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1
Put the flour, 3/4 cup of the sugar, the baking powder, salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of the anise in a large bowl and whisk to blend.
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2
In a small bowl, cut the butter into pea-sized pieces.
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3
Using a pastry blender or your fingertips, work the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal.
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4
Add the egg yolk, vanilla, and ice water and mix with your fingers just until the dough comes together into a ball.
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5
Working on a lightly floured surface, take egg-sized pieces of the dough and smear them away from you with the heel of your hand into 6-inch streaks. (This step helps to achieve the layered texture of the authentic cookie without using lard).
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6
Scrape up all the streaks of dough and pile them on top of one another to form a disk.
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7
Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
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8
On a portable (this will be refrigerated again), lightly floured surface, roll the dough to a thickness of 1/4 inch.
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9
Refrigerate for 30 miutes, or until firm.
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10
Set a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 375u00b0F.
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11
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or use a non-stick cookie sheet.
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12
With a cookie cutter, cut out 2 1/2-inch circles (I use stars), and place them on the cookie sheets about 2-inches apart.
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13
Chill the cookies 10 minutes before baking.
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14
Reroll the scraps of dough and cut out more cookies, chilling before baking.
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15
Meanwhile, mix the remaining 1 Tablespoon ground anise and 2 Tablespoon sugar together in a small bowl.
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16
Sprinkle a thin layer of the sugar mixture over the cookies.
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17
Bake for 10 minutes, or until lightly browned around the edges.
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18
Cool on the pan on a wire rack.
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19
May be store at room temperature, well-wrapped, for up to 5 days.
