Lemon Springerle

3 large eggs

1½ cups sugar

1¼ teaspoon grated lemon peel

½ teaspoon lemon extract

About 2¼ cups all-purpose flour

teaspoon baking powder

Grease cookie sheets.

Beat eggs at medium speed of an electric mixer until thick and lemon colored; gradually add sugar and continue beating 5 minutes. Add lemon peel, baking powder and enough flour to make a soft dough beating well. Chill dough at least 3 hours.

Let dough stand at room temperature for 15 minutes. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and roll dough to ¼-inch thickness using a regular rolling pin. Dust dough with flour and with a springerle mold or rolling pin, press designs into the dough. Remove excess flour from designs with a soft pastry brush or paint brush. Cut cookies along design lines and place on prepared cookie sheets. Cover cookies with a paper towel and let stand in a cool, dry place about 12 hours to set the design.

Bake at 300 degrees for 15 minutes or until light yellow but not golden. Cool on wire racks. Store in air-tight container

Makes 48 cookies.

Nutrition values per serving: 40 calories, 0 fat (0 saturated), 9 g carbohydrates, 0 fiber, 1 g protein, 15 mg cholesterol, 5 mg sodium.

Southern Living magazine