Back in the Olden Days when I was in elementary school, we had a babysitter named Phoebe. She was elderly and lived with her sister-in-law, Elsie. Every Christmas, Elsie would make Springerle. I loved them and if someone had told me they tasted like black licorice I never would have tried them. I hated black licorice and still do to this day. I didn’t like black jelly beans either, but I love them now. Anyway, over the years I’ve tried to make Springerle from several different recipes I’ve found – I was too young to think to have Elsie teach me how to make her wonderful cookies. I even had a friend bring me the special rolling pin from Germany. I was a complete failure at Springerle. Recently, I found a monastery that sold Springerle so I ordered some. They were expensive, but I figured the money went to a good cause. I didn’t like their Springerle at all. The difference was that Elsie used anise seeds to make her cookies and the monastery used anise oil. The oil is much stronger and coats the inside of your mouth. Those cookies just weren’t for me. I was very disappointed. Then it occurred to me some of my date cookies had anise in them. So I took one of those recipes and left out the date part and got a really good pan cookie. As I’ve gotten older, I make a lot of pan cookies because it’s so much easier and far less time consuming. You could probably make these as drop cookies, too. These cookies are soft and light as opposed to the thicker, chewier Springerle, but very tasty.
1 – cup butter, softened
2 – tablespoons half-n-half or milk
½ – cup sugar
1 – teaspoon baking soda
¾ – cup brown sugar
1 – teaspoon vanilla
2 – eggs
2 – cups flour
2 – teaspoons anise seeds
Preheat the oven to 325. In a large mixing bowl with a mixer on medium speed, cream the butter. Add in the sugar, brown sugar, and eggs. When the mixture is smooth, beat in the half-n-half, soda, vanilla, anise, and flour, in that order. Spread the dough evenly across the bottom of a 13x9x2 pan. Bake the pan cookie for 25 minutes, until rich golden brown. Cool to room temperature and cut into bars. Enjoy!
valdoty 