There is something special about your grandma's cookie recipe. A sacred and untouched recipe that has been passed down from one generation to the next. These recipes are timeless, incomparable, and remind you of family. I have the privilege of coming from Italian heritage so we have recipes for authentic Italian meatballs, homemade spaghetti, and lasagna. However, one of my favorite recipes is for these absolutely exquisite sugar cookies. This sugar cookie recipe has been passed down in my Nana's family for generations; from Sicily to Florida to Tennessee.
These cookies are sweet, but not too sweet. They are the perfect dessert to top off a dinner with or the best breakfast pastry paired with a cup of coffee. They are made with very simple ingredients like flour, sugar, baking powder, margarine, eggs, vanilla, and anise seed (which is like licorice or fennel).
They are lightly coated with powdered sugar icing, they are sweet, but not too sweet. The icing doesn't overpower the cookie, instead, it enhances all of the flavors.
Lastly, the cookies are topped off with colorful little sprinkles, which is really just for the aesthetic presentation. The cookies are not shaped like any old sugar cookie but instead, are shaped in a form of a "tiny baguette".
I thought these cookies were too amazing not to share. Now I will warn you these do take a while to make, but that is all part of the joy of baking.
So if you have time try and make them, because they are seriously so amazing and probably unlike anything else you have ever tasted.
Recipe:
Ingredients:
5 cups Flour
1 1/4 cups Sugar
5 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 cup margarine
4 Egg
1 Tbs. Vanilla
2 Teaspoons anise seed
Directions:
1. Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, and margarine in a bowl
2. Separate the egg yolks and egg whites
3. Add the egg yolks into a bowl, then the egg whites and vanilla
4. Use your hands and work until the dough is mixed thoroughly and smooth
5. Put into the refrigerator for at least 2 hours (or more is better)
6. Preheat oven to 375
7. Grease cookie sheet
8. Break off the cookie dough and put on the cookie sheet
9. Bake for 10 minutes or lightly browned
10. Top cookies with a powdered sugar icing and sprinkles
Serving Size: makes about 45 small cookies