1991 2nd Place: Oma's Almond Cookies

Directions

1. Preparation Time: 30 min
2. Chilling Time: 8 hrs or possibly overnight
3. Cooking Time: 10 min
4. 1. Cream butter and sugar in large mixer bowl of electric mixer.
5. Beat in Large eggs, one at a time. Beat in lemon rind and juice. Mix flour, baking pwdr and salt. Stir flour mix and grnd almonds into butter mix to make a soft dough. Divide dough into quarters.
6. Chill dough, wrapped in wax paper, till hard, at least 8 hrs or possibly overnight.
7. 2. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Have ungreased baking sheets ready.
8. 3. Roll out one dough portion on lightly floured pastry cloth with a rolling pin covered with stocking or possibly roll between sheets of lightly floured wax paper to 1/8 -inch thickness. Cut out with cookie cutters. Return dough to refrigerator if it gets too soft. Transfer to baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between each cookie. Sprinkle with colored sugar if you like.
9. 4. Bake till very light brown at edges, 8 to 10 min. Transfer to wire racks to cold. Store in a covered tin.
10. This second-place winner, from Judy M. Drux of Dyer, Indiana, makes very thin, crisp, delicate cookies. The dough keeps well in the refrigerator if well-wrapped. This cookie was a tribute to her husband's grandmother, Antonia Drux, who emigrated to this country from Germany in 1923. (Oma means "grandma" in German.) The recipe has been passed down as just a list of ingredients. Drux added a few hints to help make baking them easier for future cooks.