BISCOCHITOS

Steps:

• Put the flour, 3/4 cup of the sugar, the baking powder, salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of the anise in a large bowl and whisk to blend.
• In a small bowl, cut the butter into pea-sized pieces.
• Using a pastry blender or your fingertips, work the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal.
• Add the egg yolk, vanilla, and ice water and mix with your fingers just until the dough comes together into a ball.
• Working on a lightly floured surface, take egg-sized pieces of the dough and smear them away from you with the heel of your hand into 6-inch streaks. (This step helps to achieve the layered texture of the authentic cookie without using lard).
• Scrape up all the streaks of dough and pile them on top of one another to form a disk.
• Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
• On a portable (this will be refrigerated again), lightly floured surface, roll the dough to a thickness of 1/4 inch.
• Refrigerate for 30 miutes, or until firm.
• Set a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 375°F.
• Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or use a non-stick cookie sheet.
• With a cookie cutter, cut out 2 1/2-inch circles (I use stars), and place them on the cookie sheets about 2-inches apart.
• Chill the cookies 10 minutes before baking.
• Reroll the scraps of dough and cut out more cookies, chilling before baking.
• Meanwhile, mix the remaining 1 Tablespoon ground anise and 2 Tablespoon sugar together in a small bowl.
• Sprinkle a thin layer of the sugar mixture over the cookies.
• Bake for 10 minutes, or until lightly browned around the edges.
• Cool on the pan on a wire rack.
• May be store at room temperature, well-wrapped, for up to 5 days.