Description
Zimststerne are a delicious chewy German Christmas cookie. They are made with a few simple ingredients; almonds, egg whites, powdered sugar, and cinnamon. These cookies are the perfect addition to a holiday cookie tray!
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 3 large egg whites, room temperature
- 2 1/2 cups (250 grams) powdered sugar Note: You will need additional powdered sugar for rolling out the cookies.
- 3 cups (300 grams) whole raw almonds, finely ground
- 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest (from one lemon)
- 1-2 tablespoons dark rum (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300° F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
- Place egg whites in a clean bowl of an electric mixer. Using the whisk attachment, beat until soft peaks form.
- Add powdered sugar 1 tablespoon at a time to the egg whites. Beat until they are thick and glossy (about 6 minutes).
- Set aside 5 tablespoons of the meringue. Don't miss this important step. This meringue and sugar combination will be used to ice the cookies before they are baked and creates the "white" topping on them.
- Remove the bowl from the mixer. Fold in finely ground almonds, cinnamon, lemon peel, and rum (optional).
- The dough will be very thick. If it is too thin, add more ground nuts. Place the dough in the refrigerator for at least one hour. The dough can be rolled immediately, but I have found that chilling it makes it easier to manage.
- When you are ready to roll out the dough, sprinkle powdered sugar (not flour) on a cutting board. Sprinkle the top of the dough with powdered sugar. Roll out the dough to 1/4 inch. Dip the cookie cutter in water and cut out cookies. The scraps can be formed into a ball and re-rolled again to make more cookies. Be sure the cookie-cutter corners don't have any dough in them, or your stars will not have distinct points when they are baked.
I normally use two different sizes of star cookie cutters; 1-1/1 inch and 2-inch star. I think the different sizes look nice on a cookie plate. - Place cookies on the prepared sheet pan. Ice the cookies with the reserved meringue using a pastry brush, small offset spatula, or teaspoon.
- Bake cookies for 15-20 minutes. Remove cookies to a cooling rack. The cookies will firm as they cool.
- Store the cookies in an airtight container for up to 1 month. At my house, they never last that long!
Notes
- Be sure the bowl of the mixer and the whisk attachment is clean, or the egg whites will not whip properly.
- If the dough begins to stick in the cookie cutter, wash and dry the cookie cutter and then continue cutting out the stars.
- For best results, I recommend weighing the ingredients with a kitchen scale.
- Don't overbake the cookies, or they will be hard and won't have the chewy texture they are known for, and the frosting will brown.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: cookie
- Calories: 42
- Sugar: 3.8 g
- Sodium: 3.3 mg
- Fat: 2.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 4.8 g
- Protein: 1.2 g
- Cholesterol: 8.2 mg
