Honestly, I don’t know what you call these cookies. At my local Italian bakery, they look like a cookie sliced from a loaf, not very sweet, with anise flavored icing on them and sprinkles on top. Almost like a biscotti that is not twice baked. They are so good. In the morning with coffee, or anytime.
I decided I would try and find a recipe that is just like them. I figured it would take a while. I found a recipe from a great new blog I found “Marcellina in Cucina“. Wow! does this blog have some great recipes!
I decided to try Marcellina’s Italian Anise Cookie recipe with a few tweaks, and these cookies turned out very close to the ones from my favorite Italian bakery!
Woo hoo! I love it when things turn out this way. It usually takes forever to find a recipe that you like!
I used her cookie recipe but added a little yellow food coloring. Instead of shaping dough into balls for cookies, I divided the dough in two, and formed two loaves. These cookies end up the size of biscotti, a little larger than the bakery cookies I buy. These remind me of my Lemon Anginetti Cookies.
For the icing, I used her measurements and ingredients, but increased the anise flavoring to 1/2 teaspoon instead of her 1/8 teaspoon. The anise flavor was perfect for me. I love that strong anise flavored icing against the tender not so sweet cookie.
These are perfect to have with coffee or tea in the morning or snack time whenever.
I can’t believe I came almost exact with the bakery’s cookie on the first try!
I will surely try the many other recipes on her site. 
These cookies are so easy to make!
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Mix flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl.
In a stand mixer and whisk attachment, beat eggs until frothy. Gradually add sugar until thick and pale. Gradually add in the oil. Lower the speed and add milk, anise and vanilla extract.
Remove bowl from mixer and add flour in two additions using a wooded spoon.
Line a cookie sheet/jelly roll pan with parchment.
Divide mixture into two loaves. Keep in mind the mixture will spread. (You could even get three loaves if you wanted a smaller cookie, but you may have to adjust the baking time).
Bake for 25 minutes, or until tops are slightly brown. 
Cool and cover the loaves with anise icing. Put your loaves on a cookie rack with parchment or a cookie pan under it to catch the drippings. Make sure your icing is fairly thick as it spreads on the loaf. The thinner the icing, the more ends up in the pan under the cookie and less on the cookie.
Sprinkle with colored sprinkles.
Let icing dry completely and slice diagonally.
You can dye the cookie green for St. Patrick’s Day, pink for Valentine’s Day. Change out the extract to lemon, orange, almond, even chocolate…the options are endless.
Italian Anise Loaf Cookies
Description
Perfect cookie that’s not too sweet, but had a sweet anise icing. Great for breakfast, snacks or tea time.
Ingredients
Cookie:
2–1/2 cups all purpose flour
2–1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup whole milk
1–1/2 teaspoons anise extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 drops yellow food coloring (optional)
Icing:
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon anise extract
5 teaspoons whole milk or water
Instructions
Cookies:
Preheat the oven to 350ºF/180ºC and line a two of baking sheets with non stick parchment paper
In a bowl whisk (or sieve) all purpose flour, baking powder and salt.
In a stand mixer bowl, beat with the whisk attachment the eggs until frothy, about 1 minute.
Gradually add the sugar and beat until the mixture is thick and pale, about 2 or 3 minutes.
Continue beating and gradually add the oil.
Then on low speed add the milk, anise extract and vanilla extract.
Remove the bowl from the stand mixer and add the flour in two additions mixing with a wooden spoon. It may be too sticky so add a couple more spoonfuls of flour if needed.
Divide dough into 2 loaves. It will be sticky. Sprinkle a little flour on the top of the loaves if you need to form loaves. They don’t have to be perfect.
Bake for 25 minutes until the tops have cracked and are lightly browned.
Icing:
Sieve the powdered sugar to ensure there are no lumps and so that your icing will be smooth.
Mix in the remaining ingredients in a small bowl until smooth. You may not need all the milk so just add 4 teaspoons to start and then add more as you need. The glaze should be thick but not too thick that it doesn’t drip a little.
Frost the loaves on a wire rack. Sprinkle immediately with rainbow sprinkles. Allow to set.
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