Zimtsterne (cinnamon stars)

Here is a typical recipe from Alsace and its bredele, often found at Christmas but excellent all year round ;-) These are Zimtsterne, or cinnamon stars, soft little cinnamon cookies covered with a crunchy glaze. This recipe is not difficult, you just need to have a little patience to wait during the various resting times!

Preparation time: 20 minutes + several hours of rest + 20 minutes of baking

For about fifty cookies:

Cookies:

110g egg whites
250g icing sugar
400g almond powder
Lemon zest (optional)
10 to 15g ground cinnamon (to adjust according to your taste)

Whisk the egg whites with the icing sugar until quite firm.

Then add the almond powder, lemon zest, and ground cinnamon. Cover the dough and refrigerate for a few hours or overnight.

Next, roll out the dough to a thickness of 1cm and cut out stars. Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat, and let them dry in the open air for 3 or 4 hours.

Preheat the oven to 150°C, then bake for 15 minutes. Let the cookies cool before glazing them.

Glaze:

40g egg whites
150g icing sugar

Mix the egg whites and icing sugar (you can adjust the sugar quantity if necessary, you need a fairly thick paste). Spread the glaze on the stars (fairly thinly, so that the result is not too sweet), then bake at 90°C for 5 minutes to dry it out.

And there you have it, your zimtsterne are ready! They keep well for several days in an airtight container.