Author Notes
Part of the magic of a recipe from the 1800's is that it does not contain very much sugar. The cloying sugary overkill I often associate with sugar cookie cutouts is absent here, replaced by a mellow, buttery bite of delicate vanilla, followed by the faint crunch of seeds and the refreshing echoes of anise. After a holiday meal, give me a cup of tea, a clementine, and one of these cookies, and I will be filled with content. —Anna Hezel
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Ingredients
- Cookies
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2
sticks of butter, room temperature
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1 cup
sugar
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3
eggs
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1 teaspoon
cream of tartar
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1 teaspoon
baking soda, dissolved in 2 tablespoons of water
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1/2 teaspoon
salt
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3 cups
flour (plus a little extra for rolling out the dough)
-
3 teaspoons
anise seeds
- Frosting
-
1/2
stick of butter
-
2 cups
powdered sugar
-
1/4 cup
whole milk
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1/2 teaspoon
vanilla
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1 pinch
salt
Directions
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To make the cookies: Cream the butter and sugar together, and then mix in the eggs, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt.
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Add the flour, mixing until just combined, and then the anise seeds, mixing until they are more or less evenly distributed throughout the dough.
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Cover and refrigerate the dough for an hour or more.
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Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Flour a surface and your rolling pin, and roll the dough out to about 1/4 of an inch. Cut cookies out using the cookie cutter of your choice, and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until cookies are slightly puffed up and have turned a light golden color around the edges.
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While the cookies cool, make the frosting: cream together the butter and powdered sugar. Mix in the vanilla and salt, and add the milk a little bit at a time, halting once you've reached a smooth, spreadable consistency.
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