Anise Sesame Cookies

Name: Anise Sesame Cookies
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 1 tbsp whole anise seeds; 2 tbsp boiling-hot water; 2 cup all-purpose flour; 0.13 tsp baking soda; 0.5 tsp salt; 1.5 stick unsalted butter, softened; 0.67 cup sugar; 2 large eggs; 0.25 cup sesame seeds, lightly toasted; 1 a 2 1/2-inch fluted round cookie cutter

From the kitchen of Carly

Delicate butter cookies infused with licorice-tinged anise and nutty sesame seeds. The anise blooms in warm water first, releasing its aromatic oils into every bite. These are elegant enough for guests but simple enough for a quiet afternoon with tea.

Anise and sesame together hit an unexpected sweet spot, warm and toasty with just enough spice to make people ask what the flavor is. The trick is steeping the seeds in hot water first, which softens them and pulls out their licorice oils into a liquid that gets beaten into the butter and sugar. The result is a refined, delicate cookie that looks fancier than it actually is.

Prep: n/a
Cook: n/a
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Servings: 4
Difficulty: medium

Ingredients

4 servings

1 tbspwhole anise seeds
2 tbspboiling-hot water
2 cupall-purpose flour
1/8 tspbaking soda
1/2 tspsalt
1 1/2 stickunsalted butter, softened
2/3 cupsugar
2 largeeggs
1/4 cupsesame seeds, lightly toasted
1a 2 1/2-inch fluted round cookie cutter

Instructions

Cover the anise seeds with the boiling-hot water and let them soak until nearly all the liquid is absorbed, about 15 minutes.
In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or 4 minutes with a handheld. Add 1 egg along with the anise seeds and any remaining soaking liquid, beating until combined. Drop the speed to low and mix in the flour mixture until just incorporated.
Turn the dough out and divide it into 4 equal balls, then press each one into a 4-inch disk. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 3 hours.
Position oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350°F.
While the oven heats, pull one piece of dough from the fridge and keep the rest chilled. On a well-floured surface, roll it out with a well-floured rolling pin into a 7-inch round, slightly less than 1/4 inch thick. If the dough turns too soft to handle, slide it onto a baking sheet and chill until firm again. Stamp out as many cookies as possible with the 2 1/2-inch fluted cutter and arrange them about 1 inch apart on 2 ungreased large baking sheets. In a small bowl, beat the remaining egg with 1 tablespoon of water to make an egg wash. Brush each cookie lightly with the wash, then scatter sesame seeds over the tops.
Slide both sheets into the oven, switching their positions halfway through, and bake until the bottoms are golden, 10 to 12 minutes total. Use a metal spatula to transfer the cookies to racks and cool completely.
Collect the scraps, wrap them up, and chill until firm enough to reroll. Cut and bake additional cookies from the remaining dough portions and the scraps, keeping in mind each batch of scraps can only be rerolled once. Bake on cooled sheets, topping each batch with sesame seeds as before.

Tips from the kitchen

Steep the anise seeds in boiling water and beat them directly into your butter and sugar mixture, liquid and all, for even distribution of flavor that whole seeds alone can't deliver.
Chill the dough disks for a full 3 hours before rolling. Soft dough tears and won't hold a clean cut from the fluted cutter.
Roll only one disk at a time and keep the others wrapped and chilled. Warm dough is your enemy here. If it gets soft mid-roll, transfer to a baking sheet and chill until firm again.
Toast your sesame seeds lightly in a dry skillet first (about 2 minutes), then sprinkle on top after the egg wash. They brown differently than raw seeds and taste nuttier.

Variations

Skip the anise and go with 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom for a more floral, less licorice-forward cookie.
Use half sesame seeds and half finely chopped candied ginger on top for a warmer, spicier version.
Make tiny bite-sized cookies with a smaller cutter and serve them as petits fours with tea or coffee.

Make ahead and storage

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. These cookies freeze beautifully for up to 3 months, either baked or unbaked as dough disks.