A classic German cookie, Zimsterne, or cinnamon stars, are a must for your holiday cookie trays. Similar to a macaroon, these cut out cookies are made with almonds, egg whites, sugar, and cinnamon. Plus, they're gluten and dairy free.
2largeegg whites (US)or 2 medium egg whites in Europe*
2cupsconfectioner's sugar
2cupsfinely ground almonds
1 ½teaspoonscinnamon
1 ½teaspoonsvanilla sugar**optional, or see notes below
⅛teaspoonsalt
Instructions
Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside (do not use a greased baking sheet - this will cause cookies to spread).
In a large bowl, add egg whites. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer (or a whisk with a bit of elbow grease), beat egg whites until soft peaks form. When picking up your whisk, the tip of the egg whites should stand up, then droop slightly. Add confectioner's sugar and mix until fully incorporated and glossy.
Scoop out ⅓ cup of the egg white mixture (meringue) and set aside until step 7. This will be used to frost your cookies.
Add ground almonds, cinnamon, vanilla sugar, and salt to the rest of the meringue. Gently fold to incorporate ingredients. Mixture will be sticky. If it's too sticky to work with, add more ground almonds until dough becomes workable. If your dough still looks a little soft and sticky, refrigerate for up to 30 minutes to help it firm up.
Dust a clean working surface with confectioner's sugar. Dust your rolling pin, cookie cutters, and hands with confectioner's sugar as well (this helps prevent sticking). Roll dough out to about ¼ inch thickness. If dough is still sticky or difficult to roll out, dust rolling pin and top of dough with more confectioner's sugar.
Cut with a star cookie cutter, or slice into diamond shapes with a knife. If cookie cutter is sticking, dip in water before cutting dough. Excess dough can be rerolled multiple times.
Transfer cookies to a parchment lined baking sheet, 2 inches apart, then brush the tops with the reserved meringue frosting (from step 3).
Bake for about 11-14 minutes, or until the bottoms are lightly browned and the meringue topping is set and lightly browned (thicker cookies will take longer to bake). Allow cookies to cool for 10 minutes on baking sheet before transferring to a cooling rack.
Notes
*Standard egg sizes vary between the US and Europe. In the US, large eggs are about the same size as a European medium egg.
**If you do not have vanilla sugar and do not want to make your own, it can simply be omitted from this recipe.
Vanilla sugar can be purchased on Amazon, or you can make your own using vanilla extract.
How to make vanilla sugar: In a food processor, combine ¼ cup of granulated sugar with ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract. Spread it out to dry. Once dried, the sugar will be clumpy. Transfer back to the food processor and pulse until you have a sugar consistency again.
One packet of vanillezucker/vanillinzucker contains about 1 ½ teaspoons of vanilla sugar. To make 24 cookies with this recipe, you will need 1 packet of vanilla sugar.