#11 – Zimtsterne

Zimsterne – German Christmas biscuits – delicious star-shaped cinnamon and almond biscuits. They always remind me of family skiing holidays in Switzerland where my brother and I used to eat at least two packs of these morsels over five days.

I’ve been trying to make them for a long time, but never quite found the right recipe. I still haven’t, but the latest recipe is the closest to the taste I was trying to achieve. The texture still isn’t quite there. They should be chewy and soft. But these weren’t. I’ve modified the recipe I used to to compensate for that, but I haven’t tested them yet.

Ingredients (for 20 biscuits)

• 150g  ground almonds
• 50g dark brown sugar
• 25g flour
• 2-3tsps ground cinnamon
• 2 egg whites
• 25g butter melted

1) Mix the dry ingredients together. Knead in the egg whites and butter until a well-combined dough is formed.
2) Wrap the dough in cling film and store in the fridge for 1-2 hours.
3) Pre-heat the oven to 170C and roll the dough out to a thickness of about 1cm. Cut out the biscuits using a star shaped cutter.
4) Position the biscuits on a baking tray and bake for 10-12 minutes.

5) Allow to cool.

Ingredients (for icing)

• 1 egg white
• 1tsp lemon juice
• 150g icing sugar

1) Beat egg whites with lemon juice.
2) Add sifted icing sugar and beat until smooth and combined.
3) Ice each of the biscuits and store in an airtight container.

Another Sashiko tutorial is on its way…