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Home Β» Dessert Β» Gluten-Free Italian Anise Cookies (Vegan, Allergy-Free)

Gluten-Free Italian Anise Cookies (Vegan, Allergy-Free)

Published: Dec 9, 2020 by Rebecca Pytell Β· This post may contain affiliate links.

Jump to Recipe

A traditional Italian cookie, these Gluten-Free Anise Cookies are so easy to make! They're vegan, allergy-free, flavored with anise extract, and perfect for your holiday cookie platter! Soft and aromatic cookies with a sweet, subtle licorice flavor and simple icing glaze with sprinkles! Anisette cookies are a classic Italian dessert you'll be making year-round!

stacked gluten-free anisette cookies on white plate

Whether you have that Italian blood in you or not, this classic Italian cookie is a must make for the holidays! Simple, soft, and tender cookies, flavored with sweet and aromatic anise extract, topped with a super simple glaze, and doused in colorful sprinkles! I was always drawn to them as a kid because of the colorful rainbow sprinkles. This gluten-free recipe is the perfect replacement for us celiacs and they're vegan and allergy-free too, so everyone can grab a cookie from the plate!

gluten-free anise cookies cooling on a wire rack

What Are Anise Cookies?

History lesson for you. Anise cookies originated in Germany, but variations of the cookie spread throughout Europe. In Italy, the traditional anise cookie, or "angelonies," is made with anisette, which is an Italian liqueur flavored with aniseed. This is why Italian's typically say "Anisette Cookies". However, it's a lot cheaper and easier to pick up a bottle of anise extract at the grocery store and what you'll find in commercially made anise cookies! Unless that is, you go to a real Italian bakery!

What Does Anisette Taste Like?

Anisette, or anise, is fragrant and sweet with the flavors of black licorice and citrus notes. Not to be confused with star anise, which is the sweet fruit of a small evergreen tree, while aniseed comes from the seeds of a plant and is also known as "sweet cumin". Now, it's not as strong as black licorice, it is sweeter and more subtle, but you probably won't like anise cookies if you despise anything licorice!

close-up of fingers grabbing an Italian anise cookie

Ingredients For The Gluten-Free Anise Cookies

These are so simple, you'll be making them year-round, not just for Christmas or Easter!

  • Gluten-Free Baking Flour
  • Baking Powder
  • Granulated Sugar Sweetener
  • Unsweetened Non-Dairy Milk
  • Vegan/Allergy-Free Butter
  • Commercial Egg Replacer
  • Pure Anise Extract

For the Icing:

  • Powdered Sugar Sweetener
  • Water
  • Rainbow Nonpareils

baking process for gluten-free Italian anise cookies

How to Make Italian Anise Cookies

The ingredients you need are simple and so is the process to make them!

  1. Mix together the dry ingreindts, then add the wet and knead the dough together with your hands to work in the butter.
  2. Roll 12-14 balls of dough, about a tablespoon each or 1 to 1.5 inch balls, and space them out on a baking sheet
  3. Bake them for 10 to 12 minutes at 375Β°F. Remove them from the oven and let those babies cool before icing!
  4. Make the glaze by mixing in just enough water to make the powdered sugar drippy, then dip the tops of the cooled cookies in the icing and then into the sprinkles.

Baking Tips and Storage

  • You can bake the cookies ahead of time, however, don't ice them until the day you plan on serving them. Rainbow nonpareils tend to bleed their color when they become wet from the icing so, you're cookies will look a bit sad. You can always use a white sprinkle or other variety you know won't bleed if you choose to do so!
  • If you want a super-strong anise flavor you can add a bit of the anise extract to the icing glaze too, not just the cookie dough.
  • If you hate anise, but really...really, want to make these cookies, you can use another extract like lemon, which will still give you a sweet citrusy flavor!
  • Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week. You can freeze the baked or unbaked cookie balls, un-iced, for up to 3-4 months. Thaw the baked cookies in the fridge and then at room temperature before icing them. You can bake frozen cookie balls directly from the freezer, adding a few extra minutes to the bake time.

plate of iced gluten-free Italian anisette cookies

Subtly sweet, soft, and tender the see Italian cookies are probably one of the easiest traditional Italian cookies you can make! Festive and fun, they are a must for any allergy-friendly cookie platter!

  • Gluten-Free
  • Vegan
  • Allergy-free (Dairy-Free, Soy-Free, Egg-Free, Nut-Free, Peanut-Free, Wheat-Free, Sesame-Free, Corn-Free, Coconut-Free)
  • Low in Sugar or Sugar-Free
  • Kid-Friendly
  • Quick and Easy

Other Delicious Italian Cookies to Try:

  • Grain-Free Amaretto Cookies
  • Grain-Free Italian Wedding Snowball Cookies
  • Chocolate Chip Teff Biscotti
  • Italian Lemon Knot Cookies

Gluten-Free Italian Anise Cookie Recipe

overhead view of plate full of vegan Italian anise cookies

Print

Gluten-Free Italian Anise Cookies (Vegan, Allergy-Free)

stacked gluten-free anisette cookies on white plate
Print Recipe

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

5 from 4 reviews

A traditional Italian cookie, these Gluten-Free Anise Cookies are so easy to make! They're vegan, allergy-free, flavored with anise extract, and perfect for your holiday cookie platter! Soft and aromatic cookies with a sweet, subtle licorice flavor and simple icing glaze with sprinkles! Anisette cookies are a classic Italian dessert you'll be making year-round!

  • Author: Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
  • Prep Time: 5 Minutes
  • Cook Time: 10 Minutes
  • Total Time: 15 minutes
  • Yield: 12-14 Cookies 1x
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Bake
  • Cuisine: Italian

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 Β½ Cups Gluten-Free Baking Flour
  • 1 Tsp Baking Powder
  • β…“ Cup Granulated Sweetener (or preferred granulated sugar)
  • 4 TB Vegan/Allergy-Free Butter (cold, cubed)
  • 3 TB Unsweetened Non-Dairy Milk
  • 1 Prepared Bob's Red Mill Egg Replacement
  • ΒΎ to 1 Tsp Pure Anise Extract

For the Icing:

  • Β½ Cup Powdered Sweetener (or preferred powdered sugar)
  • 2 Tsp Water (approximately)
  • Rainbow Nonpareils

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375Β°F.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and sweetener.
  3. Add the prepared egg replacement, milk, cold and cubed butter, and anise extract.
  4. Mix and knead the cold butter in using a fork or your hands until the dough forms.
  5. Roll 12 to 14, 1 to 1.5-inch dough balls, and space them out on a parchment paper or Silpat lined baking sheet.
  6. Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove and let them cool completely on a worse rack.
  7. Make the icing by slowly adding teaspoons of water to the powdered sugar, keep it thick, but drippy. Then dunk the tops of the cooled cookies in the icing first then into the sprinkles before placing the cookies aside and letting the icing set.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 Cookie

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @rebeccagf666 on Instagram and hashtag it #strengthandsunshine

hand grabbing an iced gluten-free Italian anise cookie from plate

For all my celiac Italians out there, have no fear! You can still enjoy your anisette cookies and this gluten-free (and vegan!) recipe may just beat grandmas.

So tell me:

+ Are you a complete hater of licorice?

β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”-

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Hari

    December 08, 2023 at 7:22 am

    This traditional Italian anise cookies are super delicious. So yummy and mouth watering! The fact that they are vegan makes it extra special!

    Reply
    • Rebecca Pytell

      December 08, 2023 at 8:28 am

      Glad you liked them.

      Reply
  2. Caroline

    April 30, 2023 at 9:38 am

    So good!

    Reply
    • Rebecca Pytell

      April 30, 2023 at 4:44 pm

      Great!

      Reply
  3. Ilana

    December 23, 2020 at 11:27 am

    These bring me back to my own grandmother's house!

    Reply
    • Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine

      December 23, 2020 at 5:31 pm

      Ah, the nostalgia!

      Reply
  4. Helen

    December 15, 2020 at 5:55 pm

    I grew up eating these! So good for a didn't flavor other than chocolate!

    Reply
    • Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine

      December 16, 2020 at 7:26 am

      I totally agree!

      Reply
  5. Kimberly Dsouza

    December 13, 2020 at 6:21 am

    I never heard of these before but they sound lovely and look lovely.

    Reply
    • Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine

      December 13, 2020 at 6:31 am

      Looks like these classic Italian cookies are a must-try then!

      Reply

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Hey there, welcome to Strength and Sunshine! I’m Rebecca and I'm so glad you're here! This is your go-to destination for delicious, fun, and (mostly) healthy gluten-free and allergy-free recipes, tips & tricks, advice, as well as celiac and food allergy coaching services! More about me



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collage image of gluten-free Italian anise cookies
gluten-free Italian anise cookies with image text