Zimtsterne

 

Today we're talking about a festive cookie for the holidays:  Zimtsterne.

Zimtsterne, or cinnamon stars, are frosted German cookies that are made with almond flour and have lots of cinnamon.  And the recipe that I use to make these is particularly fascinating because these cookies are baked with the frosting already on them.  Let me tell you how they are made.

Almond flour, sugar, and a significant amount of cinnamon are sifted together.  Then egg whites and lemon juice are added.  Once this is mixed, you have a very dense cookie dough.  Roll it out to between 3/8" and 1/2" thick, and the dough is ready to be frosted.  That's right, the dough is frosted even before it is cut into stars.

The frosting is very simple.  Powdered sugar, lemon juice and egg whites are mixed together and what you get is a very very thick frosting that is so thick you'll wonder how easy it will be to spread on the cookie dough that is already rolled out.  But it does spread.  And if you need to adjust the frosting's viscosity, you can add a little extra egg white, or conversely, if it's too thin, you can add extra powdered sugar.

This frosting is spread across the rolled out cookie dough.  Then you pull out your star-shaped cookie cutter and make lots of little stars.  These are popped into the freezer for a couple hours.  Then into the oven they go for only 10 minutes.

They bake up beautifully.  The aroma is wonderful.  The frosting holds it position on the cookie and cooks along with the dough.  The frosting never runs in the heat.  When they come out and have finished cooling, you have a dense chewy cookie with that layer of sweetness on top.  The combination of cinnamon and lemon is intoxicating.  

Trust me --  these are really good!  And how many cookies can you name that are actually baked pre-frosted?

These are fun cookies for the holidays.  

Have a great Thanksgiving week, everyone!