Anise Almond Rounds

Ingredients

• 12 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon grated orange rind
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 teaspoons anise seed
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 1/3 cups ground almonds
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup superfine sugar for dredging

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Prepare 2 cookie sheets.
3. Beat butter and sugars until creamy, then beat in the orange rind, almond extract and anise seed.
4. Combine the flour, almonds and salt with a fork and beat this into the butter mixture.
5. Chill the dough for at least 2 hours.
6. Break off 1-inch pieces of dough and shape them into balls.
7. Flatten them slightly and bake for 20 minutes.
8. Cool for a few minutes on a cookie rack.
9. Roll the cookies in the superfine sugar while they are still warm.
10. Store in an airtight tin.