Rousquilles

I found this recipe in a cookie book I got from the library.  It is found in Barcelona and France.  It is a wonderful little cookie, not too sweet.

Rousquilles

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp. anise seeds
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. table salt
• 4 T. cold unsalted butter, cut into small chunks
• 2 cold large egg yolks
• 2 T. orange flower water, milk or white wine
• 2 tsp. honey

Powdered sugar for dusting

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.  Have two round cookie cutters at hand, one 1 3/4 inches in diameter the other 3/4 inch.  You could use larger round cutters, should look like a donut when cut out.
3. Put the flour, sugar, anise seed, baking soda and salt in a food processor and pulse unit to blend.  Drop in the pieces of cold butter and work in long pulses until you've got a grainy mixture.  Stir the yolks, orange flower water (or whatever you're using) and honey together and add it in small measure, pulsing in short spurts after each bit goes in .  When all the liquid is in, process, stopping to scrape the bottom of the bowl if needed , until you have a mass of moist curds.
4. Scrape the dough out onto the counter and knead it lightly and briefly, just to corral the curds into cohesion.  Place the dough between two pieces of parchment paper and roll it to a thickness of 1/4 inch.  
5. Peel away the parchment and using the larger cutter, cut out as many circles as you can. Transfer them to the baking sheet (you can put them close together; they don't spread much), and remove their centers with the small cutter.  Gather the scraps of dough together, press them into a disk, re-roll and cut again.
6. Bake the cookies 18-20 minutes, rotating the sheet  after 10 minutes, or until the cookies are golden brown. Remove to a rack and cool.  
7. Dust with powdered sugar.  Optional:  Frost with a powdered sugar glaze.