Pfeffernuesse

I have decided to make pfeffernuesse for Christmas this year. For those of you who don't speak German, that is peppernuts. They are bite sized spice cookies that are of Mennonite origin I think. I have never tackled this before and thought that it might be a fun thing to make. Earlier this week I ventured out to buy the ingredients, many of which were spices that I did not have. One of those spices was ground anise seed. Do you think I could find it? I went to 3 grocery stores (Extra Foods, Safeway and Sobeys) and 2 of them had whole anise seed, but not ground. Oh well. I figured that there were at least 6 other spices in there and I doubt that anyone will miss a teaspoon of this spice in a bucket full of cookies! A recipe makes a lot (1 1/2 ice cream pails full, I am told), but I plan to give some away to friends and family as gifts. I mixed up the dough this evening and now I am letting it chill. I will probably start baking them tomorrow, but I may just make a pan or two this evening yet. We'll see how I feel later.