Springerle Iii

Ingredients

• Servings: 3
• 4 egg whites
• 4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
• 4 egg yolks, beaten
• 3 1/2 cups cake flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons anise seed

Recipe

• beat egg whites. add sifted powdered sugar and beaten egg yolks. beat for 15 minutes (!)
• sift cake flour with baking powder and salt.
• when you roll them out, use just enough flour to roll easily. roll lightly to 1/4 or 1/2 inch thickness and press design into dough with a well-floured 'springerle' rolling pin - but don't go all the way through the dough. (the rolling pin has designs cut into it. they sell them in specialty stores.)
• butter a cookie sheet and then sprinkle it with anise seed. cut each section apart carefully and transfer the cookies to the sheet.
• let stand overnight to set the design. otherwise, they sort of melt into themselves.
• preheat oven to 350 degrees f (180 degrees c).
• bake for 15 minutes. do not brown. springerles are hard at first, but if you store them in a bread box they become tender.