Zimtsterne Cookies

Some friends held their annual German Beer Party last weekend, so to get in the spirit I made some German cookies. I tend to like things a little less sweet than the next guy, so these little Zimtsterne cookies were perfect. They are almost a cross between a cracker and a cookie. The dough was so good that I think I ate the equivalent of twenty cookies before they even came out of the oven.

You can find the original recipe I

used on Allrecipes here, but I’ve listed it down below as well for easy reference. The link though has a feature to print on a recipe card size and it’s also a good place to leave feedback on the recipe.

Zimtsterne Cookies

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease your baking sheets.
2. Cream the butter, sugar, 2 eggs, egg yolk and lemon juice together until fluffy.
3. Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg. Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and stir in the chopped nuts.
4. On a lightly floured cloth-covered board roll the dough, 1/3 at a time, to 1/16 inch thick. Cut with a 1 inch star shaped cookie cutter. Place cookies on the prepared baking sheets. Brush the tops of the cookies with the remaining egg white, beaten until frothy.
5. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 6 to 8 minutes.
6. Variations: Food coloring may be added to the egg white used to brush the tops of the cookies. Two cookies may be put together to form snowflakes with dabs of confectioners’ sugar icing made with 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons cream.

My cookies turned out great, but I think adding a tsp of almond extract or walnut extract might have been a nice addition. They look kind of plain, but they were devoured. Also, I didn’t have a star-shaped cookie cutter so I used the open end of a small glass. Enjoy!