Cinnamon Stars Food

CINNAMON STARS

Steps:

• Stir together the almonds, cinnamon, and lemon zest until combined.
• Beat the egg whites and salt until soft peaks form. Slowly sift in the confectioner's sugar, continuing to beat until the mixture is stiff. Set aside 1/3 cup of the egg white mixture for the glaze. Fold in the almond mixture.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (170 degrees C). Line the cookie sheets with parchment paper.
• Roll the dough to 1/4 inch thickness on a surface that has been sprinkled with confectioners' sugar. Using a 2 1/2-inch star cookie cutter, cut out the cookies and place them on the cookie sheets.
• To make the glaze, add the lemon juice to the reserved egg white mixture, stirring until smooth. Brush the tops of the cookies lightly with the glaze. (If the glaze starts to thicken, add a few more drops of lemon juice.)
• Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. When done, they will be light brown and soft in the center. Remove and cool on wire racks.

CINNAMON STARS: ZIMTSTERNE (GERMANY)

Steps:

• Sift the confectioners' sugar.
• Put 1/2 cup of the sifted confectioners' sugar, 10 ounces (3 heaping cups) of the almonds and all the cinnamon in a food processor. Process until the nuts are finely ground, with just a few larger pieces.
• Whip the egg whites in a large, clean bowl with an electric mixer on high speed until they hold soft peaks, about 1 minute. Gradually add the remaining confectioners' sugar while whipping, until the whites are thick, creamy and somewhat stiff, about 2 minutes more. Set aside 2/3 cup of this meringue for topping the cookies.
• Fold the ground almond mixture and the lemon zest into the remaining meringue to make a stiff dough.
• Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
• Lay a sheet of parchment or waxed paper on the work surface and lightly dust with confectioners' sugar. Turn the dough out onto the dusted paper, flatten and dust with more sugar as needed, and then lay another sheet of parchment or waxed paper on top. Roll the dough between the papers until it is about 1/4-inch thick. Flip the dough over and gently peel off a sheet of the paper. For ease when cutting, lay the paper back on the dough, flip again and gently pull off the other side of the paper so that the dough is fully released from it.
• Cut cookies with a 3-inch star cutter and place about 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. (Excess dough can be rerolled.) Use a small spoon, brush or offset spatula to spread the reserved meringue over the top of each cookie, taking care not to let the meringue drip over the sides. Press or sprinkle remaining sliced almonds in a decorative pattern into the meringue.
• Bake cookies until bottoms are light golden brown and meringue is set and crisp, about 30 minutes. Turn off the oven and open the oven door to release heat and dry cookies out in the oven for 10 more minutes.

ZIMTSTERNE (CINNAMON STARS)

Steps:

• Heat oven to 150C/130C fan/gas 2 and line a large baking tray (or 2 smaller) with baking parchment. Place the egg whites in a large bowl and use an electric mixer to whisk until foamy. Add the lemon juice and whisk again until they hold soft peaks.
• Slowly mix in the icing sugar and continue whisking until the mixture is stiff. Remove about a quarter of the meringue mixture and set aside to use for the topping. Put the almonds, cinnamon, ginger and lemon zest in the bowl with the meringue and mix to form a stiff, slightly sticky dough.
• To form the stars, put the dough on a piece of baking parchment lightly dusted with icing sugar and dust the top of the dough with sugar, too. Place a second sheet of parchment on top of the dough and roll out to about 0.5cm thick (the dough is a little sticky, so the parchment makes it easier to roll). Peel off the top sheet of parchment and use a 5cm star-shaped cutter to cut out as many cookies as possible. Place them on your prepared baking tray.
• Using the reserved meringue mixture, spread a small amount onto the top of each cookie, covering the entire top - you may need to add a few drops of water to make the meringue a little easier to spread. Put the tray in the oven and bake for 12-15 mins until meringue is set but not browned. Allow to cool fully before storing in a sealed container for up to 2 weeks.

CINNAMON STARS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the almonds and cinnamon. Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add powdered sugar while beating until egg whites become thick and glossy. Gently fold egg whites into almond mixture.
• Lightly dust a board with powdered sugar and roll egg white dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Use a cutter dusted with powdered sugar to cut out stars. Using a spatula, carefully lift stars onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
• Preheat an oven to 300 degrees F. Bake cookies for 12 to 15 minutes, or until set through, remove from oven and brush with glaze. Continue baking for 5 more minutes. Transfer to cooling racks to cool.

EASY CINNAMON STARS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375°F.
• In large bowl, stir cookie mix, flour, melted butter, egg and cinnamon until soft dough forms.
• On floured surface, roll dough 1/4 inch thick. Cut with 3-inch star-shaped cookie cutter; place cutouts 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
• Bake 7 to 9 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 20 minutes.
• Spread generous 1/2 teaspoon frosting on each cookie; sprinkle crushed candies over tops of cookies. Let stand about 30 minutes or until frosting is set. Store covered in airtight container at room temperature with waxed paper between layers.

ZIMTSTERNE (CINNAMON STAR COOKIES)

Steps:

• In a bowl mix dry ingredients for dough.
• Add egg whites and knead until a still sticky dough is formed.
• Wrap into cling film and put into the fridge for at least one hour. I always leave it in the fridge for 2 - 4 hours.
• Near the end of cooling time preaheat oven (170 C) and make meringue glaze.
• For meringue glaze beat egg white with salt until stiff. While still beating add caster sugar by and by to make meringue.
• The meringue should have a consistency that you can spread it with a brush onto the dough later. It should have a more creamy consistency, so that it will stick on the dough and not running down.
• Add just a little milk to get the right consistency. Depending on the egg white you may need about 1 to 3 tablespoons.
• Line out baking trays with parchment paper.
• Get the dough out of the fridge and roll it out between two layers of parchment papers or cling film. The dough sould be a bout 1 cm thick.
• Method ONE for making cinnamon stars (easy way): Using a star cutter cut out the stars and place them on the baking tray. With a brush spread meringue glaze on the cookies.
• Method TWO for making cinnamon stars (tricky way): After you have rolled out the dough spread a thin layer of the meringue glaze on the dough. Now you need a star cutter which can be opened. These are available in Germany. When you can open the cookie cutter you avoid touching the glaze, because the dough has the tendency to stick to the cutter. Put the stars on the tray. Knead the rest of the dough again and add some grounded almonds, so that the dough is not too sticky. Repeat the steps of making the stars.
• Bake the cookies for about 10 - 12 minutes. Watch them carefully, because the meringue should not be browned.
• Take them out and let cool completely. Store them in airtight container. The cookies get better and better, because the flavours blended over time, but I you have to find a good hidout.
• NOTE on egg size: egg size is important here, because it determines the stickyness. My recipe is based on an egg size of 54 - 63 g per egg.
• Custom yield is a guess.
• Time to make does NOT include cooling time.