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Dessert

Anise Seed Borrachio Cookies

Cookies flavored with anise seed and rum, baked until golden.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Anise and clove share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 93 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓

Anise Seed Borrachio Cookies

Oven350°F (175°C)
Time10 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the dough

  1. Place the anise seeds in a small bowl with the rum.

  2. Set aside to marinate overnight.

  3. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla until smooth.

  4. Stir in the anise seed and rum.

  5. Mix in the egg.

  6. Combine the flour, salt, baking powder and cloves; stir into the butter mixture until well blended.

  7. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, about 1 hour.

Shape and bake

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

  2. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/8 inch thickness.

  3. Cut into desired shapes using cookie cutters.

  4. Place cookies on a greased cookie sheet.

  5. Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown at the edges.

  6. Cool for a few minutes on baking sheets before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

735Calories
20 gProtein
18 gFat
110 gCarbs

Counts 8 of 10 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Rum1/2 oz (15ml)32
Vanilla1 tsp extract (4ml)12
Cloves1 tsp ground (2g)7
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Anisenot in our table0
Seednot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Anise + clovetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together93 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  2. Rum + vanillatop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together728 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Vanilla + clovetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,049 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  4. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Anise + flourtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together270 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Butter
Creams with sugar to create a tender, short texture and rich flavor.
All-purpose flour
Provides the structure that holds the cookie shape during baking.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and helps the cookies brown at the edges.
Egg
Binds the dough and adds richness and structure.
Anise seed
Provides the main aromatic flavor, softened by marinating in rum.

The step that matters

Rolling the dough to an even 1/8 inch. Uneven thickness makes thin pieces overbake and turn brittle while thick spots stay soft. Chilling first keeps the butter firm so the dough rolls cleanly and holds its cut shapes.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (anise, rum, butter, sugar, vanilla, flour, egg):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Nutmegfits better
  3. Allspicefits about as well
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against anise, rum, butter, sugar, vanilla, flour, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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