Italian easter cookies

Ingredients

• 2-3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 tablspoons baking powder
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 6 tablspoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tablspoon vanilla extract

Icing:

• 3 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/4 cups water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoons lemon extract
• multi-colored nonpareils

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Preparation

• Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease 2 cookie sheets and set aside. In a large bowl combine the flour and baking powder.
• In a medium bowl, add the eggs, whisking to break them up. Slowly whisk in the sugar, then the melted butter and vanilla.
• Whisk until everything is very well combined. With a rubber spatula, fold the egg mixture into the flour mixture.
• Knead the dough lightly . Pinch the dough off into about 1-inch ball sizes and roll between your hands to make a rope about 4-5 inches long.
• Pinch the ends together to form a circle and place on prepared pans about 1-inch apart.
• Bake about 22-25 minutes until puffed and golden brown. Cool on racks before icing.
• For the icing:
  Set your wire rack over a cookie sheet. Combine all ingredients, adding the water just 1 tablespoon at a time until you reach a slightly thick, but still pourable consistency. Taking one cooled cookie, turn it upside down and dip it in the bowl of icing. Turn it back over and return to the wire rack, allowing the excess to drip off. Sprinkle with multi-colored nonpareils while still wet.