Now Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without German Christmas cookies, and one of the traditional cookies that I like to make, even though they're not my personal favorites, are Zimtsterne (Cinnamon Stars).
And so the recipe from my book reads as follows (translated of course!):
Beat 3 egg whites stiff and add 250g of powder sugar by the spoonful.
Reserve 2 Tablespoons of the mixture to coat the cookies with later on.
Mix the following into the rest of the mixture: 1 packet of vanilla sugar, 3 drops of almond extract, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon and about 1/2 of 275-325g of ground almonds or hazelnuts. Add the rest of the ground nuts progressively until the dough hardly sticks any more. On a flat surface covered with ground nuts or powder sugar, roll out the dough to about 1/2 cm thickness.
Traditionally as these are Cinnamon STARS, you should use a star shaped cookie cutter. Now I am quite traditional, but I also like tradition with a little twist, and so I like to use my SHOOTING star cookie cutter - that way you can make a wish with each cookie you eat!
Place the cut out cookies on a cookie sheet covered with baking paper. With the egg white/powder sugar mix that was set aside, coat each cookie. You may have to add a little bit of water into the mixture to allow you to smoothly brush on the mixture.
Bake at 140°C for about 20-30 minutes. The cookies will still be soft when you take them out and are best kept fresh in a cardboard box once they've cooled.
So what is your favorite Christmas cookie?
