Golden Anisette Sponge Recipe

Welcome to the first of my vintage recipe remake series. In this series, I will make an old recipe given to me by friends and family. I reached out to people and asked them to share with me a classic family cookie recipe. And thankfully, I had several people who were kind enough to give me a recipe!

Today’s recipe is a classic for sure. An Italian classic, at that! These golden anisette sponge delights remind me of Stella D’oro breakfast biscuits. I grew up eating those in New Jersey. We always had them available for snacking in the house. The anise flavor brought me right back to my childhood.

Golden anisette sponge, is more like a drier cake than a cookie, and are ideal for dunking into hot coffee. They soak up the coffee and create a delicious treat in your mouth.

This recipe was graciously given to me by my friend Kathy. Kathy and I met online over fifteen years ago and have been swapping recipes ever since.

Ingredients  

• 8 eggs beaten
• 3 cups flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1/2 to 1 tsp anise extract

Instructions 

• Mix everything together. It will be soupy.
• You will need 2 greased cookie sheets.
• Divide the mixture and put 1/2 into the middle of each sheet- it will spread itself out.
• Bake at 350 for 20 to 30 minutes, until it is yellow.
• Cool and slice.
• Keep in airtight plastic bags.

Video

Notes

Notes:

I preheated my oven and then lined 2 cookie sheets with non-stick foil.

I went with 3/4 tsp anise extract, but next time will go with a full teaspoon. 3/4 teaspoon was just enough, but I like the flavor of anise, so will add more.

First, I added the eggs, one at a time into my stand mixer and beat them in there. I added my other ingredients in the order listed while mixing on the lowest speed.

My sponge baked for 20 minutes.

You can easily cut this recipe in half and make only 1 pan of sponge.

If you are interested in more holiday dessert recipes, click here.