Virtual Cookie Exchange Giveaway ~ Italian Anise Cookies With Icing and Sprinkles

I’m so excited to be participating in the Virtual Cookie Exchange,

along with a group of amazing authors.

Every day, you get a delicious cookie recipe –

and a chance to enter a giveaway for

TWO $25 Amazon Gift Cards!

Growing up in an Italian-American household, pastries and cookies were always available. Anisette cookies were my favorite. So, I’d like to share a mix between a family recipe and one I found online to get the exact measurements. Since, I’m not the greatest at baking, I’ve had to rely on family members to bake for me. But, because most don’t go off recipes, this will have to do.

In my novel, My Mr. Manny, Mia also comes from an Italian-American family, and she loves bringing the family recipes to life in her own home. She goes all out with the Feast of the Seven Fishes for Christmas Eve, and then does a traditional American Christmas dinner. It’s important for her, and me, to carry these traditions on to our children.

Give this recipe a try, and if you make some, send a few my way. 😉

Ingredients:

COOKIE

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons anise extract (or almond extract)
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (may need up to 3 cups)
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 2 -3 tablespoons milk

ICING

• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1/8 teaspoon anise extract
• food coloring
• decorative candy sprinkles
  

  Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  2. For cookies, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing after each addition. Add anise extract.
  3. Blend flour and baking powder. Start by adding about 1/3 of these dry ingredients to the butter/sugar in your mixer, then add 1 T. milk. Add another third of the flour and another 1 T. milk. Finally, mix in enough of the remaining flour until your dough is like a brownie batter (it should be softer than a drop cookie dough).
  4. Use a 1 T. cookie scooper to make simple round drop cookies – use wet fingers to pat any rough edges OR for an Easter-Egg look, roll 1 T. dough into an elongated ball.
  5. Bake cookies 10-12 minutes (they won’t be brown but the insides will be soft and cake-like).
  6. For icing: mix sugar, milk and extract to make a sugar glaze. HINT: When I make the icing, I make it thick but then I microwave it for 10 seconds so it is thin enough for dipping. Also, I like to divide the mixture in thirds, and then add ONE DROP of food coloring to each batch (pink, green, yellow).
  7. Hold cookie in your hand and turn upside down so you can dip the top half in the glaze; turn over and immediately top with sprinkles so they will stick.
  8. Allow icing to harden overnight; then store in air-tight containers or freeze.

Read Frankie’s Wish – a short story included in the FREE Holiday Anthology. Click the picture to learn more.

Just name today’s recipe for a chance to win – and if you have a Pinterest account you can get

bonus entries for pinning each of the recipes in the Virtual Cookie Exchange. Good luck!

PLEASE NOTE:

You won’t be able to complete certain entries until the cookie recipe for the day is posted,

so be sure and check back each day for more chances to win.

Catch the rest of the Virtual Cookie Tour!

December 14
Lindsey Gray
http://lindsey-gray.blogspot.com/

December 15
Lisa Bilbrey-Author
http://lisabilbrey.blogspot.com/

December 16
Ava O’Shay
http://avaoshayromance.blogspot.com/

December 17
Angel Lawson Author
http://www.angellawson.com/blog/

December 18
R.E. Hargrave, Author
http://www.rehargrave.com/

December 19
Jennifer Garcia, Author
https://jenniferfgarcia.com/

December 20
Bev Elle, Author
https://bevelle.wordpress.com/

December 21
Sydney Logan Author
http://www.sydneylogan.com/

December 22
T.M. Franklin
http://www.TMFranklin.com/

December 23
K. B. Hoyle
http://nightnark.blogspot.com/