Frosty Anise Rosettes

Or, if you're my old neighbour in Boston, a "Frosty Anus Rosette". That used to slay me when people would mix the two up. Now, Mr. Eat The Blog says it deliberately, which just adds to the confusion. I typically avoid embarrassing slips by calling it "fennel."

Well, with this cold snap we're having my anise is getting a bit frosty (oh, you knew I wouldn't let that go) and a nice batch of cookies is a great excuse to heat the oven.

These would be adorable decorated for Christmas as wreaths. I went for something that looks like the old Stella D'Oro cookie mix (anyone else miss the bright pink frosted rosettes, or remember them for that matter?) because it just seems too soon for red and green jimmies.

The recipe comes from that (well-used) Pillsbury's Best Butter Cookie Cookbook pamphlet from the 1950's. The recipe was the senior winner in the 6th Grand National Baking Contest. The only change I made was using water rather than milk in the glaze, which I will note in the recipe.

You Will Need:

3 cups sifted AP flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
2 tablespoons anise seed
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon anise extract if desired (I omitted this)

Glaze:
3 cups sifted confectioner's sugar
1/3 cup hot milk (I used water)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease two baking sheets.

Sift together dry ingredients. Cream together the butter and sugar until light. Beat in the eggs until well blended. Add the anise seed, lemon zest and lemon juice. Mix well. Add all BUT 1 cup of the sifted flour mixture. Beat well. By hand, work in the remaining amount of flour (I could not get it all in-about 1/8 cup remained, but it was fine). Knead about 1 minute until smooth. Divide into 8 parts. Roll each part into a length about 18 inches long. Cut into 5 parts. Roll each slightly and then cut, 1/2 inch intervals about halfway through log. Join ends. Place on a greased baking sheet. Bake 7-10 minutes. Cookies will not brown on top. Cool on rack. When cool, dip in glaze and let dry on a rack over a baking sheet. Decorate as desired. Makes 3 1/2 dozen.