Zimtsterne/ Cinnamon Stars

Today I am sharing our family recipe for Zimtsterne, a classic German Christmas cookie, that has been one of my favourite festive cookies since I was a child. I got the recipe when I was about 11 from our neighbour, a lovely old German lady, and we have made them since then. Chewy and soft with a lovely almond and cinnamon flavor, with a meringue topping, so if you have not tried them, you  definitely should, these cookies are one of the best cookies I have eaten so far!
Zimtsterne_MG_5197
 
 

For about 40 cookies you will need:

  • 250 grams almonds, finely grounded
  • 150 grams powder/icing sugar
  • 1 teaspoon honey
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 egg white

For the meringue topping:

  • 80 grams icing sugar
  • 1 egg white

Method:

Preheat oven to 150 ° C.
Sift icing sugar (150 g), combine with finely grounded almonds, cinnamon. 
Whisk together with honey, egg white, then knead dough with your hands until well combined.
Let dough rest for 1/2  hour. Meanwhile prepare the meringue topping by beating the egg white until it forms firm peaks. Then beat in 80 grams of icing sugar and continue beating for about 2-3 minutes until it becomes  thick and shiny. Set aside. 
Place dough on a large piece of parchment paper and roll out the dough until  about 1 cm thick. If the dough sticks just put another parchemnt paper on top and then roll the dough, this makes it a lot easier. 
Cut with star shaped cookie cutter and place on a pan (on parchment paper). 
Spread the eggwhite-sugar mixture over ever cookie. 
Bake at 150° C for 8-10 minutes. The cookies need to be chewie and very light brown, the meringue topping should be white, watch out as they tend to get too brown quickly! When you take them out from the oven they are soft but they firm up quickly.
Let cool on a wire rack, then place them in airtight container.
 
Zimtsterne before they go into the oven
Već sam prošle godine pred blagdane htjela objaviti recept za „Zimtsterne“, koji smo dobili od naše susjetke Njemice, jedne divne stare dame, kad mi je bilo otprilike 11 godina. Nama su to najljepši  blagdanski keksi, bez maslaca, bez brašna, s mljevenim bademima, cimetom i meringue nadjevom. „Zimtsterne“ su tradicionalni njemački božićni kolačići/ keksi, i s obzirom da sam odrasla u Njemačkoj nije prošao niti jedan Božić bez njih, davila sam se u njima kod prijatelja, školskih drugarica, i onda ih je i moja mama počela praviti… Ovi keksi nisu hrskavi, meki su, aroma badema i cimeta (meni omiljena kombinacija u kolačima) ne mogu ostaviti ravnodušnim. Mislim da još nisam upoznala nikog ko nije volio ove divotice. Važno je paziti da se ne prepeku, meni su ovi, koje sam jučer pekla malo previše potamnili jer sam pogrešno procijenila temperaturu (trebalo je biti 150°C) na mom gasnom šporetu, drugi put obavezno trebam smanjiti vrijeme pečenja s 10 minuta na 8 minuta. 
 
 Za 40 keksića (otprilike 1,5 pleh) će biti potrebno
 
  • 250 g mljevenih badema
  • 150 g šećera u prahu
  • 1 žlica meda
  • 1 žlica cimeta
  • 1 bjelanjak

Za nadjev:

 
  •  80 g šećera u prahu
  • 1 bjelanjak

Priprema:

Zagrijati peć na 150°C.
Prosijati šećer u prahu, pomiješati s bademima i cimetom, sve promiješati.
Dodati med i bjelanjak, rukom zamijesiti tijesto.  Ostaviti otprilike pola sata da miruje (ond se tijesto manje lijepi). U međuvremenu pripremiti nadjev, tako što izmutite bjelanjak jedno 2-3 minute dok ne dobijete čvrstu masu, onda dodajte preostalih (prosijanih) 80 g šećera u prahu.  Na radnu površinu postavite papir za pečenje i na njega stavite tijesto pa ga razvucite na otprilike 1 cm debljine. Ako tijesto bude ljepljivo stavite još jedan papir za pečenje preko tijesta pa onda razvucite tijesto. Modlom u obliku zvijezde isjecite keksiće, svaki ravnomjerno premažite nadjevom. Peći na 150°C 8-10 minuta. Pripaziti da tijesto i nadjev ne potamne, tijesto treba ostati svijetlo a nadjev treba ostati bijel (brzo požuti).
Ostaviti da se ohlade. Čuvati u kutijama za kekse.

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