All Easy Recipes. Cook all that you can cook. Molded Anise-Seed Cookies
(Springerle)
 
What You Need:            (To make 2 to 3 dozen cookies, depending on size of forms used)
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  • 2 eggs
  • 1¼ cups sugar
  • 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel
  • A drop of vanilla extract
  • 3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 1 cup anise seeds

  • How To Cook:
    1. With a pastry brush or paper towel, coat two large baking sheets with a tablespoon of butter each. Sprinkle the butter evenly with the anise seeds and set the pans aside.

    2. In a large bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk or a rotary or electric beater until they are thick and lemon-colored. Gradually add the sugar and continue beating until the mixture is thick enough to fallback on itself in a slowly dissolving ribbon when the beater is lifted from the bowl.

    3. Beat in the lemon peel and vanilla, and then the flour, a cup or so at a time.

    4. Shape the dough into a ball and place it on a lightly floured board. If it feels sticky, work additional flour into it with your fingers, adding a tablespoon at a time. Then knead the dough with lightly floured hands for 10 minutes or so, until it is smooth and pliable.

    5. Sprinkle the board with flour again, pinch off about half of the dough and roll it out into a rectangle about ¼ inch thick. Sprinkle a Springerle mold or Springerle rolling pin evenly with 2 tablespoons of flour, and rap it sharply on a table to remove the excess. Then press the mold down or roll the pin firmly across the dough, to print the pattern on it as deeply and clearly as possible.

    6. Cut the cookie squares apart with a small, sharp knife and place them an inch apart on the prepared baking sheets, pressing them gently into the anise seeds. Roll and cut the rest of the dough similarly. You must work quickly because the dough dries rapidly. Set the cookies aside uncovered at room temperature for 24 hours.

    7. Preheat the oven to 250° and bake the cookies for 20 to 30 minutes, or until they are firm but not brown. With a large metal spatula, transfer the cookies to a cake rack to cool.

    8. Then set them aside uncovered for a few days to soften. They may be stored for several weeks in tightly sealed jars or tins.



    NOTE: Save the anise seeds remaining on the baking sheets and scatter them over the bottom of the cookie jar or tin. Their flavor will permeate the cookies as they stand.

     
     
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