Cinnamon Stars (Zimtsterne) German Christmas Cookies
- 3 large eggs
- 350 g icing sugar, for the dough (powdered sugar, and some more icing or regular white sugar to sprinkle the surface you work on with,)
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 400 g ground almonds (this is a big issue, you can't let them get gummy. I guess in some places you can buy them already g)
- baking paper or parchment paper
- Separate egg yolks from whites and beat whites until stiff peaks form.
- Slowly sift in the sugar and lemon juice, then beat some more for about 8 minutes.
- Put aside 4 heaped tablespoons of the meringue - this will be used to top the cookies later on.
- Add ground almonds and cinnamon to the remaining meringue and mix well. You might want to add a dash of rum or Amaretto.
- Cover the dough and let it rest in the fridge for about an hour.
- Sit down, relax and have a cup of tea.
- After an hour fetch the dough from the fridge.
- Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 3/160C/320u0b0F.
- Sprinkle a surface with confectioners' or regular white sugar and roll the dough to approximately 5 mm.
- Cut the stars with a star shaped (yes, indeed!) cookie cutter.
- Put the stars on the lined baking sheet.
- Now get the reserved meringue from earlier. You might have to stir it a bit so it becomes a smooth mix. You also might want to add some more lemon juice. It's a matter of taste.
- Now brush the cookies with the topping and bake them for about 8 minutes.
- Cool on the baking sheet.
- Store in an air-tight tin.
- The cookies should keep for about two weeks.
eggs, icing sugar, lemon juice, ground cinnamon, ground almonds, baking paper
Taken from www.food.com/recipe/cinnamon-stars-zimtsterne-german-christmas-cookies-273224 (may not work)