Luisa Weiss

Among my German friends, there may be no Christmas cookie more popular than the beautiful Zimtsterne: thick and chewy star-shaped cookies topped with a drift of white meringue that shatters under your teeth. Just the mention of them never fails to elicit deep longing sighs and a faraway look in people’s eyes. Flavored only with cinnamon and the naturally toasty flavor of roasted almonds, Zimtsterne are a study in what is possible with simple ingredients and a little elbow grease. Making Zimtsterne requires some stamina. The dough is sticky, fine motor skills are required for painting on the meringue, and you need lots of counter space to let them dry overnight before baking them. But the effort is all worthwhile. There is much debate about how to bake Zimtsterne so that the cookie stays soft and chewy and the meringue as white as possible. I’ve tried every method out there, but find that drying the cookies overnight and then baking them briefly is the best way.

Once fully cooled, Springerle must be stored in airtight containers, where they will keep for months. Do not eat them right away; they need time to develop their flavor and, more important, their texture. When they are freshly made, in the first few weeks or so, they will be crunchy on the outside but, when pressed, their crust will shatter slightly, giving way to a soft interior. As time goes on, they will get harder and harder, eventually getting so hard that you’ll be able to eat them only after dunking them in hot tea. I prefer Springerle when they get this hard, but others prefer to keep them soft. To do so, store the cookies with a piece of bread or a chunk of apple, which will supply them with moisture and keep them soft (replace the bread or apple every few days) .