Cinnamon stars (Zimtsterne) from Advent: Festive German Bakes to Celebrate the Coming of Christmas (page 114) by Anja Dunk

Where’s the full recipe - why can I only see the ingredients?

Always check the publication for a full list of ingredients. An Eat Your Books index lists the main ingredients and does not include 'store-cupboard ingredients' (salt, pepper, oil, flour, etc.) - unless called for in significant quantity.

Notes about this recipe

  • grace674491 on December 22, 2025

    As I attempted rolling out the “dough” in a sea of icing sugar, I was ambivalent. It was very light and sticky. More like a meringue consistency (I measured everything’s except for the eggs by weight, and I added an extra egg white as the ones I was using were miniscule). But I persevered, and as more air was knocked out of the dough and more icing sugar was added with each subsequent re roll, it made more and more sense. The resulting biscuits vary dramatically from the first cut to the last, but the icing does a very good job at covering the inconsitancies! Next time I would add more icing sugar to the biscuit mixture as needed so that it more resembles a dough. Or, if it was too dry, I would add another egg white. Also, I wouldn’t ever attempt to make them larger than the star pattern given. You wouldn’t be able to get them off the bench without breaking! I don’t know if the end result is how they’re “meant” to be, but we’re enjoying eating them and the way they look!

  • calguire on December 04, 2025

    I was a little hesitant to try this recipe after reading the previous comments. I looked at other zimtsterne recipes online, and went slowly while adding the almond flour. In the end I used 260 grams of Bob's Red Mill almond flour. The dough was pretty easy to work with if I was generous with the icing sugar on my work surface. Overall, it worked well for me and the cookies were really good.

  • laurenlangston on December 18, 2021

    I made this recipe as printed in the San Jose Mercury News, measuring by weight and using Bob’s Red Mill almond flour. It was a total mess. I ended up rolling dough into balls and pressing them down a little on the baking sheet so I’d have SOMETHING, but these did not go on the cookie tray this year.

  • AmberBee on December 17, 2021

    Agreed with Sarahkalabeek completely with this one! I tried almond flour too, but it was a gloopy mess with the measurements given. I even used the weight measurement. I added enough almond flour to make the dough firm enough to roll out. Not my favorite from the book either. I'll skip these next time.

  • sarahkalsbeek on December 06, 2021

    The recipe calls for ground almonds (almond flour) - since almond flour was in parentheses and that's what I had on hand, that's what I used. The amount of almond flour in grams was not ANYWHERE close to the measurement amount in cups (we're talking several cups difference). I'm guessing that's just because there can be so much variation in the grind size of nut flours? Anyway, I looked up other recipes online for zimtsterne and ended up going with the smaller amount of almond flour. Since I looked up other recipes, I noticed another big difference: traditionally, the egg white glaze is put on before baking, whereas this recipe has you put a royal icing glaze on top after baking/cooling. Long story short, since I've never had zimtsterne before I have no idea if they tasted how they were supposed to. They weren't my personal favorite, but my husband and six-year-old loved them! Edit: I enjoyed these cookies a lot more once they sat for a day or two.

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