Zimtsterne ~ Cinnamon Stars

5 from 3 votes

A traditional German Christmas cookie with a delicious blend of ground almonds and cinnamon topped with a sweet meringue glaze.

Prep Time1

Cook Time8

Total Time1 8

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: German

Keyword: cinnamon, cookies

Servings: cookies

Calories: 87kcal

Author: Tricia

Ingredients

For the cookie dough:

300 grams almonds, finely ground (approximately 2 cups)
100 grams super fine granulated sugar, approximately ½ cup
50 grams unbleached all-purpose flour, approximately ⅓ cup
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 large egg whites

For the meringue glaze:

1 large egg white
1 dash salt
200 grams super fine granulated sugar, approximately 1 cup
1 - 2 teaspoons milk

Instructions

For the cookie dough:

In a large bowl whisk together the almonds, 100 g sugar, flour and cinnamon.
Add 2 egg whites and mix using a rubber spatula until the dough holds together. It will be sticky.
Press the dough into a large circle on a piece of plastic wrap. Cover with additional plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour, or more.
Preheat oven to 325°. Line two baking sheets with parchment or a silpat mat.
Roll the dough between two pieces of parchment paper to approximately 1 cm or ⅜" thick. Cut out star shapes and place on the prepared baking sheet.
Re-roll the remaining dough cutting out more stairs until all dough is used.

For the meringue glaze:

Beat the egg white with the salt until stiff. With the mixer on, slowly beat in the sugar until incorporated. The meringue should have a spreading consistency but not be runny. Add a little milk if needed, ½ to 1 teaspoon at a time until you get the right consistency.
Place about ½ teaspoon of meringue in the middle of one unbaked cookie. Immediately use a small brush to drag the meringue out onto the tips of the stars. Continue until all cookies have a meringue glaze.
Bake the cookies for about 8 minutes - watching carefully as you do not want the meringue to brown.
Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container.

Notes

I used a digital scale and measured all ingredients in grams. The conversions to cups are approximate.
The traditional German star has 6-points, I only had a 5-point star cutter so that's what we used. My cookie cutter is 2 1/2 inches tip to tip.
Adapted from a recipe on Food.Com by Thorsten.

Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. When multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.

Nutrition