Zimtsterne are Swiss cinnamon cookies. While discussing baking plans over the holidays with my friend Judith, she mentioned that her mom makes these cookies every year. In addition to a photo of an entire dining room table filled with cookies, she also sent me the recipe. The beauty of this recipe is that the first two ingredients also serve as the icing for the cookies, so there aren’t extra steps for making a batch of icing. It’s part of the process to make the dough. Let’s get into it!
Zimtsterne Dough Instructions
The first step is to add three egg whites to the bowl of your stand mixer with a dash of salt. Whisk the egg whites on high speed until stiff peaks form. Stiff peaks are when you can invert the bowl over your head and the egg whites don’t fall out.
This can take 8 or so minutes so be patient. Or you can start sifting your powdered sugar so it’s ready to go when the egg whites are ready. When stiff peaks form, add the powdered sugar and mix until well combined. At this point, grab a piping bag and fill it with 100ml or 1/2 cup of the sugary mixture for icing the cookies later.
Add the cinnamon, kirsch, and almond flour to the remainder of the sugary mixture. Mix well to combine. Cut the top off of a gallon Ziploc bag and roll out a piece of dough between the two layers. This method works better than rolling out the dough between two pieces of parchment or wax paper, no idea why.
Roll the dough out to be 1/4″ thick. Using a star-shaped cookie cutter, cut the cookies out of the dough. Place the cookies on a piece of parchment paper. Pro-tip, dip the cookie cutter edges in flour to help the dough release from the cutter.
Decorating and Baking
Once all the cookies have been rolled out, decorate them with icing. If you don’t have a piping bag, you can use a knife to add the icing on top. Either way, decorate the cookies using the reserved sugar mixture. When the cookies are decorated to your liking, leave them. Let them dry out at room temperature for five to six hours and as long as overnight. Once dry, preheat your oven to 475 degrees Fahrenheit and place a rack in the middle. Bake for three to five minutes. Let the cookies cool in the pan for a minute and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Zimtsterne taste similar to almond paste/marzipan. The two main ingredients are powdered sugar and almond flour so no surprise there. If you’re a fan of either of those, this cookie recipe is definitely for you. Enjoy!
Zimtsterne Cookie Recipe
Equipment
- Stand Mixer (hand mixer works too)
- Baking Tray
- gallon ziploc bag
- cookie cutter (star-shaped)
Ingredients
- 3 large egg whites
- dash of salt
- 250 grams Powdered Sugar (2 cups)
- 1-½ tbsp Cinnamon
- ½ tbsp Kirsch (or lemon juice)
- 350 grams Almond Flour (4 cups)
Instructions
Dough Instructions
- Add the egg whites to the bowl of a stand mixer and add a dash of salt. Whisk until the egg whites form stiff peaks
- Add the powdered sugar to the egg whites and mix well.
- Reserve 100 ml or ½ cup of the egg white and sugar mixture for decorating the cookies later,
- Add the cinnamon, kirsch, and almond flour and mix with the egg white and sugar mixture to form a dough.
Rolling Out and Decorating
- Cut a ziploc bag open so the dough can be rolled out between the two layers.
- Roll out the dough to ¼" thick. Cut out the cookies using the star-shaped cookie cutter and place on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
- Ice the cookies with the sugar and egg white mixture.
- Let the cookies dry at room temperature for 5-6 hours or overnight.
- Preheat your oven to 475 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Bake cookies for 3-5 minutes in the middle of the oven.
- Let cookies cool in the pan for a minute then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely
