recipes

I love these cookies. They are very spicy (among the ingredients are black pepper and cayenne pepper) and gingery. Last year I used some as Christmas tree decorations.

Icelandic pepper cookies recipe at allrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups butter, softened
• 1 1/4 cups white sugar
• 3/4 cup light corn syrup
• 2 small eggs
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Preparation

1. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Stir in corn syrup and eggs; cream well. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and pepper. Add dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix until smooth. Refrigerate dough over night.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
3. Roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out cookies with a 2 inch round cookie cutter. Place at least 1 inch apart on cookie sheet and bake for 8 to 10 minutes in preheated oven.