Italian Anise Cookies — Gluten and Dairy Free

Photo by Author (Robin G Coles)

These cookies are gluten and dairy free. Not to mention wheat, sorghum flour, and nut free. They are great for Thanksgiving. I use Glutinous Rice Flour which works well for sweet rolls, etc. Plus potato and tapioca starch give it stability. The Grapeseed oil gives a lighter taste in place of butter (dairy). You can use olive, canola, or sunflower oil. This is the first time I’ve used this recipe and I have to say they converted quite well. To freeze, wrap them in either parchment or wax paper then store them inside a freezer bag.

Because you are using gluten-free rice flour instead of wheat flour the measurements are not the same. Therefore the best measurements are by weight. I use grams. You can buy rice flour and tapioca starch at any Asian supermarket. Though, some supermarkets are now carrying them.

Download a pdf version here.

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 200 grams of white sugar
• 108 grams oil
• 5 grams of anise extract (can also use lemon or vanilla)
• 420 grams of gluten-free flour
• 360 grams of rice flour
• 50 grams of Potato starch
• 10 grams of tapioca starch (sometimes known as tapioca flour)
• 12 grams baking powder
• dash salt

Instructions

1. In a larger bowl, beat eggs with sugar till thick. Add oil and mix.
2. In a medium bowl combine the flour, starches, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. (I usually weigh them all in one bowl — don’t forget to weigh the bowl empty first, then add the weight of each ingredient)
3. Add the extract to the sugar mixture. Then stir in the flour mix. Be careful not to over-mix.
4. Bake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Scoop dough onto a greased or parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake for 12 minutes. Cool for 2 minutes before lifting the cookies off the cookie sheet and finish cooling on the baking rack.

Icing

• 32 grams of confectioners sugar
• 7 grams of orange juice
• 1 gram each of vanilla extract and lemon juice

Mix all ingredients together. Set aside till cookies are done. If the icing is too runny, add more in small increments.
A spread small amount on top of the cookies, then adds your favorite sprinkles.

by Robin G. Coles

Download a pdf version here.

Originally published at https://robingcoles.com on December 23, 2022.