Do you love fairy tales? And Christmas?
My latest release, A Snowy White Christmas, A Christmas Novella, features Margaret Snow, a fashion model, and Fernando Brandt, a hockey player. Fernando is from a German background because the original fairy tale, Snow White, is set in Germany.
These delicious Christmas cookies are mentioned in the book. They are not super-simple, but well worth the effort. Thanks to Foods.com for the recipe!
Cinnamon Stars (Zimtsterne) German Christmas Cookies
Ingredients
Yield 30-40 cookies
• 3 large eggs
• powdered sugar, and some more icing or regular white sugar to sprinkle the surface you work on with
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 400 g ground almonds. Purchase them already ground if possible.
• parchment paper
Directions
1. Separate egg yolks from whites and beat whites until stiff peaks form.
2. Slowly sift in the sugar and lemon juice, then beat some more for about 8 minutes.
3. Put aside 4 heaped tablespoons of the meringue –
4. Add ground almonds and cinnamon to the remaining meringue and mix well. Add a dash of rum or Amaretto if you like.
5. Cover the dough and let it rest in the fridge for about an hour.
6. Relax!
7. After an hour fetch the dough from the fridge.
8. Preheat the oven to 320°F.
9. Sprinkle a surface with confectioners white sugar and roll the dough to approximately 5 mm.
10. Cut the stars with a star shaped cookie cutter.
11. Put the stars on the lined baking sheet.
12. Stir the reserved meringue from earlier so it becomes a smooth mix. Add some lemon juice.
13. Brush the cookies with the topping and bake for about 8 minutes.
14. Cool on the baking sheet.
15. Store in an air-tight tin.
16. Cookies should keep for about two weeks.