Black Pepper Butter Cookies

"These are my absolute favorite cookies. A friend in college had received a huge tin of homemade cookies from her mother and a version of these cookies were inside, along with many other types of cookies. I had never heard of black pepper cookies before and loved the unique flavor-sweet & buttery, with a slight kick from the pepper. I searched for years to find the recipe and finally found it in a Watkins spices cookbook several years ago. I make these every year for the holidays and everyone always wants to know the secret of my "vanilla flecked" butter cookies. Update: Eggs sizes seem to be shrinking, so depending upon the size of the eggs in your area, you may need to use an XL egg rather than a large. Regarding the pepper: fresh ground will produce huge grains of pepper and make things far too peppery and savory tasting. Please use finely ground pre-ground black pepper in this recipe, carefully measured using a measuring spoon and leveled off...."