Coffee Anise Stars | 12 Days of Holiday Baking

It’s exciting to be making holiday cookies and decorate them to radiate the seasonal glow. That means making the coffee-anise stars from Baking with Dorie. The flavor of espresso powder, cinnamon and star anise gives off a warm embrace. Best of all, I like playing with the glaze and adding sparkling sugar on top. It reminds me of those bluebird days skiing in the early morning, when the snow sparkles like jewels, reflecting the soft ray of the sun.

INGREDIENTS: There are three primary ingredients for almost all cookies: sugar, butter and flour. The sugars for the coffee anise stars include: light brown sugar (67 g) and granulated sugar (50 g) for every stick of butter (113 g) you use. There are two kinds of flour in this dough: all purpose (170 g) and spelt (120 g), which I substitute with whole wheat flour.

The extra ingredients are the spices: espresso powder (2 tsp), ground cinnamon (1 1/2 tsp), ground star anise (1/2 tsp), molasses (1 1/2 tsp) and vanilla extract (1 tsp). Dorie also suggests cardamom, ginger and allspices as alternatives. For sure, these spices add to the aroma and the holiday feel.

In addition, there is an egg that binds the dough together.

RATIO: The classic short sweet dough (for a short bread cookie) is one part sugar, 2 parts fat and 3 parts flour. We have been making a lot of those lately. The coffee-anise stars dough ratio (1-1-3) departs from that of the 1-2-3 cookie dough, in roughly halving the amount of fat. As a result, the dough is much drier and stiffer to handle. Most importantly, it is delightfully workable, easy to roll out and cut into stars.

METHODS: This is the typical method of making cookie dough. Start by creaming butter and sugar in a stand mixer, until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. Gradually add the egg. At a low speed, beat in the molasses and vanilla. Finally, add the flour mixture (including the dry spices) and salt until the dough comes together. Roll out the dough between sheets of parchment to the thickness of 1/8 inch. Then refrigerate the cookie dough for 3 hours or freeze it for 1 hour.

TEXTURE: These cookies are quite sturdy to handle, but harder to bite into than the typical shortbread cookies. The texture is firm and chewy. The glaze is sweet and plain, but essential to its charm. I ground the star anise in a spice grinder to a coarse texture. When baked, they pop out in unexpected places, like a special signature on the stars.

SPECIAL NOTES: My experience with glazing is limited — other than a chocolate glaze (plan B if you will). So I proceed with a great deal of care and trepidations. What if I mess up and make the cookies uglier than the naked ones! Like many times before, Dorie comes to my rescue with a well-written and well-tested recipe. Here is the detail on the snow-white glaze:

Working in a medium bowl, whisk the egg white (1 1/2 tbsp) until it’s frothy. Add confectioners’ sugar (1 1/4 cups or 150 g) and, using a flexible spatula, stir until it’s incorporated. This may take a little work. Stir in the melted butter (2 1/2 tsp) and keep mixing until you have a smooth glaze that spreads easily. If you think it needs it, add warm water by the droplet.

Dorie Greenspan in Baking with Dorie

Think snow and cheers!

Baking with Dorie