These are a traditional holiday dish. They are very crisp and nearly hard; excellent dipping cookies.
| Servings: | 36 |
| Yield: | 2 to 3 dozen |
Ingredients
- 4 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 4 eggs
- 1 pound confectioners’ sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon anise seed, ground
- 1 tablespoon anise seed, crushed
Instructions
- Sift together the flour and baking powder, set aside. In a large bowl, whip the eggs and sugar until thick and light. Stir in the lemon zest and ground anise. Add the flour mixture, mix well. Cover and chill dough for about an hour.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/2 inch thickness. Traditionally, you would roll over the dough with a springerle rolling pin, but the dough can be cut into small shapes of any kind. Place cookies 1/2 inch apart on baking sheets, sprinkle with anise seed and leave out uncovered, overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bake cookies for 25 to 30 minutes.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 115 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 25 g |
| Cholesterol | 21 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 2 g |
| Saturated Fat | 0 g |
| Sodium | 22 mg |
| Sugars | 12 g |
| Fat | 1 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
This recipe is a crumbly mess. I followed it to the letter and still had to add 3/4 of a cup of butter just to get something resembling a dough that could be rolled out. I will find a better recipe.
Way, way, way too dry. Even after I added a few tablespoons of water to incorporate the rest of the flour, my husband (who is able to bench 200 pounds) literally broke a sweat attempting to knead this and roll it out for me. There’s also hardly any flavor once baked, and the sweetness is totally void. The lemon rind is a horrible addition. I’ve made anise tea cookies before but this recipe is a ridiculously “one star”. Very disappointed with this recipe.
My grandmother made these when I was a little girl, she had the “special” rolling pin that made the beautiful square cookies, however it took her months to complete them, I was quite surprised that these just rest overnight. Hers were very hard, and served with a cup of coffee for adults. I will certainly try this recipe, if they are half as good as hers were I will be happy. Somehow over the years the rolling pin and recipe were misplaced, if it was ever written down. I have searched all over for a similar recipe, this one is the closest I’ve found.
This is very much like my Grandmother’s. that being said; She also used Hartshorn salt which is ground antlers(horn) which back in the day was use as a leavening agent. She stated using baking powder as soon as it was avaible and said it did not change the flavor. I have used both and believe that to be true.
I make anise cookies every Christmas (my late Grandmother’s recipe). LOVE them….the flavor is very addicting…you want to keep eating them However, I do not roll and use a cookie cutter. I snake roll them and freeze, then slice, dip one side in red or green sugar sprinkles, bake.
Being German, and living in Swabia, where the Springerle have originated from, I am very happy to find this recipe in an American recipe collection! But I would like to add that you never use baking powder to make them, but hartshorn salt (ammoniumcarbonate), and the quantities are thus: 500g flour, 500 powdered sugar, 4 whole eggs, 2 knife’s tips full of hartshorn salt, a handfull of ground anice. Otherwise the recipe sounds fine, hope some people will try it! It’s not so easy, and it’s the pride of every Swabian housewife when the Springerle come out! 🙂