(NC)-Thanksgiving and Christmas are wonderful occasions for home bakers to hone their skills. Traditional German Christmas cookies are a fun way to get started, even for people with no baking experience. The recipes are usually fairly simple and straightforward, requiring only pantry staples, a few special seasonal ingredients and cookie cutters.
For those that don't have time to bake during the holiday season, German Christmas cookies can be found on your supermarket shelf.
For more ideas on how to make your holiday entertaining more traditionally German or for recipes, visit Germanfoods.org. You'll find recipes, entertaining ideas and a list of retailers in your area that sell authentic German foods and beverages.
Cinnamon Stars (Zimtsterne)
The quintessential Christmas cookie - these crisp, spicy cookies make a perfect snack after a day outdoors. Serve them with big pitchers of mulled wine and hot chocolate.
Ingredients
14 oz. (400g) unpeeled almonds
3 egg whites
2 cups (250g) confectioner's sugar, plus extra for decoration
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 280°F.
Finely chop or grind almonds (food processor works great). Whip the egg whites in a clean bowl until stiff. Sift the confectioner's sugar and gradually fold it under the egg whites. Reserve and put aside 2 heaped tablespoons of this mixture. Gently stir the almonds into the egg mixture. Sprinkle the work surface with confectioner's sugar. Roll out the mixture to about 1/4 inch thick. Cut out cookies using a star cutter and place them on a cookie sheet lined with non-stick parchment paper. Dip the cutter into confectioner's sugar from time to time to stop the mixture from sticking to it. Brush each star with a little of the reserved egg mixture.
Bake for about 30 minutes until crisp on the outside.
The cookies should still be a little soft in the center.
- News Canada