AuthorksalmanThese cookies are soft, fluffy, crunchy, not too sweet and flavored with the seeds of anise and mahlab.
Sift the flour, salt, baking powder, milk powder, anise, mahlab (if using) and sugar into a large bowl.
Add the melted butter and oil to the flour mixture, mix well. The dough will be like little pebbles. Add the eggs, one at a time. If you find that the dough is still very sandy and dry, add the lemon juice. Mix well. Add the anise seeds. Gather the dough and wrap in plastic and let it rest for 30 minutes or longer in a cool place.
Cut small balls of the dough and shape into sausages, laying them side-by-side on a work surface to rest for about 15 minutes. Heat the oven to 350F (180C)
Take each sausage and roll and stretch it thin, then cut it into 4 inch length ropes, tying the ends into a ring, trying to keep them even-sized.
Place the rings on a cookie sheet lined with a parchment and bake for 20 minutes or until the bottoms are golden and the top is dry and crispy.
When cool, keep the rings in a metal box for a couple of weeks, or freeze for longer periods.
NOTE: You can decrease the melted butter and oil to 2/3 of a cup and add an egg instead. The pastry will not be as crumbly.
Ingredients
Directions
Sift the flour, salt, baking powder, milk powder, anise, mahlab (if using) and sugar into a large bowl.
Add the melted butter and oil to the flour mixture, mix well. The dough will be like little pebbles. Add the eggs, one at a time. If you find that the dough is still very sandy and dry, add the lemon juice. Mix well. Add the anise seeds. Gather the dough and wrap in plastic and let it rest for 30 minutes or longer in a cool place.
Cut small balls of the dough and shape into sausages, laying them side-by-side on a work surface to rest for about 15 minutes. Heat the oven to 350F (180C)
Take each sausage and roll and stretch it thin, then cut it into 4 inch length ropes, tying the ends into a ring, trying to keep them even-sized.
Place the rings on a cookie sheet lined with a parchment and bake for 20 minutes or until the bottoms are golden and the top is dry and crispy.
When cool, keep the rings in a metal box for a couple of weeks, or freeze for longer periods.
NOTE: You can decrease the melted butter and oil to 2/3 of a cup and add an egg instead. The pastry will not be as crumbly.