Chocolate Anise Balls

Chocolate anise balls coated with powdered sugar.

I based these cookies on a chocolate bar I first tried a few weeks ago.  The bar made me realize how perfectly anise and chocolate go together.  If you're not a lover of anise, then these cookies aren't for you.  On the other hand, if you love anise and you love chocolate, then you'll want to try these. 

Chinese Star Anise.

 I made these cookies two different ways - some with Swedish pearl sugar and some with powdered sugar.  In an informal taste test at work, the powdered sugar ones came out ahead.  That was good news too, because coating the cookies in powdered sugar after they are baked is quicker and easier than applying an egg wash to the tops of the cookies and sprinkling sugar on them prior to baking.  And,  most importantly, you probably don't have a bag of Swedish pearl sugar sitting in your pantry. 

Regardless of how you finish these cookies, I hope that you enjoy them as much as I do!

Chocolate anise balls sprinkled with Swedish pearl sugar.

Notes:
Espresso powder is a recent addition to my kitchen.  I used to just use instant coffee when something called for espresso powder and had excellent results.  So, if you can't find espresso powder, use instant coffee, or just leave it out.  I ground whole Chinese star anise in our (clean) coffee grinder and sifted the ground anise to remove any large pieces.  Grinding your spices fresh means that the flavor will be stronger.  The liquid anise flavor I also used was oil-based as opposed to alcohol-based.  The cocoa powder I used for this recipe is Natural High Fat Cocoa from Penzeys Spices.  I used my cooking scale to measure each cookie so that they were about 3 ounces.  I did this so that all of the cookies were the same size and baked at similar rates.  If you don't have a scale, use a point of reference to make sure all the dough balls are about the same size (like the teaspoon pictured below). 

Use a point of reference to make all the cookies the same size.

Recipe adapted from The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion: The Essential Cookie Cookbook.


Ingredients:
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
1¼ teaspoons anise flavor
½ teaspoon espresso powder
pinch allspice
1 teaspoon ground Chinese star anise
½ teaspoon salt
1 large egg
¾ cups cocoa powder
1½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
½-⅔ cups powdered sugar

Yields 5-6 dozen cookies.


Assemble Dough:
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment or silpat mats.  Cream together the butter, sugar, vanilla, anise flavor, espresso powder, allspice, ground anise, and salt. Add the egg and beat until incorporated, then add the cocoa, and then the flour. Continue beating until no more flour mixture streaks remain.  The last bits of flour may be a little bit difficult to incorporate.  Just keep mixing and eventually it will all come together.

Shaping, Baking, Coating:
Break off a teaspoon-sized (about 3 ounces) piece of the dough, and roll it into a ball and place it on one of the prepared baking sheets.  Repeat until all of the cookies are shaped.  Bake the cookies for 10-11 minutes.  Take care to remove these cookies promptly so they are not over baked.  While the cookies are baking, put the powdered sugar in a large plastic bag.  Remove the cookies from the oven and immediately begin to coat them with powdered sugar by placing 3-5 hot cookies in the bag with the powdered sugar and gently shaking the bag a few times to coat them.  Put the powdered sugar-covered cookies on a rack to cool.  Repeat until all the cookies are covered in powdered sugar.  Once the cookies have cooled slightly, gently toss them again with the powdered sugar and place them back on the rack to finish cooling.  Store them in an air-tight container.

To Coat with Swedish Pearl Sugar instead of Powdered Sugar

Additional Ingredients:
1 egg white
2-3 tablespoons of water
1/2 cup Swedish pearl sugar

Decorating and Baking:
Beat the egg white with 2-3 tablespoons of water.  Once the cookies are shaped and before they are baked, dip the top ⅓ of the cookie in the egg wash then sprinkle some Swedish pearl sugar over the egg wash.  Place on the prepared cookie sheet and bake for 10-11 minutes.  They won't look brown, and they won't feel done, but that's the perfect amount of time and the right temperature.  Transfer the cookies to a rack to cool.  Store them in an air-tight container.  Pin It