Happy Saturday! The first time I ate these cookies was two years ago when I went to Trader Joe’s and I saw a whole display of German cookies. These ones caught my eye because they came in a nice box and i love star-shape cookies. When I went home and tried some, I fell in love with these cookies. They were perfect: chewy, spice, almonds, nice sweet icing. Also I found them very intriguing because they didn’t list flour as one of their ingredients.

I read many recipes for these cookies, all had different information. So, I decided to send a message to a friend who lives in Germany and asked if she knew about these cookies and she gave me some ideas of how people really make them in Germany. After 2 years of testing, here is my recipe for Zimtsterne.

An important thing to say is that these cookies are usually made with something called Vanillezucker(cinnamon sugar). I didn’t use that because I had this wonderful cinnamon vanilla sugar that McCormick gifted to me, and it worked very well. Also, these cookies are baked after you put the icing on them.

If you want to watch how I made these cookies, follow me on Instagram @Pastry_Tales

Let’s start with the recipe.

Yield about 24 cookies

Ingredients

3 large egg whites (room temperature)

1 and 3/4 cup of powdered sugar (sifted)

3 cups non-blanched almond meal

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla cinnamon sugar (https://www.mccormick.com/spices-and-flavors/herbs-and-spices/blends/vanilla-cinnamon-naturally-flavored-sugar-and-spice-blend)

1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions

For the cookie

1.- In a bowl mix almond meal, cinnamon, salt and vanilla sugar. Set aside.

2.- In mixing bowl, whisk eggs whites until foamy. Add in powdered sugar. Mix for about 7 minutes until glossy and stiff.

3.- From this egg white mixture. Set aside about 3/4 cup. This will be used for the icing.

4.- Add dry ingredients to the egg whites mixture and fold it very nicely with a spatula. The dough will be very sticky. At this point you will cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for about 30-45 minutes.

5.- Sprinkle some granulated sugar on a non-stick surface and roll the dough about 1/4 inch thick. I used a 1 1/2 inch star cookie cutter to cut out the cookies. You can use a bigger one if you want to. Transfer cookies to a baking sheet that should lined with parchment paper.

Tip: Dust the cookie cutter with granulated sugar after each cut so the cuts you make are better and clean.

For the icing

1.- Preheat oven 300 F.

2.- Using a toothpick spread the reserved egg white mixture in a thin layer on the top of each cookie. Extend the glaze out to the edges of the cookies.

3.- Bake for 15-20 minutes. Let the cookies cool completely. The cookies can be stored in a dry, airtight container in a cool place for at least 2 weeks.

Enjoy!