With a soft, cake-like texture and warm, licorice-like flavor, my grandmother’s Italian anise cookies are a longstanding Christmas tradition in my family.
Every year, I dive into Christmas decorating almost as soon as Thanksgiving ends. By Saturday afternoon, the tree is usually up, our windows adorned with wreaths, and the stockings “hung by the chimney with care.”
Despite the festive surroundings, the Christmas season doesn’t really begin in my house until a batch of my grandmother, Josephine’s, Italian Anise Cookies (or “Drops,” as they’re often called) emerge from the oven.
Soft and cakey with a wonderful, licorice-like flavor, these cookies are a signature taste of the season for my family. I can’t imagine the holidays without them.
If I had to choose a favorite characteristic of these cookies, it would be their texture. So many Anise Cookies I’ve come across on bakery trays have been heavy and dense. Not necessarily bad with a cup of coffee, but not what I had become accustomed to through the years.
These Anise Cookies are, by far, the softest and lightest I’ve tasted. The only drawback to their light texture is that they don’t leave you feeling overly full, and thus, have a tendency to disappear quickly from the cookie tray!
The primary flavor in these cookies, anise, is a sweet, warm, roundly-flavored extract. Anise is well-suited to a number of baked goods, but can easily overpower a recipe if used with too heavy a hand.
As you’ll read in the recipe notes, my grandmother used a generous amount of extract in these cookies (1 tablespoon) for a full, rich flavor. I grew up with the cookies prepared this way and enjoy them on the well-flavored side. If you prefer a more subtly-flavored cookie, the recipe is easily adjusted by decreasing the amount of anise extract.
I’m sure my first love of Anise Cookies as a young child had nothing to do with the anise, and everything to do with their “pretty” nonpareil sprinkles.
In fact, I remember the first year my grandmother (“Nanny,” as I called her) invited me to help her with glazing and decorating. As a little girl, there couldn’t possibly be such a thing as “too many” nonpareils on a cookie. I was heavy-handed with my sprinkling technique that year, resulting in cookies that were…crunchy…to say the least.
My small share of the batch probably bordered on inedible, but Nanny thought they were beautiful. Looking back as an adult, I’m sure she had gotten a kick out of my enthusiasm!
Nanny is no longer with us, but so many of my family’s holiday traditions continue to center on her delicious recipes. (Her Lobster Tails over Linguini and Stuffed Calamari on Christmas Eve are two of my all-time favorite dishes.)
At the start of this year’s holiday’s season, I wish you merry baking and memory-making, from my family’s kitchen to yours!
Josephine's Anise Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup vegetable or corn oil
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs , room temperature
- 1-1/2 to 3 teaspoons pure anise extract *
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1-1/2 tablespoons baking powder
- pinch salt
Glaze
- 1-1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
- 3 tablespoons milk
- pinch salt
- 1 tablespoon anisette liqueur OR
- 1/2 teaspoon pure anise extract
- multicolored nonpareils for decorating
Instructions
Make the cookies
- In a large bowl, whisk together milk, oil, granulated sugar, eggs, and anise extract until well-combined. Add flour, baking powder, and salt, and mix with a wooden spoon until smooth. Set aside and let batter rest for 10-15 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F with rack in the upper-middle position. Line three baking sheets with parchment paper. Drop cookie batter by rounded teaspoonfuls onto the baking sheets, about 1-1/2 inches apart. (I use a 1-1/2 teaspoon cookie scoop.)
- Bake, one sheet at a time, for 10 minutes, until centers of cookies bounce back when gently pressed. The cookies should not brown. Remove from oven and let rest 2-3 minutes.
- While cookies are still warm, remove from baking sheets by gently lifting each cookie while peeling back the parchment paper (a thin crumb impression of the cookies will remain on the parchment; this is normal.) Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool before glazing.**
Make the glaze
- In a medium bowl, whisk together confectioner's sugar, milk, salt, and anise extract or liqueur until smooth (I use liqueur). When cookies have cooled to room temperature, dip tops into glaze and sprinkle immediately with nonpareils. Let stand at room temperature until glaze is dry.
Notes
Nutrition Estimate
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
About our recipes
Please note that our recipes have been developed using the US Customary measurement system and have not been tested for high altitude/elevation cooking and baking.
My Dad had my grandmother’s Easter Cookie recipe, which are Anise cookies, but they are the dunking kind. I love them a lot. I made these for Easter and I love these even better. I need to make more, they’re already gone. Usually the ‘dunkers’ last all week, after Easter. :-)
Thanks for sharing your family recipe
Ok every cookout, anywhere I go I have to make these cookies. They are incredibly delicious. I tweak and use a bottle and half of anise extract. People rave and keep asking me to make them every time I go somewhere. I want to taste anise when I make an anise cookie and too often when I eat someone’s anise cookie, I wonder where the taste is lol.
Also, I always freeze, as when I make for myself I can’t eat a whole recipe so I freeze them, without the frosting, and they are totally like I just baked them once defrosted. When I know someone is coming, I take a container out, defrost and frost. DELICIOUS. Love this recipe
Love anise and used the 3 tsp extract and the sambuca in the frosting. Only made 3 dozen. That is the down side. Used a cookie scoop for the first time the 2nd time I made them and it made it easier since the dough is very sticky. But it must be bigger than yours. What is the number and where did you get it? Thanks for great recipe.
I have become a devote’, Traditional Liquorice is at the very BOTTOM of my favorite candies. But after I tried these (five years ago!) They have become a MUST in my house. Mom! When are you going to make those …. Yup. I LOVE these.
G reat recipe! Easy and delicious Thanks so much for sharing!
Great recipe just about the same as my mother whose recipe was titled…Oil Cookies. She was born in Venice and live in Paris. She was a war bride and brought along all her wonderful cuisine. Thanks for sharing
Ok…I have been searching for a good anise Italian cookie for ever….Found It!! This cookie was delish! The recipe was really easy..the only thing Idid different was added more anise extract which to me was….the best…
A lady after my own heart with the extra anise! :) I’m so glad you enjoyed my grandmother’s recipe.
I want to try this recipe but I want to use a italy shape cookie cutter and just use sprinkles (red, green and white). I don’t want to use the frosting because Im afraid it will bleed by the time they are to the destination. So my question is can I make the dough one piece then use the cutter? I don’t want to just use a simple sugar cookie, we are a bunch of girls that went to school in Naples so I wanted the anise flavor cookie.
Hi Anna,
This recipe doesn’t yield a dough that can be rolled and shaped with a cookie cutter. It’s a cake-like cookie that is dropped onto the baking sheet by the spoonful.
Thanks for visiting and Happy Cooking,
The Striped Spatula Team
I e made these a thousand times. Today they flattened a but I think becausethe eggs were still chilly :( will frost and taste later I hope they are good.
This recipe was fantastic!
I used less anise extract in the icing just because I prefer my cookies that way but the texture of these cookies were the best yet!
Not too heavy yet they are clearly good ole Italian cookies!
Everyone in the family got to take some home and everyone Loved them!!!
I’m so so sooooooo happy I found this recipe!
Thank you!!
I’ll be using this recipe until I can no longer bake ;)
These are the best anise cookies I’ve ever had! They’re usually like lead sinkers. These ones are light and cake like is the perfect description. I used 1.5 teaspoons anise but I’ll try them with more next time because we really like that flavor. Thanks for this recipe!
Wonderful, Carolyn! I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed the cookies. They are the lightest ones I’ve come across. I do like them with a little more anise, but I know it can be a strong flavor for many, so I gave the range. :) Happy Holidays!
I had a recipe for anise cookies, but never came out to my liking! This recipe is outstanding,I made them and thy are so good! Can’t stop eating them!
I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed them, Sophia! That sounds like me – I can never stop eating them either! Haha. Happy Holidays!
This is my third year in a row making this recipe and I absolutely love it. The cookies are delicious, and they remind me and my family of my grandmother each time I make them. Thank you for the lovely recipe.
It warms my heart to read this, Teresa! I know that my grandmother would be so glad to know that her recipe is so well enjoyed. Happy Holidays!
Just made this recipe for the first time. Outstanding!
Hi Diana, I’m so glad you enjoyed them! Happy Holidays!
These are the best anise cookies I’ve ever had!! I’m used to those heavier cookies you talked about in the article and was really interested when you said your granny’s recipe is cake like. These are like little anise cake cookies! We’ve been eating them for the two days and I’m going to make more for when my family gets here at Xmas. Thank you for your family recipe and Merry Xmas!
I’m so glad you’ve loved the recipe as much as my family has, Samantha! Merry Christmas!
I made these cookies December 2017!! I was hesitant at first– I swore that the recipe was off but nope–it’s right on the money!! Make them you will enjoy!
Hi Lani, thanks for commenting, I’m glad you enjoyed my grandmother’s cookies! Happy Holidays!
I am just starting to appreciate anise flavored things… I like fennel seed in many pasta recipes and fresh fennel shaved into salads or braised until meltingly tender, so I think I could get on board with these beautiful cookies too. Guinea Pig reporting for duty.