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Christmas

Fennel Seed Olive Oil Cookies

by:
December 14, 2015
4.3
6 Ratings
Photo by Vera Kern
  • Makes 24
Author Notes

These delicate cookies balance beautifully between savory and sweet while they melt in your mouth. —Vera Kern

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Ingredients
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
  • 1/2 cup high quality olive oil
  • 1 pinch salt
  • powdered sugar to decorate
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 350F/180C.
  2. Grind the fennel seed to a powder in a mortar or use a spice blender.
  3. In a bowl, mix the flour with the sugar, fennel seed powder and the salt.
  4. Add the olive oli. Knead until you have a smooth dough.
  5. Roll out dough on a flat surface and cut with a cookie cutter. I use simple shapes because the dough is very brittle.
  6. Place cookies on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and bake for 15-18 minutes.
  7. Place on a cooling rack and decorate with powdered sugar.
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4 Reviews

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Rachael December 13, 2023
The dough never was "smooth" for me and it cracked when I rolled it out. I tried 1/8 inch thick at 15 minutes, 1/4 inch thick at 16 and 18 minutes and the edges were powdery and the cookies cracked when handled. I had such high hopes for this recipe, but alas it was not for me :) I am mostly sad I wasted so much good olive oil 😢
Lily December 24, 2020
These were tasty! However, the dough was incredibly crumbly and tricky to roll out, probably because there isn't a lot of room for gluten to develop in the flour because of the lack of a non-fatty liquid in the dough. I added two small eggs and some whole wheat flour to the original recipe and then tried rolling it out again to use the cookie cutter. Cut them into leaf shapes, and the fennel came through nicely!
judy January 14, 2017
Is this right? There is no leavening of any kind in this recipe? Love fennel and was looking for an olive oil cookie. but seems to me would need baking soda/powder or egg or something. Hmmm
Vera K. January 15, 2017
The recipe is correct, no egg or leavening. It's like shortbread with oil instead of butter.