Baking season continues: Cinnamon Stars

[wiseheart]

This is a traditional German recipe and must not be missing from any festive coffee table in Germany, ever. I usually bake them together with the Coconut Crescent, because while for those I need only the eggyolks, the Cinnamon Stars require only the eggwhites, and this way I avoid wasting half the egg. Not only because eggs get frigging expensive every time a major holiday comes up - I refuse wasting food on principle.

Ingredients:
2 eggwhites
120 gr icing sugar
175-180 gr grated almonds
1 pinch of salt if you like it (I usually don't)
eventually some flour

For the decoration:
lemon flavoured icing (made of lemon juice and icing sugar)
crocant, pistachios, chopped nuts or whatever you like to put on your cookies ;)

How to make it:
* pre-heat oven to 180°C; cover baking tin with baking paper
* beat the eggwhites with the salt until they are really hard (the test is that they don't fall out when you turn the bowl upside down)
* stir in first the icing sugar, then the almonds very carefully, tablespoon by tablespoon
* knead the dough until it's smooth; you might generously sprinkle your working surface with flour because it tends to stick like whoa! A little flour in the dough doesn't make any harm
* roll out the dough 1/2 cm thick and cut out star-shapes of any size you want
* bake them between 15 and 20 minutes, depending on your oven; they need to be light brown
* remove them from the baking thin while still warm
* when they've cooled, cover them with lemon-flavoured icing and decorate them with whatever you find in the pantry ;)

Comments

[sammydragoncat]

Another interesting recipe - I know what you mean about wasting food, I try not to waste anything when I'm baking.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Yeah, with just a little attention you can save so much! We used to be desperately poor when I was a child, and it hurts me almost physically seeing today's kids throw away perfecly good food just because they're full up or they don't like it.