ASLI’S CHRISTMAS SPECIAL STAR SHAPED COOKIES WITH ALMOND AND CINNAMON

With start of preperations for Christmas, as December begins, I would like to leave you alone with smell of ginger and cinnamon coming out of your kitchen. Plans for Christmas have been already getting shape as with the decorated pine trees. So, I wanted to publish a recipe that suits for that excitement, special for December and I thought that, best way to gather people around this excitement is to have Asli’s Christmas special star shaped cookies with almond and cinnamon. In short, these cookies will make you and people around you more than happy. 

As the adaptor of this recipe, my sister Asli, she believes in the spirit of Christmas. As the Christmas approaches, her desk decorated without minding her colleagues, keeping decorated Christmas tree twelve months a year, her house filled with colored candles, ornaments and her Christmas recipes are evidences for that. For me, her special Christmas cookies reflect her spirit.

Although being a German recipe originally, I can say that, this recipe, which has become a specialty for my sister, is now turned into a December activity for our family and regarded as a custom for Christmas. Our kitchen is filled with star shaped cookies, made together with whole family, as we get closer to Christmas. My sister, every year makes hundreds of these tiny cookies and gives them away to people around her. She prepares cookie boxes for her friends and relatives and sends them. In short, with the start of December, everyone waits Asli’s special Christmas cookies with excitement. 

Star shaped cookies are made with almond instead of flour, covered with meringue. They really reflect the spirit of Christmas with its addictive taste, so that you can’t stop eating. Cinnamon and ginger added to cookies will ensure aromatic taste. To improve the aromatic taste, optionally, you can add Kirschwasser if you can find. Kirschwasser is a German fruit brandy made with cherries which is widely used with dessert recipes. It is a nice choice for these cookies and it enhances their taste.

These cookies are slightly harder to prepare, it requires some effort. However, their look and taste worth the effort. The hardest part is to covering every single cookie using icing with care. If you are going to give out to your friends, it can take hours to prepare several baking trays of cookies. But surely, whoever tastes your cookies will ask for more. And this will make you quite happy. 

If you are one of those who believes in the spirit of Christmas and you want to carry on the spirit, as Christmas approaches, you can make you and your loved ones happy with those special cookies.

 

For 40-50 cookies... 

Ingredients

250 gr almond flour 

White of 3 eggs 

225 gr powdered sugar 

1 teaspoon cinnamon 

½ teaspoon ginger 

1 teaspoon lemon juice 

3-4 cloves

½ tablespoon Kirschwasser (optional) 

NOTE: If you want to double the number of cookies, you should use white of 5 eggs instead of 6.

Instructions

1. First, wait cloves in lemon juice 5-10 minutes in order to have their taste and smell passed to lemon juice. 

2. Put powdered sugar and white of eggs in a bowl and stir them using electric mixer until the mixture gets snow white color. 

3. After you are done with stirring, take a cup of it to use as icing. Put the remaing into refrigerator. You will use it for cookie dough later. 

4. Put almond flour, cinnamon, ginger, lemon juice and optional Kirschwasser in to a bowl and mix them with a spoon or hand mixer. Pour powdered sugar and egg white mixture on it. 

TIP: You should pour mixture into the bowl in 3-4 steps as you are continue mixing until it becomes consistent. After white snow mixture and other ingredients are mixed well enough, work the cookie dough using your hands. 

5. Roll out the dough until it becomes 1 cm thick. 

TIP: The cookie dough will be very sticky because of almond flour. To prevent it sticking to your rolling pin, you should place cookie dough between baking papers. 

6. Using small star shaped cookie cutter, take out star shaped pieces from cookie dough and put them on baking paper placed on a baking tray. 

TIP: To prevent cookie dough sticking to cutter, coat the cutter with flour before using. By this way you can easily remove the shaped cookie dough from the cutter. 

7. Remove the meringue mixture from refrigerator to decorate cookies. 

8. Pour a teaspoon of meringue mixture onto cookie doughs that you have placed on baking paper. Using a thin stick, cover the cookie dough with meringue. While doing this, try not to spill over meringue from dough. 

9. After you are done with icing, place the dough in a pre-heated oven at 220°C (430°F) and bake them 5-7 minutes. You should check after 5 minutes to prevent meringue icing from burning. 

10. Remove your cookies after they are baked and allow them to cool. After they are cooled, you can share them with your loved ones. 

Thanks a lot to my sister Asli for putting so much effort making these cookies! 

Bon apetite...