Cinnamon Stars Cookies

Yield

4 dozen cookies

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups blanched almonds, ground
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest
2+ teaspoons lemon juice
1/3 cup room temperature egg whites (2-3)
pinch of salt
3 2/3 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon almond extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 250°F. Using pan release, lightly grease baking sheets.

Grind almonds to a powder. Beat eggs whites, salt, and 1/8 teaspoon lemon juice until soft peaks form. Gradually add 3 cups confectioners’ sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form. Save 1/2 cup of this mixture. Stir almonds, cinnamon and zest into remaining mixture. Gradually knead in up to 2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar to make a manageable dough. Sprinkle work surface with confectioners’ sugar. Roll to 1/8 inch thick. Using a 2 1/2 inch star shaped cookie cutter, stamp out cookies. Gather and reroll dough until it all has been used.

Place on cookie sheets spacing 1 1/4 inches apart. Gradually stir remaining lemon juice into reserved egg-white mixture to make it spreadable. Spread a thin layer of icing on each star. Add more lemon juice to icing if it start to dry out.

Bake 20-30 minutes, until cookies turn golden brown. Cool 2 minutes and remove from cookie sheet. Continue to cool on cooling grid.

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