No Christmas in the German-speaking countries of the Alps is complete without the delicious baked Zimtsterne or Cinnamon Stars that can be found in just about every Christmas market.

They’re fun and simple to make, and your entire house will be filled with the fragrance of Christmas baking.

What’s more, if you carefully make a small hole in each of them with a skewer while they’re cooling, your kids can then thread them with ribbon and hang them on the Christmas tree.

This recipe comes from the Christmas Market in the Austrian resort of Kitzbühel. However, if you want to cheat, some supermarkets sell the dough already prepared for you!

Christmas stars make a festive, tasty addition to the tree!

Ingredients
For the bisuits:
300g almonds, finely ground
100g caster sugar
50g plain flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 egg whites (medium)
icing sugar

For the meringue glaze:
1 egg white (medium)
pinch of salt
200 g caster sugar
milk

Method:
1 Mix dry ingredients in a bowl.
2 Add egg whites and knead until a sticky dough is formed.
3 Wrap in clingfilm and leave in the fridge to chill for a couple of hours.
4 Make the meringue glaze by beating the egg white with the salt until the mixture is stiff.
5 Sift and add the caster sugar into the egg white little by little, continuing to beat throughout, until all the ingredients are mixed. The texture should be thick enough to spread onto the dough later with a brush. If it’s too runny, it needs more beating!  If it’s too thick, add a little milk (1-2 tablespoonfuls should be enough, depending on the size of egg).
6 Line baking trays with parchment paper.
7 Remove dough from fridge and roll it until it’s roughly 1cm thick.  (If it gets too sticky, add some more ground almonds.)
8 Using a star cutter, cut out the shapes and place them on the baking tray.
9 Lightly brush the meringue glaze over the stars.
10 Bake in a preheated oven (170°C) for 10-12 minutes.  Watch them carefully, as the meringue should not go brown.
11 Place the stars gently on a wire rack to cool.
12 Store in an airtight container once completely cooled.

Tip:  Once you’ve made the Zimtsterne, hide the container in a good place… the flavours seem to get better and better over a few days so you don’t want them all eaten at once!