Five- Spice Cookies

How to prepare cookies

Difficulty Level:        

Yield: 50 - 60 cookies

Ingredients:

Spices:	Ingredients for dough:
3 tsp. ground Ginger  3 tsp. ground Cinnamon 2 tsp. ground Cardamom 1 -1 1/2 tsp. ground Cloves 1 tsp. ground Star Anise* ~ mix all together in a bowl and reserve.	1 - 1 1/2 cups (12 oz.) unsalted butter, room temperature 1 - 1 1/3 cups sugar 1 tsp. iodized salt 3 egg yolks 2 Tbls. Vanilla Extract 3 - 3/4 cps All Purpose Flour (sifted after measuring) Spice mixture from above Raw sugar crystals for decoration

How to make the cookie dough

1. Place butter, sugar, and salt in a mixer with paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
2. Add yolks 1 at a time, mixing after each yolk until incorporated. Turn off mixer and scrape down bowl.
3. Add vanilla extract and mix until incorporated.
4. In a separate bowl, combine spice mix into flour and mix with a whisk until incorporated.
5. Turn off mixer and add flour mixture to mixing bowl. Mix on low just until dough comes together, NO MORE, scraping down the bowl as necessary.
6. Remove dough from bowl and divide into 2-3 portions that can be rolled into logs 1-1/2” wide. Place on parchment lined pan, cover and chill overnight or at least 3 hours.
7. Cut chilled dough into 3/8” thick coins. Place on parchment with 1” between cookies. Sprinkle Sugar-in-the-raw over the top of the cookies to cover.
8. In a convection oven: Bake in a 350˚ F, low fan, until edges are JUST turning brown, no more than 10-12 minutes. Cookies should not brown on top as that will over-cook the dough and destroy the spice flavor.
9. In a regular oven: 350 ˚ F, until the very center is still a bit soft, and the edges are JUST starting to brown, 13-15 minutes. Cool at room temperature.

Tip from Chef:

*You may only be able to buy Star Anise whole. If so, grind it in a coffee grinder, and put it through a sifter to remove the large tough parts.