Bake cookies for the holidays
CINNAMON STAR cookies.
These Cinnamon Star Cookies are sure to sparkle on your holiday table. This recipe is among many from the book “German Heritage Baking” by Heidrun Metzler.
Ingredients for dough
3 egg whites
2 ½ cups powdered sugar
3 t potato starch
1 ¾ T lemon juice
3 c almond meal
2 ½ c hazelnut meal
6 t cinnamon
1/8 t ground cloves
2 t vanilla sugar or extract
2 t almond extract
Ingredients for icing
1 egg white
1 c powdered sugar
1 t cream of tartar
1 ¾ T lemon juice
For rolling dough
¼ to ½ c powdered sugar
¼ c nut meal
Position rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 325. Line each cookie sheet with a silicone mat or butter and line with parchment.
In a large bowl, whip egg whites to be foamy. In a separate bowl, sift powdered sugar and potato starch, distribute over egg whites. Mix with an electric mixer, slowly at first to combine, add 1 T lemon juice, scrape sides and continue beating until thick. For the dough, in a large bowl, combine almond meal, hazelnut meal, cinnamon, and cloves. In a small bowl, combine vanilla, almond extract, and ¾ T lemon juice, and mix to combine. Add half of the nut mixture to egg white mixture; use a bendable dough scraper to mix carefully. Add the second half of the nut meal and mix until fully incorporated.
Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the meringue topping. Whip the egg whites just enough to be foamy. In a separate bowl, sift the powdered sugar and cream of tartar, mix to combine and then distribute over the egg whites. Mix with an electric mixer on low speed at first to prevent a cloud of dust from the sugar. Stop the mixer to add the lemon juice and scape down powdered sugar stuck on the sides, then continue beating until thick, about one minute. If the icing turns out too thick for brushing on cookies, add a few more drops of lemon juice. If the icing is too thin, add more powder sugar. The consistency should be thick but spreadable to smooth over the cookies, with hardly any running down the sides, set aside.
Roll and cut the dough: Divide the dough in half and return one half to the refrigerator. Sprinkle board with powdered sugar or nut meal. Rub some powdered sugar or nut meal on rolling pin. Roll the dough to about ¼ inch thickness. Sprinkle powdered sugar or nut meal on work surface, as needed, if the dough sticks. Dip the cookie cutter into water or powdered sugar and cut out stars. Gather and reroll cut away dough to cut more stars.
Arrange the stars on one prepared cookie sheet. With a brush or spoon, put a dollop of icing onto each cookie’s center and then draw out to the points of the star to cover the entire surface. Add more icing if necessary. Dough should not show through.
Bake for 16 minutes. Icing should be crisp, either white or with a light golden color like toasted marshmallow. The underside of the cookies should still be soft but not moist. The center of the cookies should be moist. Place the parchment with the cookies onto a wire rack to cool.
Repeat steps with second half of the dough.
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