Sugar-reduced Cinnamon Star Cookies

'Tis the (damn) season! The magic of Christmas is moving in on "sizzling & frizzling"! And we're starting into this season with a recipe for sugar-reduced cinnamon star cookies.

Cinnamon star cookies are traditional German Christmas Cookies. I never really liked store-bought cinnamon star cookies. Even though they were looking so pretty, their taste never won me over. As a big cinnamon-enthusiast, they never had enough spice for me and were just too sweet and too dry. Only when I baked them myself for the first time, I aquired a taste for them. Spoiler alert: these cinnamon star cookies are neither too dry, too bland nor too sweet. The powdered sugar in the cookie dough can easily be replaced by dates, so that you only need some powdered sugar for the glaze. If you want to omit sugar all together, you can use powdered erythritol.

This recipe is based on the Cinnamon Star Cookie Recipe by Dr. Oetker. Aside from the sugar, I also changed up the spices. Of course, cinnamon is still the main player of this spice blend, but I also use some cloves, cardamom, nutmeg and ginger (the classic pumpkin spice blend). This is how these Cinnamon Star Cookies taste spicier and even more like Christmas. I really hope you try this recipe and tell me in the comments, if you also like them so much better than store-bought Cinnamon Star Cookies.

Sugar-reduced Cinnamon Star Cookies

The best christmas spices in a cookie: Cinnamon Star Cookies! For this sugar-reduced variation we replace most of the sugar by dates. Besides, Cinnamon Star Cookies are also made of ground nuts and without any flour, so they are glutenfree. If you have some leftover egg whites from baking other Christmas cookies, you can make this recipes to use them up. Try them for yourself and get in the festive mood!

author: Judith cooking method: baking, mixing cuisine German courses: dessert, snacks recipe keys: high protein treat yourself vegetarian Christmas gluten-free dairy-free

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hands-on time: 90 mins time in total: 1 hr 30 min. difficulty: Intermediate cooking temp: 140  °C calories: 2518 best season: Winter

For the dough:

Servings

• 15 dates (or 10 Medjoul dates)

• 300 g ground nuts (e.g. almonds or hazelnuts)

• 1 tsp vanilla extract (or 1 packet of vanilla sugar)

• 2 drops of rum flavoring

• 1 tsp cinnamon

• 0,25 tsp ground cloves

• 1 pinch cardamom

• 1 pinch nutmeg

• 1 pinch ginger (instead of adding every spice individually, you can also use 0.25 tsp of pumpkin spice blend for the cloves, cardamom, nutmeg and ginger))

• 1 pinch salt

• 2 egg whites

For the glaze:

• 50 g powdered sugar (or for a sugar-free variation: powdered erythritol)

• 0,5 egg whites

How it is done:

1. Add the dates to a food processor or blender and grind them finely.

1. Then also add all of the remaining ingredients for the cookie dough and mix it shortly on the lowest setting to distribute everything evenly. Don't overmix, the dough shouldn't become nut butter!

1. Then make the glaze: beat the egg white until stiff, then add it to the powdered sugar and stir.

1. Now roll out the cookie dough on a floured working surface. If you want to keep this recipe glutenfree, you can use some more powdered sugar instead of flour. Be careful: the dough is on the stickier side. It might be easier to work with, if you use a sheet of parchment paper in between of the dough and rolling pin. Alternatively, you can lighty flour your rolllin pin again every now and then. The rolled out dough should be even and about 0.3 inches in thickness.

1. Next cut out the cinnamon star cookies using a 1.8 inch star-shaped cookie cutter and spread them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.

1. Preheat the over at 285 °F (140 °C), top and bottom heat.

1. The cinnamon star cookies are only missing their glaze. Add a dollop of glaze in the middle of every cookie and spread the glaze using a toothpick.

1. Bake the cinnamon star cookies at 285 °F (140 °C) on the lowest rack of your oven for about 15 - 20 minutes. Take care that the glaze of your cinnamon star cookies doesn't get too much color.

1. Let the cookies cool down completely before storing in an airtight container.

Nutritional Information

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Amount per Serving

Calories 210kcal

% Daily Value *

Total Fat 14.17g22%

Potassium 81.62mg3%

Total Carbohydrate 12.59g5%

Dietary Fiber 2.23g9%

Sugars 11.56g

Protein 6.38g13%

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** The daily percentages are based on a 2000 kcal diet. Your daily figures might be higher or lower according to your caloric need.

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