Vegan & gluten-free Cinnamon Star Cookies (german „Zimtsterne“)
If you were only allowed to eat three types of cookies for the rest of your life, what would they be? For me, the question is quickly answered: It would be gingerbread, vanilla crescents and cinnamon stars. Now, think for a few minutes about which cookies you would eat. If the answer is "cinnamon stars," then you can simply continue reading. And if not, then you should still read on because I promise you that these cinnamon stars have tasted good to everyone so far. Ha!
But what are cinnamon stars anyway? The base of cinnamon stars is not a classic shortbread made of flour, butter and eggs, but a mixture of whipped egg whites and ground nuts. In case you already suspect that we are about to whip up aquafaba – wrong thinking! In our recipe, we replace the eggs with a little water and lemon juice (and that's pretty much it). You can still get the can of chickpeas out of the cupboard, though! Classically, cinnamon stars are coated with an egg white glaze, and for this, we have prepared two options for you – one of them with aquafaba.
For the dough, you only need a few basics that might already be lying around in your kitchen: ground nuts (you can also vary here), powdered sugar, water, lemon juice and, of course, cinnamon. This also makes our cinnamon stars gluten-free, which probably makes them an absolute party pleaser. And maybe you'll jump right into the party chatter with, „If you were only allowed to eat three types of cookies for the rest of your life ...“.
Vegan & gluten-free Cinnamon Star Cookies (german „Zimtsterne“)
Ingredients
For the cinnamon stars:
- 100 g (1 cup) powdered sugar
- 10 g (0.33 oz) cinnamon
- 150 g (5.25 oz) ground almonds
- 200 g (7 oz) ground hazelnuts
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 50 ml (0.25 cup) cold water
Topping option 1 - Icing:
- 100 g (1 cup) powdered sugar
- 3–4 tbsp plant-based milk
Topping option 2 - Royal Icing:
- 50 ml (0.25 cup) aquafaba
- 200 g (2 cups) powdered sugar
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 180 °C / 355 °F (convection heat). For the dough, sift powdered sugar into a bowl. Add cinnamon, ground almonds and hazelnuts and mix well. Add fresh lemon juice and cold water and knead with your hands.
Place the dough on baking paper and cover with another layer of baking paper. Roll out the dough between the two layers to a thickness of about 0.5 centimeters. Cut out about 25 cinnamon star cookies with a star-shaped cookie cutter.
Place the cinnamon star cookies on a lined baking sheet and bake in a preheated oven at 180 °C / 355 °F (convection heat) for 6–8 minutes. The cookies should barely brown and, in no case, become crispy. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
In the meantime, prepare one of the topping options:
For the frosting, sift the powdered sugar into a small bowl and gradually stir in plant-based milk until a thick frosting forms.
You can also choose option 2: the royal icing. For this, put the aquafaba in a bowl and sift in the powdered sugar. Whip for 8–10 minutes – it's best to let a stand mixer do the work. You should end up with a shiny, very thick frosting. If you want it to be even firmer, add more powdered sugar.
- Spoon the frosting or royal icing onto the cooled cinnamon star cookies. When the topping has dried, store the cookies in an airtight container and eat within 3–5 days.
