TO MAKE THE DOUGH: Preheat the oven to 350 F. Next, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set it aside. 

In a medium dish, combine flour, baking powder and salt and then set it aside.

In a separate dish, beat melted butter with shortening, at medium speed, then add sugar and anise extract. Mix it all until it’s combined.

Add one egg at a time, mixing well after each one. Then continue mixing, slowly adding flour mixture. The dough will be really soft. 

Scoop 1 tablespoon of dough and put it in the baking sheet. If you want the balls to be shaped well, roll them with your hands.

Bake the cookies for  8-10 minutes, or until the bottom is light brown and the tops remain light. When they are done, take them out of the oven and leave in the baking sheet for a couple of minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. 

TO MAKE THE GLAZE: Start by slowly adding milk into the bowl with powdered sugar, stirring until smooth. If it looks like the mixture is too dense, simply add some more milk. 

When the cookies are completely cooled, dip the top of each cookie into the icing, wait for a few seconds for the extra icing to drain, then put them back on the wire rack. Coat maximum 5 cookies, sprinkle them and repeat the same procedure with the rest.