the dough and perfect to be eaten throughout the year. —Sophia R

Test Kitchen Notes

Mmm, anise-buttery goodness! These little cookies come together quickly, and bake up to a perfectly crumbly and not-too-sweet treat for after dinner. One or two with a glass of wine and a piece of fruit would make a nice finish to a meal. The oat imparts an earthy flavor, plus little bits of yummy chewiness. I like the contrast of the not-too-sweet dough and the finishing anise sugar. Try these with a touch of orange zest for a change of pace. —bonbonmarie

Test Kitchen-Approved

What You'll Need

Ingredients

Directions

Toast all the anise seeds in a dry pan on medium heat until fragrant.
Place the oats and 2 teaspoons of the anise seeds in a food processor and process until coarsely ground.
Place the ground oat mixture, flour, sugar and salt in a bowl and form a well.
Add the cubed butter and, using a knife or a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the other ingredients until the mixture resembles sand.
Add the egg and quickly combine everything to form a smooth dough. Wrap in foil and let rest in the fridge for about 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 170 degrees.
Using tablespoon-sized chunks of dough, form roughly 30 crescent-shaped cookies, placing them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Bake for about 12 minutes, until golden.
Roll the warm cookies in a mix of the remaining sugar and the remaining anise seeds.

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mrslarkin
Sophia R
QueenSashy
AntoniaJames
bonbonmarie

Hi, my name is Sophia and I have a passion (ok, maybe it is veering towards an obsession) for food and all things food-related: I read cookbooks for entertainment and sightseeing for me invariably includes walking up and down foreign supermarket aisles. I love to cook and bake but definitely play around more with sweet ingredients. Current obsessions include all things fennel (I hope there is no cure), substituting butter in recipes with browned butter, baking with olive oil, toasted rice ice cream, seeing whether there is anything that could be ruined by adding a few flakes of sea salt and, most recently, trying to bridge the gap between German, English and Italian Christmas baking – would it be wrong to make a minced meat filled Crostata?

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11 Reviews

mrslarkin April 26, 2013

Congrats on the Wildcard! These sound so delicious.

Sophia R. April 29, 2013

Thank you! They really are.

Sophia R. April 25, 2013

Thanks for the sweet comments and for the lovely testing notes. This recipe has already become a family favourite and I am sure it lends itself well to variations - I like the idea of adding orange or lemon zest (maybe pairing it with cardamom instead of anise, or even fennel or thyme?).

bonbonmarie April 28, 2013

Hi Sophia! I had great fun testing these, and made three variations after the original test. Cardamom was one of them! I did that with ground almonds and orange zest. All varieties were tasty. Great recipe--thanks!

bonbonmarie April 28, 2013

oh, I should mention I liked the anise best :)

Sophia R. April 29, 2013

Thank you for trying my recipe (and 4 times as well!). I love the sound of cardamom with orange!
The cookies are actually based on a cookie containing ground almonds, I was just trying to be a bit frugal with the ground oats!

I love that you actually liked the anise version the best, definitely made me smile!

QueenSashy April 25, 2013

Agree with AJ, I am so glad this got picked! Love the little crescent shapes... Congrats!

AntoniaJames April 25, 2013

So glad these received Community Pick honors. I'm thinking some lemon would be nice here, too. Also, to correct what I said in my last comment. I realized after posting this that I do in fact toast anise in the conventional springerle that I make, but the toasting occurs while the cookies are baking . . . as I sprinkle the baking sheet with a dozen or so seeds for each cookie, before I put it on the shaped dough on the sheet. But I've never toasted before mixing into the dough. Congrats on the CP. These are definitely going into the "must-try" collection! ;o)

Sophia R. April 26, 2013

Thank you! The toasting is something I picked up from my mother's cooking and I now try to use it whenever I use spices in baked goods because it just amplifies the taste of the spices so much!
Let me know if you give them a try sometime.

AntoniaJames April 2, 2013

Mmmm, these look delicious . . . springerle meets nut crescent, minus the nuts. Have never toasted anise before using in baked goods. Must try. ;o)

Sophia R. April 3, 2013

Thank you! They really are. They were inspired by a German/Austrian cookie called "Vanille Kipferl" - similar to the nut crescent you mentioned maybe (made with ground almonds and vanilla bean). Using ground oats instead of ground nuts makes this a very frugal recipe without sacrificing the crumbly texture achieved from the combination of almonds and butter in the classical version. And yes, do try anise in baking - it has a slight liquorice taste but is also quite sweet - goes well with honey, pear and apples.