Other Mother Cookies

My first Gaiman-inspired cookie, and just in time for the premiere of the feature film!

I just read Coraline this past autumn while I was on my study abroad for university in the UK. I read it in the plane as I went to meet my friend who lives in Munich and I couldn't put it down.

It's a delightfully twisted book. I know if I had been a kid when it came out I would have loved it, because as an adult I thoroughly enjoyed it; it's Gaiman's usual dark, sharp wit and tells a story gentle enough for kids to read it, like it, and get something from it. Perfect.

This Friday, 6 February, the film version of Coraline will be hitting the theatres in the US. I am so excited. It looks amazing.



I had to make a cookie in the excitement and tried to think of something iconic. What better than a button?

This cookie is named after Coraline's Other Mother. It's meant to be a sweet, comforting cookie… with a bite. It's anise seed, a flavour reminiscent of black liquorice, a flavour people either love or hate. The clove is smoky and tangy, a spice that brings comfort to upset tummies and carries a bit of a shock to a biscuit. Together, they make a strongly scented cookie, one that's like a lot of spice cookies, but something's not quite the same… And pressed into a big button, these Other Mother cookies are just like her -- familiar, only not.




Other Mother Cookies

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground anise seed

1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp anise oil (picked up from a local Italian delicatessen)
1 egg
1 cup fine sugar
1 cup butter

black icing dye (mine was a gel-like consistency)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
   
2. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, ground cloves, and ground anise seed in a medium bowl.
   
3. Cream the butter and sugar. Add egg, anise oil, and vanilla. Beat well.
   
4. Gradually add the dry ingredients.
   
5. Work in the black icing dye. I ended up using approximately 1/2 teaspoon but I didn't keep track much -- add more if it's not dark enough. You want the dough black.
   
6. Divide the dough into a few sections so it will be easier to work with. Roll out one section to approximately 1/4 inch thick, or a bit thicker, onto a lightly floured surface.
   
7. Using a large circular cookie cutter, cut as many circles of dough as you can, then place them on your baking sheet, not too close to one another. Press a smaller circular cutter into the dough, but do not go all the way through -- you only want to make an impression that will last through baking. Poke four holes into the center with a chopstick or skewer, all the way through the dough.
   
8. Bake for 9 minutes.

Enjoy!