Christmas Cookies: Cinnamon Stars (GF)
Only ten days to go until Christmas! Plenty of time left to bake some more Christmas cookies, and there’s another German Christmas cookie staple that I have to share with you. Because Christmas simply wouldn’t be the same without them – much like mince pies in the UK. ‘Zimtsterne’, or ‘Cinnamon Stars’ for all the English speakers. They’re also naturally gluten and dairy free (not vegan though since they contain eggs), so no experimenting with substitutions necessary. They make a wonderful accompaniment for a cup of tea, a mug of hot chocolate, or a glass of mulled wine.
Ingredients
- 3 egg whites
- 250g sifted icing sugar
- 300g to 400g ground almonds
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 sachet of vanillin (e.g. Dr Oetker) or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon dark rum (optional)
You’ll also need a star shaped cookie cutter. And you can substitute the ground almonds for ground hazelnuts, which is what a lot of the store bought Zimtsterne have in them, but the Husband is allergic to hazelnuts so I always do them with almonds.
Directions
- Pre-heat your oven to 140 C (or 120 C fan oven).
- Beat the egg whites in to stiff peaks.
- Gradually stir in the sifted icing sugar.
- Set aside half a cup of the egg and sugar mixture, you will need it later to glaze the cookies.
- Add the cinnamon, vanilla, 300g of the ground almonds, and the rum (if using) to the mixture and work in to a dough. It will be a bit sticky, so don’t be surprised by the consistency, but if it feels too wet you can gradually add some more ground almonds. You want it to be a tiny bit sticky, but still workable.
- Thickly dust your baking surface with icing sugar and roll out to dough roughly 1cm thick. You’ll need to keep dusting the rolling pin with icing sugar too, to stop it from sticking.
- Cut out stars with your cookie cutter and place them on a baking tray lined with grease proof paper.
- Brush each star with some of the egg and sugar glaze you set aside earlier.
- Bake the stars for 30 minutes. Don’t be tempted to raise the heat in order to reduce the baking time, these need to slowly bake dry at a low heat.
- 3 egg whites
- 250g sifted icing sugar
- 300g ground almonds (You can substitute the ground almonds for ground hazelnuts, which is what a lot of the store bought Zimtsterne have in them, but my husband is allergic to hazelnuts so I always do them with almonds)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 sachet of vanillin (e.g. Dr Oetker) or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon dark rum (optional)
- You’ll also need a star shaped cookie cutter.
- Pre-heat your oven to 120 C.
- Beat the egg whites in to stiff peaks.
- Gradually stir in the sifted icing sugar.
- Set aside half a cup of the egg and sugar mixture, you will need it later to glaze the cookies.
- Add the cinnamon, vanilla and rum to the mixture and work in to a dough. It will be a bit sticky, so don’t be surprised by the consistency.
- Thickly dust your baking surface with icing sugar and roll out to dough roughly 1cm thick. You’ll need to keep dusting the rolling pin with icing sugar too, to stop it from sticking.
- Cut out stars with your cookie cutter and place them on a baking tray lined with grease proof paper.
- Brush each star with some of the egg and sugar glaze you set aside earlier.
- Bake the stars for 30 minutes. Don’t be tempted to raise the heat in order to reduce the baking time, these need to slowly bake dry at a low heat.
Rebecca
Ooo I’m in the kitchen baking today. I might have to give this a go
Sally
I’m really going to have to try these! They look delicious….. thanks so much for the recipe! Sally ✨⭐✨
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