What Is Anise extract and How Can I Use It?

If anise extract has turned up in a recipe or caught your eye at the store, here's what you need to use it with confidence and how to choose it, cook it, store it, what to substitute, and 32 recipes to try it in.

Recipes using anise extract

There are 32 recipes that contain this ingredient.

Huminta (Bolivian Style Souffle)

Vegan Bolivian-style huminta with quinoa, tofu, and winter squash blended into a savory baked casserole. Tahini and anise give the dish nutty depth and a faintly licorice finish.

Molded Christmas Cookies

German springerle Christmas cookies: anise-scented egg-and-sugar dough pressed with carved wooden molds, dried overnight, and baked low to set the embossed pattern.

German Anise Christmas Cookies

It all began in a small village in the Black Forest of Germany, where a group of mischievous elves tried creating a cookie to make people dance joyfully. They stumbled upon anise, a magical spice with a sweet and licorice-like flavor, and decided to use it in their cookie recipe.

Chocolate Covered Citrus Walnut Biscotti

Twice-baked citrus walnut biscotti, crisp with anise and bright lemon and orange zest, then half-dipped in glossy tempered chocolate. Crunchy Italian cookies built for dunking in coffee.

Sourdough Onion Rye

Sourdough onion rye bread made in a bread machine with rye flour, whole wheat, diced onions, and honey. Includes small, medium, and large loaf sizes with optional anise or caraway.

Sourdough Onion Rye

Sourdough onion rye bread made in a bread machine with rye flour, whole wheat, diced onions, and honey. Includes small, medium, and large loaf sizes with optional anise or caraway.

Sourdough Onion Rye

Sourdough onion rye bread made in a bread machine with rye flour, whole wheat, diced onions, and honey. Includes small, medium, and large loaf sizes with optional anise or caraway.

Yummi Biscotti

Anise almond biscotti baked twice for that signature crunch. Shaped into horseshoes, sliced, and dried low and slow. Keeps for weeks in a jar. Built for dunking.

Lemony Springerle

Lemony springerle, traditional German embossed cookies stamped from a wooden mold and air-dried overnight before baking. Lemon zest brightens the classic anise.

Buttery Lemon Anise Biscotti

Buttery lemon anise biscotti: twice-baked Italian cookies flavored with bright lemon zest and warm anise. Crisp, dry, and made for dipping in coffee or sweet wine.

Sweet Raisin Bread

A rich, egg-laden yeast bread studded with raisins and scented with anise, lemon zest, and orange zest. Makes 4 fragrant loaves with a tender, golden crumb.

Chilled Pear Soup

Silky pear puree meets warm ginger spice in this chilled dessert soup that's naturally sweet, low-calorie, and perfect for summer entertaining or elegant brunches.

Biscotti Crocanti

Biscotti crocanti, traditional Italian twice-baked cookies with whole almonds and a pairing of almond and anise extracts. The classic crisp Italian biscotti for dunking in espresso or vin santo.

Moyettes (Cinnamon Sugar Crusted Sweet Bread)

Moyettes are Mexican cinnamon sugar sweet bread rolls with anise flavor, brushed in melted butter and crusted in cinnamon sugar. A traditional pan dulce recipe.

Lemon-Anise-Poppy Muffins

Lemon-anise-poppy seed muffins with whole wheat flour, soy yogurt, and orange juice. Egg-free and dairy-free bundt muffins with a unique licorice-citrus flavor.

Cinnamon Sugar Crusted Sweet Bread

Cinnamon sugar crusted sweet bread: a lightly sweet yeast bread flavored with anise and wrapped in a buttery cinnamon-sugar crust. Sliced thin and buttered for coffee time.

Authentic Springerle

Authentic springerle, the embossed German anise Christmas cookies. Egg dough pressed with carved molds, dried overnight, then baked low so the white design stays crisp. Aged to mellow the flavor.

Classic Anise Cookies

Classic anise cookies build a meringue-like base from eggs whipped with sugar for 30 minutes, then rest overnight before baking into pillowy, licorice-scented Italian cookies.

Biscotti - Almond Hazelnut

Crunchy twice-baked biscotti packed with roasted almonds and hazelnuts, scented with vanilla, anise, and almond extract. A big-batch Italian cookie that keeps for weeks and begs to be dunked.

Swedish Limpa Rye Bread

Bread machine Swedish limpa rye with anise extract, molasses, orange zest, fennel seeds, and applesauce for moisture. A fragrant, slightly sweet Scandinavian rye loaf with zero hands-on effort. Just press start.

Double Anise Almond Biscotti

Double anise almond biscotti with anise extract, ground star anise, and slivered almonds in a twice-baked Italian cookie. Crisp enough to dunk in espresso or vin santo.

Buttermilk Brown Sugar Pound Cake

Buttermilk pound cake with brown sugar, plumped currants, anise extract, and orange marmalade glaze. A dense, deeply flavored tube-pan cake with caramel undertones and old-fashioned charm.

Anise Biscotchos

Buttery anise-scented cookies with star anise seeds and extract, chilled overnight and baked golden for traditional New Mexican biscochitos.

Authentic Pizzelles

Crisp, lacy Italian pizzelle cookies flavored with anise and lemon, pressed golden on a traditional pizzelle iron. These thin wafer cookies are an Italian-American holiday staple your nonna would approve of.

Homemade Galiano

Homemade Galliano liqueur made with vodka, anise extract, vanilla, and a slow-simmered sugar syrup. Rests for two weeks to develop that signature golden, herbal sweetness.

All 32 recipes