Cinnamon stars or Zimtsterne are German cookies that are traditionally made around Christmas time. They are made from an almond-cinnamon dough that's rolled and cut into star shapes, and then covered with a meringue coating before baking. The high concentration of cinnamon makes them fragrant. The first known recipe for Zimtsterne dates to the 1500s, when cinnamon was rare and expensive and saved for special occasions.
There are different schools of thought on how to bake Zimtsterne so that the cookies stay soft and chewy and the meringue is as white as possible. Traditionally the dough is left to dry out at room temperature for up to 24 hours but this recipe reduces the time to 1 hour — in all honesty I didn’t have counterspace to dry them for an entire day before baking.
Although these festive cookies are composed of simple ingredients, they require considerable elbow grease and time. Only make these if you like a challenge and have time to spend the day in the kitchen! The dough is fussy and spreading the top coating on each cookie requires precision.
Recipe below. Good luck!