Yippee! This is the same as my Mother made. She passed away some time ago and I always wanted to make them. I did this year for our Family Christmas. Everyone loved them and wanted the recipe. The first batch was dry and didn't rise so I used 4 Tablespoons of baking powder on the second batch and two teaspoons of anise extract. They turned out perfect. They passed the Italian Family taste test even though I am the worst cook in the family. Thanks
My Mother made thes cookies till she passed! somehow we lost the recipe! I just found it!!! My Italian friends went crazy for them.I added 1 extra anise and only 2 table sp. of bakeing powder perfect!!! thanks Al
My family always has this type of cookie at every event -- we call them "Italian Wedding Cookies". People have tried this version and said these were the best they have ever had! I topped them with an icing mixture of powdered sugar anise extract and milk and then topped with sprinkles
"The dough may be sticky" is an incredible understatement. I didn't like these very cakey cookies but my grandmother loved them. They seemed a little bland to me. Which is bizarr considering all the extracts used.
I have an old recipe for these cookies but it is too involved..I have been searching for a good recipe and this is the one!! Thank you for having it and thank you to Leah for posting it! Laurie
I have been looking for this recipe for 5 years! When I was little we called them "Knot Cookies" so that is what I was always looking for. I was so excited when I found it now I can make them for my kids the way my Nana used to make them for me.
I've tried several recipes for "Italian Cookies" or "Anisette Cookies" and this one was not very good. There were too many conflicting flavors in the cookie and cooking for 15 minutes also leaves them a little dry.
I am sorry to say but this recipe is lacking. I am upset because I couldn't find my other one in time for Thanksgiving. Sure enough I found it after I made these. My kids said they tasted like Play Doh and I don't disagree. The other recipe I have uses less flour less eggs and incorporates butter uses more extract etc. they are much better. I added another tspn. of extract to try to save the batch. It heloed - a little.
These cookies are great!! My grandmother used to make these every Christmas when I was a child. She used to leave out the anisette and use the orange juice and orange extract instead which are just as good. All the knot tying is a little time consuming but these cookies are worth it. They look great if you ice them and put colored sprinkles on them and they keep well too!
