Holiday Baking Makes Me All Fuzzy Inside, And Horribly, Horribly Sticky On The Outside

Admittedly, I didn't do much of the Holiday baking I usually grind out  every year. This year has been a rough one involving an unexpected 3000 mile cross country move into the Middle of Nowheresville, multiple visits to the ER for Squidling and Urchin, a weee itty bitty teeny weeny budget, and last, but not least a vanished paycheck right before the most commercial holiday of the year. YEAH! GO 2013! No, really, GO...like AWAY, I'm done! So, that being said I had to limit the baking extravaganza to a combination of what I was craving and what I have on hand.  My first craving was for an old German recipe my sister, +Amy Engelbrecht, had given me from her Grandmother for traditional Anise Cookies. I had all of 3 items the recipe called for, and with a $0 bank balance a trip to the store wasn't in my future. After hours of surfing Pinterest and these here internets, and not finding anything that looked good or that I had all of the ingredients for I decided to wing it. The result was Anise Cookies similar to Snickerdoodles or sugar cookies. I actually tried rolling a few in cinnamon sugar just like Snickerdoodles. I don't recommend it, you could barely taste the anise in those. They were buttery, with a nice, but not overpowering anise kick. They were also gone in 2 days,all 3 dozen of them. I think I ate 2, so you could say these are Husband, Father in Law and kid approved.

Recipe:
Anise Cookies
2c Flour
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1tsp Cinnamon
1Tbsp Finely Minced Dried Orange Peel  
1/2 tsp Ground black Pepper
1/2 c Butter (sweet cream unsalted)
1c Sugar
2 eggs (BIG thanks to our Hens!)
Juice of 1 lemon
1tsp Vanilla
1/2-1 tsp Anise oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a medium sized bowl mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, pepper and orange peel.
In a separate bowl, preferably the bowl of your Kitchen Aid mixer (see that? I'm a name dropper ;) ) , cream together butter and sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla, beat well. Add lemon juice and anise oil. Mix well. Slowly add flour mixture to butter mixture. Mix until combined. Shape into 1" balls and place on parchment paper lined baking sheets about 2" apart.  Bake 10-12 minutes. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling. These should keep in a sealed container for up to 2 weeks.


Final instructions...Shove in face and enjoy!