Zimtsterne (‘Cinnamon Stars’).

These magical little biscuits have a very special place in my heart. Baking these is a family tradition, so Christmas just wouldn’t feel like Christmas without them! The process of making the dough (and.. tasting the dough of course), cutting the biscuits, icing them and then eating a few biscuits just out of the oven brings me just as much joy as giving little goodie bags of these to loved ones.

This year I tried a batch of these spiced almond meal based biscuits, however used a little less sugar and a little more lemon and my, they’re now my favourite .. Not because they’re less sweet (they are still beautifully sweet), but because the flavours of almond, lemon, cinnamon and ginger are that little bit stronger. An easy recipe. Very yummy. These. Are. Addictive.

Merry Christmas! xx

Ingredients:

• 2 egg whites
• 100g icing sugar
• 2 tsp. lemon juice
• All the zest from 1 lemon
• 250g almond flour
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. ginger

Method:

Preheat oven to 150 degrees Celsius, and place baking paper on 2 baking trays ready for your biscuits.

Beat egg whites, until they almost begin to form soft peaks. Then add icing sugar and beat a little more until just combined, then lemon juice and zest (finely grated lemon rind) and beat a little more until soft peaks form.

Put about 1/5 of the egg whites in a little bowl and set aside. This will be the icing.

Then, add the almond flour and spices to the rest of the egg whites and carefully fold through mixing with a spatula until a sticky dough forms.

Using your hands, make sure the dough is well combined, then divide the dough into two. Take half the mixture, knead briefly, into a ball, and place it on a piece of baking paper (on your kitchen bench). Place another piece of baking paper on top and roll the mixture (while it remains in between the two sheets of baking paper). Roll out until the dough is about 0.5cm thick. Then, cut stars! Place stars on your prepared tray. Gather leftover dough and repeat the process until you’ve filled a tray of stars.

Use the rest of the dough, and fill your second tray. Then, using a little knife or brush add a little egg white to all stars. A thin or thick coating both work nicely.

Bake biscuits for 10-12mins. They’ll be ready once the egg white just begins to brown. Allow to cool and there you go – gorgeous biscuits to share with family or friends. These keep well in a cool dry place, in a biscuit tin or any airtight container.

Lara x

Gestational Diabetes –

For ladies with GDM these biscuits are a bit tricky. You may be able to manage 1 biscuit (and not have your BGLs rise too much) but maybe not. Icing sugar is very sweet plus it has a high GI. If wanting to do some baking I’d suggest making some biscuits that are less sweet (there are a few other great recipes on here such as my lemon turmeric cookies). If wanting some guidance on Christmas biscuits that are suitable for you (and GDM) I’d suggest speaking with your Dietitian or feel free to reach out to me via email or social media as I can suggest a few recipes online that might be of interest.