Cinnamon Stars ( Zimtsterne)
Cinnamon Stars (Zimtsterne) are classic German Christmas cookies. It's a simple and easy recipe that is naturally gluten free, dairy free and DELICIOUS!
Servings 18 -24 cookies
Calories 115kcal
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 egg whites cold
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 3 ½ - 3 ¾ cup finely ground whole almond flour see notes
- 4 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 ½ cups gluten free chocolate chips for frosting OPTIONAL
Instructions
- Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment or Silpat baking liners.
- In a large bowl, whip egg whites with a whisk attachment until stiff. If you're topping the cookies with meringue, please see recipe notes for modifications.
- Add powdered sugar, 3 ½ cups almond flour, cinnamon, vanilla, and sea salt. Mix on low just until combined or stir gently by hand. Don't overmix. The dough will be only slightly sticky, but definitely workable. Note that humidity can affect how much flour you'll need so if it's too wet to be workable, add more almond flour a tablespoon at a time.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Dust countertop, silpat, or wax paper with about 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar.
- Form dough into a ball, roll in powdered sugar to prevent sticking, and slightly flatten. Roll out to about ¼ inch thick.
- Using a star shaped cookie cutter, cut out the dough and place onto prepared baking sheets. Sometimes the dough will stick a bit so I use a lightly greased spatula to transfer them to the baking sheet.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes, until cookies are set, a lighter color, and the bottoms are slightly browned.
- Cool on a rack.
- When cookies are completely cooled, melt the chocolate chips
- Dip the tops or the entire cookies one at a time into the melted chocolate and set right side up on a piece of parchment or wax paper. Sprinkle with Christmas sprinkles if you want. Enjoy!
- Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks!
Notes
- Whole almond flour works best. A lot of almond flours you see in stores will have the peels removed, leaving a flour that is one color throughout. I have tested this recipe with almond flour that uses the whole almond, and with the flour just mentioned and the whole almond flour yields the best texture. I found some at my local natural grocery store.
- Since you're working with egg whites, be gentle with the dough. I have used the paddle attachment on my KitchenAid mixer, a hand mixer, and stirred by hand. All of those methods have worked but turn your mixer to a low setting and just mix until the ingredients are barely combined.
- You'll be baking these cookies low and slow. Don't be tempted to turn up the heat as the texture won't be quite the same.
- Because you're already dealing with a brown dough, it might be difficult to tell when the cookies are done. They will have gotten a little more pale while baking, and should have a very light golden brown finish underneath. They should be chewy but should not taste doughy. In my oven, they are done in exactly 17 minutes.
- Bake on the middle rack, but if you're topping with meringue, move the oven rack to a lower position.
- To top with meringue instead of dipping in chocolate, follow the recipe with these modifications:
- After whipping the egg whites, add just the powdered sugar and mix on low about 10 seconds until the sugar is incorporated.
- Reserve about 2 tablespoons of the meringue and finish preparing/rolling dough as directed.
- Before baking, spread a thin layer of meringue on top of each cookie.
- Move your oven rack to the lowest position so the meringue doesn't burn before the cookies finish baking.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 115kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 3.5g | Fat: 7g | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 9g