The soft Calabrian anisette cookies. Making anisette cookies is very simple; start with a beaten mixture of eggs and sugar, to which the other ingredients are added: anisette liqueur and anise seeds, a bit of sunflower oil, which can also be omitted, and finally flour and baking powder. These anisette cookies are a classic in both Sicily and Calabria, and are usually made for Epiphany, but they are so good and easy to make that they are present on the table all year round. They keep well for several days, making them perfect pantry sweets to always have ready. They’re great from breakfast onward, dunkable, excellent with coffee and milk, but also after meals accompanied by a good coffee, or for tea with friends.
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very cheap
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 20 pieces
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons, Epiphany
Calabrian Anisette Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1.4 oz anisette liqueur
- 1 tsp anise seeds
- 3 tbsps sunflower oil
- 2 tsps baking powder
Tools for Making Calabrian Anisette
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Electric mixer
- 1 Baking sheet
- 1 Parchment paper
Calabrian Anisette Preparation Steps
In a large bowl, place the eggs with the sugar and beat with the electric beaters at maximum speed for a few minutes until you obtain a fluffy and frothy mixture.
Add the oil and mix again, then add half of the flour and mix again, quickly at medium power.
Add the anisette liqueur and seeds and mix, then the rest of the flour and baking powder and mix quickly. I incorporated the last 50 g of flour with a spatula.
Pour the mixture to form large cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, divide the sheet into three parts lengthwise, using the same parchment paper, lifting it to act as a separator. Divide the sheet into three but with this dough, you’ll get 2 large cookies, the measurement is needed to have regular cookies about 3 inches x 1 inch, once cut into slices.
Bake in a hot static oven on the middle rack for about 30 minutes at 340°F until they are slightly golden on the surface.
Take them out, let them cool a bit, detach them from the parchment paper, and slice into approximately 3/4 inch slices. I used a smooth blade knife, but perhaps a serrated knife would be more useful in this case, though I didn’t try it.
Once cut, return them to the baking sheet on the cut side and bake again in the oven at 300°F for about 10 minutes.
Take them out, let them cool completely and then store in a closed container. Our anisette cookies are ready to be devoured, and who can resist? They are a real temptation. Try partially covering them with dark chocolate, what a treat.
If you like, you can also omit the seeds.
