Springerle Iii

Directions

1. 1
   Beat egg whites. Add sifted powdered sugar and beaten egg yolks. Beat for 15 minutes (!)
2. 2
   Sift cake flour with baking powder and salt.
3. 3
   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.)
4. 4
   Butter a cookie sheet and then sprinkle it with anise seed. Cut each section apart carefully and transfer the cookies to the sheet.
5. 5
   Let stand overnight to set the design. Otherwise, they sort of melt into themselves.
6. 6
   Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
7. 7
   Bake for 15 minutes. Do not brown. Springerles are hard at first, but if you store them in a bread box they become tender.