German Cinnamon Star Cookies – Zimsterne

Whip up a batch of German Cinnamon Star Cookies that make a great edible Christmas gift. Flavored with cinnamon and covered with a snowy white royal icing, these cookies bring the German holiday tradition to your home!

I am usually very organized and planned, especially during the busy holiday time; however, German Cinnamon Star Cookies have come up by an accident. I saw a picture of cookies in the Internet, bought a five point star cookie cutter * (instead of the correct six point star cookie cutter *) and, voilà! My new favorite cinnamon cookies were on the table on the same day!

What are German Cinnamon Star Cookies – Zimsterne?

German Cinnamon Star Cookies – Zimsterne – are traditional Christmas treats sold throughout Germany, Austria and Switzerland during this holiday time. You can buy them in Europe, but you can also easily make them from scratch at home.

To make these German Cinnamon Star Cookies, I adapted a recipe created by the French chef Christophe Felder. I had to tweak the recipe to make it work.

The chef bakes cookies at 355 F/180 C for 20 minutes, but the white royal icing gets light brown color while baking. You do not want to get this effect!

After multiple trials, I suggest to bake these treats at 300 F/150 C for 12 to 15 minutes to get the snowy WHITE royal icing on top!

Have you noticed how neat these Cinnamon Star Cookies look? First, their sharp and accurate edges are due to cutting cookies after the royal acing is spread out.

Most recipes recommend cutting cookies first and then spreading the icing on top of each cookie with a small paint brush or a small butter knife.

However, the icing might slightly drip over cookie’s sides. You might choose this way of cutting cookies if you are short on time.

Second, I had to figure out how to leave the cookies’ edges clean of royal icing after cutting stars and how to remove cookies from a cutter.

The dough is quite hard, so remove stars from the cookie cutter by pushing them from underneath. It is a bit tricky, but manageable:)

Why German Cinnamon Star Cookies Recipe Works

1. German Cinnamon Star Cookies are one of the best traditional holiday cookies made for Christmas.
2. Flavored with lots of cinnamon, these cookies bring a festive mood and make your house smell like Christmas.
3. Packed in a box, they become one of the best edible gifts during holiday. They will put a smile on your friends’ faces when they open their gift boxes.
4. The cookies’ dough is customizable if you replace ground cinnamon with other powder of your choice. Have a look at Valentine’s Heart-Shaped Raspberry Cookies where I used the present recipe as a base.

How to Make German Cinnamon Star Cookies – Step by Step

To make the cookie dough, place softened butter, caster sugar and cinnamon powder in the bowl of a stand mixer * and mix (photo 1). Add the egg, hazelnut and almond flour * and mix again. Finally, add flour sifted with a flour sifter * and mix just to combine (photo 2).

Remove the cookie dough from the bowl and form a ball. Rolled the dough out with a rolling pin * between two sheets of parchment paper * (sprinkled with icing sugar) to the thickness of 0.4 inch/1 cm and refrigerate for 1 hour (photo 3).

To make the white royal icing, whisk the egg white with icing sugar and 3-4 drops of lemon juice (photo 4).

Take the cookie dough out of the fridge and spread a thin layer of royal icing with a bent spatula * (photo 5). Chill the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes or in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 300 F/150 C. Cut out cookies-stars with a star-shaped cookie cutter 2 inch/5 cm (I used the smallest five point star cookie cutter *), remove cookies by pushing them underneath and arrange them on a baking sheet covered with the parchment (photo 6).

Bake cookies (and cookie scraps) for 12 to 15 minutes (photo 7). They must be baked, but the royal icing must not color. Remove cookies from the oven and let them cool down (photo 8).

Expert Tips to Make German Cinnamon Star Cookies

1. Make the cookie dough in advance and keep it in the freezer in order to bake cookies at the time of your choice.
2. Choose a six point star cookie cutter * or a five point star cookie cutter * to make these cookies.
3. Wash and dry a star cookie cutter (if necessary) before cutting the next cookie. It makes cookies neat!
4. If you do not have a star-shaped cookie cutter, cut regular strips 3 cm wide and bevel them to form 2 cm triangles.
5. Test and adjust your oven. Do not over bake cookies; otherwise, the royal icing gets a light brown color.
6. The remaining cookie scraps (falls) are not pretty as cinnamon stars, but you could bake them as well. They are delicious!
7. Cinnamon star cookies can be stored in a dry, airtight container in a cool place for at least 2 weeks.

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The recipe was adapted from http://www.elle.fr. It was originally published in December, 2018. The recipe has been revised to include improved content and photos. All posted pictures are mine.