Cinnamon Star Cookies: Zimtsterne
What a wonderfully perfect German Christmas cookie, cinnamon star cookies to be exact. The very traditional German cookie recipe is baked with cinnamon and ground up almonds. This combination is fantastic together. Cinnamon and almonds were very expensive and rare in Europe in the 1600s. These delicate cookies were made for royals since most of the ingredients imported, and these cookies only made once a year.
Since we have a homestead and try to use and eat what we grow, we don’t have almonds. I did plant two almond trees, but as I write this, they are not even close to being a mature tree to gather nuts. But what we do have is pecans and lots of them. So I did substitute ground pecans for the ground almonds. This cookie is perfect with the substitution and has a very different taste but amazing.
To get the best ground
Cost to make this recipe.
The ground almonds or pecan nuts make up nearly all the cost of these cookies. I calculated the nuts to cost $7.29 out of the total $9.41. If you grow your nuts as we do, then these cookies are next to nothing in cost. As a homesteading baker, these cookies cost me a whopping $1.43 total or $0.06 per cookie. These are extremely cost-effective Christmas or Thanksgiving cookies to share with family and friends.
Similar German recipes to try
Recipe adapted
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Cinnamon Star Cookies: Zimtsterne
Ingredients
Cookie
- 2¼ cup almond or pecan, finely ground…[$7.29]
- ¾ cup powdered sugar, …[$0.22]
- ⅓ cup all purpose flour, sifted…[$0.08]
- 2 tsp. ground cinnamon, …[$0.09]
- 1 large egg, …[$0.23]
Meringue Glaze
- 2 egg white, …[$0.46]
- 3 cup powdered sugar, …[$1.02]
- milk, …[$0.02]
Instructions
Cookie
- Finely ground your almonds or pecans and place in a bowl.
- Quickly ground regular white granulated sugar to make caster sugar and put with ground nuts. Add flour, cinnamon and egg. Mix until blended and smooth.
- Wrap in plastic and set in refrigerator for at least 2 hours. Roll dough between two sheets of parchment paper to ¼ inch thickness.
- Cut cookies with a star shaped cookie cutter and place on baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Spread meringue glaze over each cookie and bake at 325 °F for 10 minutes.
- Lift entire parchment paper with cookies on it onto wire rack to completely cool before touching.
Meringue Glaze
- Whisk egg whites and powdered sugar together on high speed.
- Whisk glaze together until you make a thick mixture that does not run. It must not run or drip off a butter knife.
- If it is too thick, add a splash of milk.
Zimtsterne: German Cinnamon Star Cookie
Ingredients
Cookie
- 2¼ cup almond or pecan, finely ground…[$7.29]
- ¾ cup powdered sugar, …[$0.22]
- ⅓ cup all purpose flour, sifted…[$0.08]
- 2 tsp. ground cinnamon, …[$0.09]
- 1 large egg, …[$0.23]
Meringue Glaze
- 2 egg white, …[$0.46]
- 3 cup powdered sugar, …[$1.02]
- milk, …[$0.02]
Instructions
Cookie
- Finely ground your almonds or pecans and place in a bowl.
- Quickly ground regular white granulated sugar to make caster sugar and put with ground nuts. Add flour, cinnamon and egg. Mix until blended and smooth.
- Wrap in plastic and set in refrigerator for at least 2 hours. Roll dough between two sheets of parchment paper to ¼ inch thickness.
- Cut cookies with a star shaped cookie cutter and place on baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Spread meringue glaze over each cookie and bake at 325 °F for 10 minutes.
- Lift entire parchment paper with cookies on it onto wire rack to completely cool before touching.
Meringue Glaze
- Whisk egg whites and powdered sugar together on high speed.
- Whisk glaze together until you make a thick mixture that does not run. It must not run or drip off a butter knife.
- If it is too thick, add a splash of milk.