Black licorice rewards a little know-how: how to choose it, cook it, store it, and substitute in a pinch. Browse 14 recipes to cook with it.

What is black licorice?

Black licorice is the original licorice: a chewy candy flavored with extract from the root of the licorice plant, often deepened with anise or star anise oil. That root carries glycyrrhizin, a compound up to fifty times sweeter than sugar, which gives the candy its dark, slightly bitter, unmistakable taste.

It is one of the most polarizing flavors in the candy aisle. People who love it really love it; people who do not often describe it as medicinal. The flavor is the same one you meet in fennel and anise, which is exactly why opinions split.

Cooking and Baking With Black Licorice

In the kitchen, black licorice plays two different roles. As candy it becomes a building block for decorating, and as a flavor it folds into doughs and frozen desserts.

The decorating job is the one you see most around Halloween. Thin black licorice laces and twists become spider legs and other creepy details.

Black Licorice Chocolate Spiders and Halloween Spider Cupcakes both stick cut laces into frosting, while Black Cat Cupcakes, Critters in the Hay, and Jack-O'-Lantern Cookies press it on for legs and features.

As a flavor, chop or grate the candy and melt it gently into warm cream or milk for ice cream and panna cotta, where it tints the base grey-black and spreads the anise note evenly.

For baking, many cooks skip the candy and reach for ground anise seed or a few drops of anise extract instead, since pure licorice-root extract is hard to find.

A little goes a long way. The flavor is assertive, so start small and build.

Pairing and Common Mistakes

Black licorice has real affinities. It loves chocolate, salted caramel, blackberry, blackcurrant, fennel, mint, and coffee, and the salty Scandinavian versions pair with rich dairy beautifully.

The biggest mistake is overdoing it. Because the flavor is so strong and divisive, a heavy hand turns a dessert into a love-it-or-hate-it gamble. A whisper of it intrigues, a flood of it overwhelms.

The second mistake is a health one worth knowing. Glycyrrhizin in real black licorice can raise blood pressure and lower potassium when eaten in large amounts over time.

The U.S. FDA has warned that eating two ounces a day for two weeks can cause heart-rhythm problems, especially in people over 40. Most candy sold in North America is flavored with anise rather than real licorice root, but the genuine article deserves respect.

A Note on Salty Licorice

Scandinavia and the Netherlands take black licorice furthest with salmiak, or salty licorice, seasoned with ammonium chloride. It tastes salty and sharp, almost tongue-numbing, far beyond what most North Americans expect from the word licorice.

Salmiak turns up in candies and ice cream, and even in liqueurs, all over the Nordic countries.

If a recipe calls for it and you cannot find it, there is no easy swap. Regular black licorice plus a pinch of salt gets you only partway there.

Buying and Storage

Look for black licorice with candy, not with herbs and spices. Check the label if the real-root flavor matters to you, since many brands list anise or licorice flavor rather than actual licorice extract.

Store it like any chewy candy, sealed airtight at cool room temperature away from heat and humidity. Warmth makes the pieces stick together and humidity makes them tacky.

Kept sealed and cool, black licorice stays good for many months. It rarely spoils, but it does dry out and turn hard once air gets to it, so press out the extra air before you reseal the bag.

Quick facts

In Chinese

黑甘草

British (UK) term

Black licorice

en français

réglisse noire

en español

regaliz negro

Recipes using black licorice

There are 14 recipes that contain this ingredient.

All 14 recipes