Anise Biscuits with Lemon Zest & White Wine

Wrap the dough and stick it in the fridge. Thirty-five minutes minimum—the cold makes everything happen. These aren’t your typical cookies. Anise biscuits are Italian, thin rings you dunk in coffee or tea, flavored with cardamom and lemon and this weird floral thing called orange blossom water that somehow works.

Why You’ll Love This Anise Biscuits

Takes 49 minutes total, most of it waiting. The dough sits in the fridge while you do something else.

Italian and vegan without tasting like either label is attached. Just tastes like cookies that know what they’re doing.

Dunk them. That’s the whole point. They soften in espresso, get this weird texture that’s better than eating them dry.

The spice here—cardamom and lemon zest, a hint of orange blossom—comes through without screaming. Not a spice bomb. Subtle. But it’s there.

One bowl. No mixer. Doesn’t matter if your kitchen is chaos.

What You Need for Anise Biscuits

Flour. Three-quarters cup. All-purpose, unbleached. Nothing fancy.

Baking powder. Three-quarters teaspoon. Fresh stuff matters here—old powder won’t lift them right.

Sugar. Ninety grams total. Split it: seventy-five in the dough, fifteen for coating. Granulated. White.

Dry white wine. A quarter cup. Or apple cider vinegar diluted with water if you don’t have wine. The acid matters. Vinegar works. White wine tastes better.

Olive oil. Extra virgin. Three tablespoons. This is what makes them feel Italian.

Orange blossom water. Half a teaspoon. Sounds scary. Isn’t. It’s like floral vanilla. Health food stores carry it. So does Amazon.

Ground cardamom. Half a teaspoon. Not cardamom pods ground yourself—too much effort. Ground cardamom is fine.

Lemon zest. One small lemon. Use a microplane. Just the yellow part.

How to Make Anise Biscuits

Heat the oven to 365°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment. That’s it for prep.

Mix flour and baking powder in a bowl. If lumps stick, sift it. Separate bowl: stir the wine with seventy-five grams of sugar until the sugar dissolves. Takes a minute. Maybe two. Then add the olive oil, orange blossom water, cardamom, and lemon zest. Stir until it smells bright. That’s when you know it’s right.

Pour the wet into the dry. Use a wooden spoon. Fold, don’t beat. The dough comes together kind of tacky, which is normal. It should gather into a ball. Stop before your arm gets tired or the dough gets tough.

Wrap it tightly and put it in the fridge. Thirty-five minutes minimum. The cold firms everything up. Sticky hands are the worst.

How to Shape and Bake Anise Biscuits

Split the dough into sixteen equal pieces. Rough equal is fine. Roll one piece on a smooth counter until it’s about the width of a pencil and maybe eight inches long. Link the ends gently—no twisting, no stress. Form a ring. Pinch where it closes.

Pour the remaining fifteen grams of sugar into a shallow dish. Roll each ring through it until coated. The sugar caramelizes in the oven. That’s where the crunch comes from.

Lay them on the baking sheet spaced apart. They don’t spread much, but space them anyway.

Bake thirteen to sixteen minutes. Watch the edges. They should turn golden. The bottoms firm up but don’t go dark. When they sound hollow if you tap one and the top springs back when you touch it, they’re done. They feel soft-ish now. That’s normal. They crisp as they cool.

Anise Biscuit Tips and Common Mistakes

If the dough sticks to your hands, dust them with flour. Light coating. Won’t mess up the dough density.

Too crumbly when you’re rolling? The dough needs more liquid. Add a splash of wine or oil. Tiny bit. Stir and try again.

Overbaking kills these. They should feel slightly soft when they come out. Trust texture over time. Every oven runs different.

Fresh baking powder is non-negotiable here. Old powder just sits there. Don’t skip the fridge time either—soft dough spreads into pancakes.

Store them airtight once cool. They keep crisp for days. If they soften, warm them in a 300°F oven for a few minutes. They snap back to life.

Anise Biscuits with Lemon Zest & White Wine

By Emma

Prep:

35 min

Cook:

14 min

Total:

49 min

Servings:

16 pieces

Ingredients

• 105 g (3/4 cup) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 3 ml (3/4 tsp) baking powder
• 60 ml (1/4 cup) dry white wine (or apple cider vinegar diluted with water)
• 90 g (3/8 cup) granulated sugar
• 45 ml (3 tbsp) extra virgin olive oil
• 2 ml (1/2 tsp) orange blossom water
• 2 ml (1/2 tsp) ground cardamom
• zest of 1 small lemon
• extra sugar for coating

Method

1. Preheat & prep
2. 1 Heat oven to 185 °C (365 °F). Line baking sheet with parchment or silicone mat. Set aside.
3. Dry & wet blend
4. 2 Mix flour and baking powder in a bowl, sift if lumps stick. In separate bowl, stir wine with 75 g sugar until dissolved about 1-2 minutes. Add olive oil, orange blossom water, cardamom, and lemon zest. Stir well to combine — aromatic and bright.
5. Dough forming
6. 3 Pour wet into dry. Use wooden spoon to fold carefully. Dough will be a bit tacky but should gather into a firm ball — avoid overmixing; gluten develops toughness otherwise.
7. Chill and shape
8. 4 Wrap dough tightly; chill 35 minutes minimum. Firmer dough holds shape better, less sticky hands. Split dough into 16 equal chunks. Roll one on smooth surface to ~1 cm diameter, length ~20 cm. Link ends gently, no twisting, form a neat ring with a slight pinch to close.
9. Sugar coat
10. 5 Pour remaining 15 g sugar into shallow dish. Roll each ring to coat fully. The sugar caramelizes, giving crunch and sheen under oven heat.
11. Baking cues
12. 6 Lay rings on tray spaced apart. Bake 13-16 minutes. Watch edges for golden hue; bottoms should firm but not darken deeply. When taps sound hollow and tops spring back to touch, they're done. Let cool on tray; they crisp as they rest.
13. Storage and serving
14. 7 Store airtight once cooled. Keeps crisp days. If softening occurs, refresh in warm oven 2-3 minutes. Pair with espresso or herbal tea for ritual.
15. Troubleshooting
16. 8 If dough too sticky, dust hands lightly with flour, low risk in dough density here. Too crumbly? Add splash more wine or olive oil, little by little. Overbaked yields dry, so lean on visual and tactile clues over timer. Too flat? Ensure baking powder is fresh, do not skip chilling step.

Nutritional information

Calories

110

Protein

1g

Carbs

15g

Fat

5g

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Frequently Asked Questions About Anise Biscuits

Can I make these without the orange blossom water? You can. They’ll taste good. But they’ll taste like regular lemon and cardamom cookies. The orange blossom water adds something floral that doesn’t taste like anything else. It’s worth hunting down.

What if I don’t have dry white wine? Apple cider vinegar diluted with water works the same way. Or white vinegar. The acid does something with the baking powder. Don’t use red wine—you’ll get weird cookies and they’ll taste off.

How long do these keep? Days. Three or four in an airtight container. After that they start going soft unless your kitchen is super dry. Refresh them in the oven if they lose their snap.

Do they really need to be rings? No. Coil them. Make balls. Twist them. The shape doesn’t change how they bake. A ring just looks nice and makes dunking ritual easier.

Why does the dough need to chill so long? Firm dough holds shape. If you skip it or do it fast, the dough spreads in the oven and you get flat cookies instead of rings. The cold is doing work.

Are these actually vegan? Yes. No eggs, no butter, no milk. Olive oil does what butter would do. They’re not pretending to be vegan—they just are.