Petit* fours à l'anis | Anise Cookie Recipe (2024)

Tiny French inspired anise flavored cookies lightly glazed with sweet icing. Perfect for a tea party!

Recipe Inspiration

We were really looking forward to our first Christmas in our home in Wisconsin (after moving from North Carolina), but, our plans were thwarted when our house was struck by lightning and caught fire…making our home unlivable.

To salvage a super crappy time in life, my husband planned a trip for us to spend Christmas in Germany and leave our problems far far…far behind. The trip ended up being the most magical and memorable Christmas of my life. Just my little family of 5, in an area that didn’t speak English and no obligations to cook or buy presents that people would forget about in 5 minutes. We just went and 100% soaked up everything that a European Christmas has to offer. It was amazing and so healing.

While we spent Christmas in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, we also spent time in France, Austria and England. In France, I bought a couple of cookbooks that I have been enjoying baking from since that trip…with the help of Google Translate! Haha (I really need to share more about this trip!)

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One of the recipes that I loved and shared with you all was for Petit* Buerre | aka French Butter Cookies. They are the perfect cookie to accompany a cup of hot tea or coffee. Or you could host an afternoon tea styled like the afternoon tea at the Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Today I’m sharing with you these Anise Cookies called Petit* fours à l’anis in French. I had no idea what they would taste like – I just really thought the picture of them in the cookbook looked pretty! Isn’t that the best way to determine if something will be good or not? ;-p

What does anise taste like?

While these cookies are absolutely gorgeous looking, you may be a bit surprised by their flavor if you do not know what anise tastes like. Many people, myself included, think that anise is similar in taste to black licorice. Although, they come from different plants, they do resemble a very licorice-y taste. So, if you’re not a fan of licorice, maybe skip these cookies and try these Petit*-Beurre Recipe | French Butter Cookies instead!

Tips and Tricks

• Pastry Bag – These cookies are actually piped out onto a baking mat similar to the way a macaroon would be made. (In fact, I feel like these anise cookies are just a different version of a macaroon in some ways). So you will need a pastry piping bag. I found it best to remove the piping tip. Pipe these cookies without using any tip on your pastry bag
• Template – Piping out small circles that are uniform in size can be hard if you are new to using pastry bags. I would highly recommend purchasing a macaroon template baking sheet, it takes the guesswork out of how big you need to pipe the cookies. I bought one of these macaroon baking kits for my son for Christmas and we have been having a blast using it!

Anise Cookies Recipe Card

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