Wrinkled chocolate & anise cookies

Star anise does not live up to its starry name here; rather, it’s the support act. The flavour is hard to put your finger on – challenge people to see if they can taste it. What they will notice is how it intensifies the dark chocolate, bringing out the umami and giving an almost smoky depth. Spicing is a great trick to make average chocolate taste more expensive. These very grown-up, chewy, salty-not-too-sweet chocolate cookies are some of the best around, and so simple to make. You can make the dough in advance and chill it until you’re ready to cook. Serve with strong coffee or, better still, caffè corretto (coffee with a splash of sambuca) to up the anise ante.

MAKES 20 cookies

⚫ 60g unsalted butter

⚫ 4 star anise

⚫ 60g cocoa powder

⚫ 200g icing sugar

⚫ 2 large egg whites

⚫ 150g dark chocolate, 70% cocoa solids

⚫ Flaked sea salt, to sprinkle

1 Melt the butter with the star anise over a medium heat. Heat for a few min to let the butter sizzle and foam, swirling to keep the milk solids from burning. Leave to cool and infuse for 30min, then scoop out and discard the stars.

2 Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan) mark 4. Line 2 baking sheets with baking parchment. 3 Sift the cocoa powder and icing sugar into a large bowl and mix in the 1/4tsp fine salt. Stir through the infused butter and egg whites to make a thick paste. Chop the chocolate into a rubble with both finer dust and larger shards, then add to the mixture.

4 Dollop spoonfuls of the batter on to the baking sheets, each about 4cm, spacing them to allow the cookies to flatten and spread. Sprinkle with a little flaked sea salt.

5 Bake for 8-10min or until the tops look glossy, wrinkled and just set. Leave to cool completely on the tray. They’ll taste just as good the day after baking.