Zimtsterne, Vorarlberg Style

Traditional Christmas cookie in Austria and Germany. This recipe is specific to the western most province of Austria, and more specific still to the Bregenz Forest.

• Ready In: 2 hrs
• Yields: 36 cookies

Ingredients

• 4  egg whites
• 500  g powdered sugar
• 3  g cinnamon
• 1 1⁄2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 500  g  finely ground hazelnuts or 500  g  almonds

Directions

1. Beat the egg whites until they are very stiff.
2. Sieve the powdered sugar into the beaten egg whites and continue to beat until the mixture is very glossy.
3. Put aside about five tablespoons of this mixture in a covered dish or container.
4. Add the cinnamon, lemon juice and ground nuts to the egg whites and mix thoroughly.
5. (important) Refrigerate the dough (covered with buttered plastic wrap or foil) for at least an hour.
6. Sprinkle a large piece of baking parchment with powdered sugar, and put the dough on it. More powdered sugar on the dough, and another layer of baking parchment. Don't skimp on the powdered sugar, as it is important in the next step.
7. Roll the dough out quickly and with a light hand until it's about one centimeter thick. If the dough begins to stick to the parchment, peel it back and sprinkle more powdered sugar.
8. Cut into star shapes with a small cookie cutter, dipping it into sugar if the dought gets sticky. Alternatively, if you don't want to fuss with a cookie cutter (I really dislike the fuss myself), you can cut the rolled out dough into long strips, and the strips into triangles.
9. Line a cookie sheet with more baking parchment, and put the stars or triangles on the cookie sheet. They don't spread, so you can put a lot on a single sheet.
10. Use the reserved beaten egg white/sugar mixture to frost the cookies (quickly).
11. If possible, set the cookies on the sheet back in the refrigerator to cool down.
12. These are not so much baked as they are dried out in the oven. The temperature shouldn't be higher than 140 celsius, about a half hour or until very lightly colored.
13. Let them cool on the sheet.
14. Note: the preparation time includes the refrigeration of the dough.