In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients:
5 cups flour
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tbsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground star aniseed
1/2 tsp cloves
In another bowl cream 1/2 cup butter or margarine. Add 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 tbsp vanilla and 2 cups corn syrup and mix well. Add in dry ingredients. Works best to mix this dough with greased hands. Work until dough is smooth. If need be, add 1-2 tsp water. Roll dough into long ropes and place on a cookie sheet. Freeze the ropes so they are easier to handle.
Take out one cookie sheet at a time and slice into little chunks.As you place on the cookie sheet, press down to flatten a bit.
Bake on greased cookie sheets for approximately 10 minutes at 350 degrees. These ones turned out a little crunchy, but not too hard. Yum!