Look for five-spice powder on the spice aisle or with the Asian foods in your grocery store. We love the sparkle of sanding sugar used to coat the outside of the cookies; you’ll find it in craft stores. Supermarket turbinado works well, too.
How to Make It
Preheat oven to 350°F. Whisk together flour, five-spice powder, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl. Set aside.
Beat together brown sugar and butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in egg. Add flour mixture, and beat at low speed just until combined.
Place sparkling sugar in a medium bowl. Roll dough into 25 balls (1 tablespoon each); roll in sugar to coat.
Arrange dough balls 2 inches apart on 2 baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350°F until set and starting to brown around edges, about 12 minutes. Cool on baking sheets set on a wire rack for 2 minutes. Transfer cookies directly to wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container up to 3 days.