YIELD | 60 COOKIES These round, dry cookies have a white shell on top and a golden brown foot on the bottom Their delicious anise flavor is subtle at first but becomes more distinctive as they mature Though the shell of this cookie looks like a macaron shell, anise cookies are never sandwiched together like macarons and they are dry all the way through They are great to eat with coffee or tea When I was a kid I liked to dip mine in coffee, even though my mom grimaced when she saw me do it and insisted that dipping cookies was not done But I still like to dip my anise cookies today Anise was one of the first spices to be used in Alsace Green anise (not to be confused with star anise, a different plant altogether) originated in Asia and adapted well to the European climate It has been used medicinally as a muscle relaxant since antiquity Some say that it has aphrodisiac properties, but after years of eating anise cookies I am still waiting for those effects to kick in Records of anise cookies go back as far as the 1600s Called anisbredele or anisbrot, they were made during Advent and were one of the most popular end-of-the-year holiday cookies Two types of anise cookies that utilize different techniques eventually emerged One type is the piped cookies that we are making in this recipe, where the batter is piped onto parchment paper–covered sheet pans and left to dry before they are baked The other type of cookie is made from a stiffer dough that is rolled out and pressed, like gingerbread cookies, into ... cookies are never sandwiched together like macarons and they are dry all the way through They are great to eat with coffee or tea When I was a kid I liked to dip mine in coffee, even though my mom grimaced when she saw me... during Advent and were one of the most popular end -of -the- year holiday cookies Two types of anise cookies that utilize different techniques eventually emerged One type is the piped cookies that we are making in this... that we are making in this recipe, where the batter is piped onto parchment paper–covered sheet pans and left to dry before they are baked The other type of cookie is made from a stiffer dough that is rolled