members recipes

This recipe comes from the book Sweet Sicily by Victoria Granof. It\'s a wonderful cookbook on Sicilian desserts and their (and the island\'s) history.

Ingredients
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 cup honey
2 egg whites kept separate
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (or more to taste)
3 tablespoons candied orange peel
1 cup unblanched whole almonds.

Method
Preheat oven to 375f degrees. Grease baking sheet.
In a large bowl, cream the butter with the brown sugar and honey. Add1 of the egg whites and mix until evenly blended. Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices into another bowl and add the butter mixture, stirring until the dough is smooth and no longer sticky.
Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead in the orange peel and almonds until evenly dispersed. Divide the dough into 3 pieces and form each piece into a log that is 8 inches long by 2 inches thick. Place the logs 3 inches apart on the greased baking sheet. Beat the remaining egg white lightly and brush the tops of the logs with it.
Bake the logs for 20 to 25 mininutes, or until firm to the touch. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 325f degrees. Slice the logs 1/4 inch thick and lay the cookies on the baking sheet. Return to the oven for another 15 to 20 minutes to dry them out. The cookies will become crisp as they cool, so don\'t overbake them. Cool on a rack.