Anise is used in cooking, baking, and if you can believe it, medicine throughout the world. It can be found in everything from cookies to tea, and it’s one of my favorite flavors, particularly for biscotti.

My grandma Zella, despite being Hungarian and not at all Italian, used anise for pizzelles. Because of this, I always think of anise as an Italian flavor, and I make sure I get a few plain anise and anise almond biscotti when I visit Enrico Biscotti in Pittsburgh’s Strip District.

Almonds would be a great addition to this recipe, but it is delicious plain as well. As far as biscotti recipes go, I’d say this was among the easiest and most successful I’ve ever tried.

Ingredients

• 3 1/4 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon anise extract
• 3 eggs

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, combine flour and baking powder; set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combine vegetable oil, sugar, anise extract, and eggs and beat on medium speed until combined.

Add flour all at once; beat until combined. Dough will be very thick.

Divide dough in half and roll into logs as long as your baking sheet. Press dough down to about 1/2 inch thickness.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, then remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes. Line a second baking sheet with parchment.

Slice each log into 1-inch slices, then place slices on baking sheets and return to the oven and bake for another 6 minutes on each side.

Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.