Almond Crisps

Photo: flickr user avlxyz

Ingredients

5 lrgs egg whites unbeaten

cup granulated sugar

teaspoon salt

1 cup butter (2 sticks) melted

and cooled

cup King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

cup blanched almonds finely ground or

chopped

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon peel (optional)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350F. Beat the egg whites with the sugar and salt for 2 or 3 minutes until the sugar is dissolved and the egg whites are thick and white. Blend in the melted butter and then gently fold in the flour, almonds, lemon juice and peel.

Using two teaspoons, drop blobs of dough, well apart, onto a lightly greased nonstick cookie sheet. Bake them for 10 to 12 minutes.

With a spatula, lift them off the cookie sheet to a cooling rack soon after they come out of the oven. They are somewhat reluctant to part company with the sheet once they have thoroughly cooled.

In its original form, this recipe stood out for the strength of its tantalizing ingredients. It was finally reworked into this delicious, crisp cookie, redolent with almond and a hint of lemon. These are best made in dry weather.

This recipe makes between 3 and 4 dozen cookies. A Tip from King Arthur Flour: To get maximum amount of juice out of a lemon, first run it under hot water. Then roll it around on your counter with your hand putting on a fair amount of pressure. This helps to release all those tiny cells of juice inside. If you're going to grate it for peel, do that before you warm and soften it.