They're called “Bacchus Biscuits” because the followers of Bacchus carried a stalk of wild fennel as their, ahem, staff. True fact: Look it up... If you don't have the fennel pollen for this recipe, just skip it. The cookies are still great without it.
1tablespoonouzo or other anise-flavored liqueur(optional)
1egg
1 3/4cupsflour
3tablespoonscorn flour,like fish fry mix
1 1/2teaspoonsbaking powder
Instructions
Cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl. Add the fennel seeds, fennel pollen, salt ouzo and egg and beat the mixture together.
In another bowl, combine the flour, corn flour and baking powder and whisk to combine. Stirring all the time, add the dry ingredients slowly to the wet. Shape the dough into a log, cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, and up to overnight — this is important, because you need the dough to be very cold, or the cookies will collapse as you bake them. They'll still taste great, but will look weird.
When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375°F. Slice off small cylinders of the log into cookies about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Set them on a non-stick baking sheet, or a greased baking sheet so they don't touch each other. They should not collapse, so you can set them fairly close together. Bake until they begin to color on the edges, about 12 minutes.
Remove and let the cookies set up on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. Carefully move them to cool on a wire rack.