~Amanda~
As with many of our holiday cookie recipes, this one is another homage to our heritage, but this time our German heritage. Zimtsterne are a classic German Christmas cookie that, when translated, mean Cinnamon Stars. They are made to represent the Christmas Star and are a very traditional part of the Christmas and Advent offerings to guests in Germany. I found this recipe a few years ago when looking for new, naturally gluten-free, cookies and was thrilled to find out that they were a German cookie as well. We never had them growing up, and had never heard of them, but they are so tasty that they have become regulars on my annual cookie baking list.
There are only 5 ingredients in these cookies; powdered sugar, almonds, cinnamon, egg whites, and lemon zest. When combined and baked, the end result is a cookie that reminds you of a meringue, but with nuts, it’s chewy, but crisp, and filled with the most amazing cinnamon and almond flavors. Let me warn you now though, making these cookies is not a quick and easy process. You need to go into it with a good can-do attitude and know that all the work (and frustrations) will definitely be worth it in the end.
The first steps are nice and easy; grind up the nuts and cinnamon, make a meringue, then combine the two together to make a thick and sticky dough. Now you have to roll out the super sticky dough and this is where your frustrations will probably begin. To make it as easy as possible for yourself, keep a giant supply of powdered sugar ready and waiting at your side. Definitely do not attempt this without parchment paper either, Jackie and I did that once and it was a complete mess. When you’re all ready to go, put a generous dusting of powdered sugar on the parchment paper and turn the dough out onto it. Dust the dough with more powdered sugar and then place the second piece of parchment on top and roll it out to about ¼ inch thick.
Once it’s rolled out, you peel off the parchment paper and cut out the stars and place them on your baking sheet. Sometimes, though, the dough is just wayyy too sticky and sticks to the parchment paper and you have a big mess in front of you. If this happens, try remixing your dough in the bowl and add more powdered sugar to take away some of the stickiness, then repeat the steps of rolling it out again. Also, you can always add more powdered sugar to the parchment paper, it definitely won’t hurt anything to do so. Once you’ve finally gotten the task of cutting the cookies and transferring them to the baking sheet completed, you bake them at a low temperature for about 10 minutes. Once cooled, you are rewarded with the most interesting, delicious, and satisfying cookie to enjoy and all of your hard work is completely worth it.
- 2 1/4 cups confectioners sugar (plus extra for rolling out the dough)
- 3 cups almonds, with skin (plus 1/2 cup sliced almonds for decorating)
- 1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 3 large egg whites, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- Combine 1/2 cup of confectioners sugar, 3 cups of almonds, and cinnamon in a food processor and process until nuts are finely ground (with the exception of a few chunks).
- Whip the egg whites in a large bowl with an electric mixer on high until they hold soft peaks (about 1-2 minutes). Gradually add the remaining confectioners sugar until whites are thick and somewhat stiff (about 2 minutes). Set aside about 2/3 cup of the meringue for topping the cookies.
- Fold the almond mixture and lemon zest into the remaining meringue until you have a stiff dough.
- Preheat the oven to 250 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Lay a sheet of parchment on your work surface and dust with confectioners sugar. Place the dough on the paper, flatten it and dust with more sugar as needed, and then lay another sheet of parchment or waxed paper on top. Roll the dough between the papers until it is about 1/4-inch thick. Flip the dough over and gently peel off the paper. For ease when cutting, lay the paper back on the dough, flip again and gently pull off the other side of the paper so that the dough is fully released from it.
- Cut cookies with a 3-inch star cookie cutter and place about 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. (Excess dough can be rerolled.) Use a small spoon to spread the reserved meringue over the top of each cookie. Press or sprinkle remaining sliced almonds in a decorative pattern into the meringue.
- Bake cookies until bottoms are light golden brown and meringue is set and crisp, about 30 minutes. Turn off the oven and open the oven door to release heat and dry cookies out in the oven for 10 more minutes.
