Canistrelli

A long time ago, my mother discovered the Canistrelli browsing on YouTube for recipes. The preparation of these delicious anise flavoured cookies from Corsica, is well explained by Miette in a video by ProvenceTV. I have made the Canistrelli tons of times already, because it is the easiest recipe in the world and there's not a soul who doesn't like it! The picture above shows some cookies I made more than a year ago. I used it because I forgot to make a photo of the Canistrelli I baked yesterday. However, the ones in the picture are a little too dark, because I lost track of time. I had made them for a party in my father's pizzeria and they tasted great, even though slightly too brown at the edges. I started baking cookies and cakes only two years ago, when my boyfriend and I moved away from the city and finally got ourselves a good stove and oven. So far, there are not a lot of cookie recipes I've tried out, but the Canistrelli are a favourite, together with the Tuscan Cantucci, of which I shall share the recipe next time I make them. Ingredients for one basket full of cookies - 500g wheat flour - 130g powdered sugar - 130g white wine - 130g sunflower oil - 16g baking powder - 60g aniseed - a pinch of salt - granulated sugar Preheat the oven at 170 degrees Celsius. In a big bowl mix the wheat with a pinch of salt and the baking powder. Add sunflower oil and white wine and stir everything with a spoon or fork. Add the powdered sugar and, lastly, the aniseed. Continue mixing all the ingredients with your hands and transfer the dough to a smooth surface where you can knead it a little. It doesn't require much kneading though, because it is beautifully soft and not sticky in no time. Divide the dough in two equal parts and flatten them with a rolling-pin until they are as thick as an average forefinger. With your knife, cut out the cookies by making a grid pattern, like they do in the video. Roll the cookies in a plate with granulated sugar and arrange them on a baking tray with a sheet of baking paper. I didn't manage to put all my canistrelli on a single tray, so I used two of them. I put one above the other in the oven and when the cookies on top were done, I moved the ones from the bottom to a higher level. Depending on the size of your canistrelli, they should bake 20-35 minutes. The ones I made yesterday were about 3 cm before I put them in the oven and they took 35 minutes to bake, but the ones from the picture were much smaller and they were in the oven for 25 minutes. They can brown very quickly, so don't forget checking them. Bon appetit!