How to Bake With Anise Oil

Add new flavor to baked goods with oil from the anise seed.

Anise oil is an essential oil derived from the seeds of the anise plant, a member of the parsley family. When you use it in cooking or baking, it imparts a licorice-like flavor to food. You may add anise oil to nearly any cookie, cake or bread recipe without affecting the baking time or temperature of the baked goods. The tricky part about using anise oil in a recipe is determining how much oil to add, but a simple formula and a little experimentation will ensure delicious results.

Things You'll Need

• Anise oil
• Measuring spoon

Instructions

1. Omit the flavor extract called for in your original recipe. If your recipe includes more than one flavor extract, such as 1 tsp. anise extract and 1 tsp. vanilla extract, you may choose to omit both extracts or just one depending upon your own personal tastes.

2. Divide the measurement of the omitted extract by eight to determine the amount of anise oil to use. If you omitted 2 tsp. of flavor extract, you need 1/4 tsp. anise oil.

3. Measure the anise oil into your recipe, and continue adding all of the ingredients.

4. Taste the finished dough or batter to determine if you would like to add more anise oil. If the flavor is very faint, add the same amount of oil as you did in step two. Otherwise, add a few drops of the anise oil at a time until you are satisfied with the flavor.

5. Bake the recipe as indicated in the directions.

References

• Botanical: Anise
• The Cooks Thesaurus: Extracts and Flavoring Oils