Mom-Mom's Christmas Anise Toasts.

Each Christmas, for as long as I've been alive, my Grandma (whom we refer to as "Mom-mom") baked us the most delicious cookies made from recipes that have been in our family for many generations. One was a Polish fried bow-tie cookie known as a krusciki and the other was a delicious biscotti cookie known as an anise toast. I had always been eager to learn to bake these family-famous cookies, so finally a couple years ago while I was an undergraduate student, I got a one-on-one cookie lesson from the baker herself (lucky me!). A year-and-a-half ago Mom-mom passed away and since then we've kept her tradition alive by continuing to bake the cookies. Today I am going to share with you the recipe for the anise toasts. Let me tell you, people either love them or hate them. Of course, my family can't get enough of them and we look forward to them every year!

Anise Toasts

2 sticks unsalted butter (softened)
1½ cups sugar
5 eggs
4 cups flour
3 Tsp. baking powder
½ Tsp. salt
1 Tbs. anise seeds (crushed)
1 Tbs. anise extract
Eggs
Sprinkles


Directions
Place butter, sugar, and eggs in bowl. Beat to a fluff. Mix flour, baking powder, and salt together in a separate bowl. Place anise extract and anise seeds into butter mixture. Place flour mixture into butter mixture 1 cup at a time. Blend/mix well. Dough will be soft.

Place dough in a large plastic wrap and place in freezer. Dough should look like a loaf.

When ready to bake, cut dough into long log like pieces. Coat top with scrambled egg yolk and sprinkles. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes.

Cut loaf into diagonal cookies. Turn cookies on side and bake for about another 10-15 minutes.

Let cool.