It’s time to get festive the healthy way: Keto Cinnamon Stars AKA Zimtsterne are traditional gluten free German Christmas cookies. This version is low carb, sugar free and diabetic-friendly.
That time of year has arrived again.
The festive spirit has been going strong in the shop windows since Halloween’s been over, so I should have seen it coming. But I have to admit, December always creeps up on me. Shock horror! I have not got any presents sorted! Where did I put the lights for the Christmas tree? What, only 3 weeks to go?
I admire the people that have a Christmas spreadsheet and schedule all tasks so it’s done by the first of December (yes, they exist!). When I fight my way through the crowds on Oxford Street and queue for the last turkey at the butchers’, they can sit back, admire their beautifully decorated Christmas tree and sip mulled wine.
There’s one thing though I never forget about. Cinnamon Stars, my favourite out of all German Christmas cookies.
“Zimtsterne” are perhaps the most traditional Christmas cookies in Germany. They are the Mince Pies of Deutschland; the ultimate festive baked good. Plus, they taste absolutely delicious.
The original recipe requires ground almonds, which makes these German Christmas cookies gluten free. Unfortunately though, regular cinnamon stars are packed with icing sugar, which erases all the benefits of using nuts as opposed to wheat flour.
I remade our favourite family recipe using powdered erythritol and turned them into rather delicious sugar free Christmas cookies.
Keto Cinnamon Stars are
- soft
- chewy
- delicately spiced with cinnamon and ground coffee
- sweet and nutty
- gluten free
- sugar free
- low carb and keto
- diabetic-friendly
- tasting of Christmas with every bite.
These Keto Christmas cookies make a great homemade gift. So make a bumper portion and share the sugar free love 🙂
Try my other Christmas recipes:
- Low Carb Christmas Pudding
- Low Carb Gingerbread Cupcakes (Sugar Free)
- Spiced Chocolate Christmas Cake
- Low Carb Cranberry Sauce Recipe (Sugar Free)
- Keto Biscotti
- Keto Sugar Cookies (Low Carb, Sugar Free)
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Keto Cinnamon Stars (German Christmas Cookies)
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Ingredients
- 300 g / 3 cups almond flour ground almonds work well here too
- 100 g / 1 cup powdered sweetener
- 3 egg whites
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground coffee
Instructions
- Separate the eggs and whip the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Use a glass or ceramic bowl for this and make sure it's totally dry and squeaky-clean. A stick blender with plastic does not give a brilliant result - best is an old-fashioned mixer with 2 steel attachments.
- Fold in the sweetener.
- Reserve 3 tablespoons of the egg white and sugar mix for the glaze
- Add the almond flour/ground almonds and spices and stir until combined.
- Form a dough ball and roll it out around 1/2 a centimetre thick between 2 sheets of baking paper
- Place in the freezer for around 15 minutes. This is an important step - it makes cutting out the dough much easier
- Remove from the freezer, lift the top baking paper sheet and use a cookie cutter to cut out shapes (just rename the recipe if you prefer hearts instead of stars!)
- Brush on the egg white mix we set aside earlier.
- Bake in an pre-heated oven at 120 Celsius for 25 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition
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Ayla says
Hello! How many cookies should this make?
Katrin Nürnberger says
My mix made 50 cookies 🙂
Greg Wallace says
Tried recipe for the first time last night and they came out good. However, the icing wasn’t enough to cover all the cookies. I’m thinking about making some extra egg whites and sweetener. Trying to get my son with autism to try these and i need some more “visible” icing to get him to try them. Thanks for the recipe.
Katrin Nürnberger says
Glad you like the cookies! If you have already baked them, you can also make a simple icing with only powdered sweetener and a splash of water. Just brush over and let dry!
Heather says
Can I leave out the coffee? Any suggestion on a substitute? Thanks !
Katrin Nürnberger says
Of course you can leave out. Any Christmas spices such as ground cardamom or a pinch of nutmeg and cloves would work, too
Marlayna Maynard says
Hello, Katrin. I am making these today to send to family for gifts in the U.S. I am not sure what is meant by the measurement in step 5 of “1/2 cam thick.” Can you clarify how thick the rolled-out dough should be? I just guessed today.
Katrin Nürnberger says
Hi Marlayna, it’s a typo – so glad you spotted it! It’s supposed to be cm, not cam – as in centimetres. The cookies should be around 1/2 cm thick 🙂
Crystal Ann Rodgers says
I’m trying to make these for my dad, but I’m confused on the icing. Do I take out 3 tablespoons of the sugar from the 1 cup, or on it’s own? and the egg mixture.. do I take 3 tblspns from the total amount? totally confused.
Katrin Nürnberger says
Sorry this is confusing. You whip up the egg whites and the sweetener. You reserve 3 tbsp from this mix to use later for the icing. The rest you work into a cookie dough with the nut flour.
Octavia says
loooove the cookies, i find the icing too sweet for me … i’m going to try just with less on top of the cookie may e even leave it off completely
thanks for sharing
Katrin says
You’re welcome!!! Icing is not for everyone… I’m more of a “just the cookie” person myself 🙂
Ursula Metselaar says
I’m so glad I found you. I’ve been under doctor’s orders since July, as I have complex health problems, and I’ve been so good and lost fifteen kilos.
I’ll have a go at these, as I just discovered the sugary kind in the supermarket.
I would be so grateful for more ideas.
Thank you and Merry Christmas!
Katrin says
Hi Ursula, I’m sorry to hear about your health problems – but how amazing that you’ve lost all that weight. 15 kilos, that is A LOT! I solved my health issues by cutting sugar out of my diet and while that is surely not the answer to all illness it certainly can make a difference to your overall wellbeing. I’m glad you are enjoying my recipes and really hope you’ll like the cookies. Merry Christmas!
Lesia says
Hello,
Thank you for the recipe, these taste quite good:)
I followed the recipe to a T and I had to alter it to make it work.
It says 3 cups ground almonds. I assumed you meant actual but ground. That is what I did: ground up some raw almonds enough to make three cups. It is not clear in the recipe what kind to use.
I used liquid egg whites 9 tablespoons which equals 3 eggs.
Katrin says
Hi Lesia, thank you for your comment. Here in the UK supermarkets sell ground almonds in every baking section, they are blanched almonds which are ground. I think elsewhere in the world this is often called almond meal or even almond flour. I’ll mention this in the recipe to clarify. Glad you liked your cookies though! 🙂
Toni says
At least in the US, almond meal is ground almonds with the skins left on, giving it a brown color; almond flour doesn’t have the skins so it looks almost white. Plus I think the flour is ground a little more finely.
Katrin Nürnberger says
Hi Toni, that’s true. I believe that regular almond flour in the US is similar to ground almonds in the UK. Then there is super-fine almond flour, which is often fat-reduced as well and then resembles wheat flour in consistency.
Donna says
Could I leave the frosting off ? I would love to make them in lots of shapes for the children to decorate.
Katrin says
Of course you can! Happy baking 🙂
Bakhta says
I’m eating them as I write and omg … I LOVE THEM SO MUCH! I don’t know how the high carb ones taste (which is weird since I’m german ) but I think the recipe isn’t that different from the low carb ones. I encourage everyone to make them! They’re easy and my whole (high carb eating) family loves them too
Katrin says
Awesome! Glad to get an approval from a real German 🙂
Gill says
I knew that I would find something deliciously authentic and German from you! I have been in Germany now for 11 eleven years & this will be my second attempt at making German Plaetzchen! I am off to bake now! Hope you and your family are well! Gill x
Katrin says
Hi Gill, so happy you are trying them! All is well over here, and let me know when you are over in London next
Taryn says
These are beautiful! I’ve been on a baking kick. Need to add these to the list for Christmas 🙂
Sarah says
December is always one of the busiest months for me – and I am not a list maker either! Living in the Western US, I have never heard of these cookies, but they look delicious!
Maya | Wholesome Yum says
I love how these are already gluten-free and the only changes you needed to make was in the frosting! The star shapes are super cute too!
GiGi says
I NEED to check out that frosting!!!
Kim | Low Carb Maven says
Oh, I am caught by surprise every time December rolls around. I am woefully behind in everything! At least our Christmas tree is going up this weekend – but the shopping! I guess I’d better get cracking, but not until I’ve tried these cookies! I love the addition of the coffee. They sound delicious.
Katrin says
Thank you Kim! They are selling Christmas trees outside my house, so I have no excuse to be late with that one. Next week, for sure… 🙂
Nicoletta @sugarlovespices says
We don’t plan ahead either, we still have to start decorating outside and indoor, buy presents…so behind 🙂 . Love your cookies, beautiful shape and wonderful flavors. You’re so right, too much eating and a lot of extremely sweet stuff going on this time of the year.
Georgina says
Oh these look wonderful! Would make great gifts, too.
Katrin says
Absolutely! I love getting little bags with homemade stuff. The hardest thing would be making sure not to eat them all before you give them away!
STACEY says
These have coffee, cinnamon and icing, so I’m 100 % in! The German in me will love these!
Katrin says
LOL! A recipe with coffee always gets the thumbs up over here, too!
Mary says
Can the coffee be left out or replaced with something?
[No coffee-cookie fans here 🙂 ]
Katrin Nürnberger says
Of course! You can leave it out or add other Christmas spices such as cardamom, a pinch of cloves or nutmeg.
Wendy says
I’m wondering about the glaze – I’m assuming that it’s put on after the cookies are cooled, but I thought I should ask to make sure. I’ve always been told that egg whites need to be cooked to be safe, so I was wondering if the glaze is supposed to go on before baking. I’m looking forward to trying these cookies!
Katrin says
Wendy, I knew there was something I had forgotten! You are right, the glaze goes on before baking. I’ll add it in the recipe. Thanks for the reminder!
Nina Holland says
These look great. I will definitely be trying these this weekend.
And at last, someone posting recipes from a UK perpective, which will enable me to ask: where do you get your ‘powdered’ sweetener or Sukrin Icing from? I’ve never seen it in any health food shops locally and have yet to find it online without it being prohibitively expensive. Would be useful to know your supplier and how much you consider a reasonable price for it?
Katrin says
Hi Nina, Sukrin has a tool on their website where you can input your postcode to find your nearest retailer. Mine is Planet Organic. Or you can buy direct from their website or amazon. If you buy another erythritol brand (from amazon or your health food shop), I would make sure it’s organic, non GMO and not from China. You can just blend it at home to powder it. It’s useful to have powdered sweetener for recipes like this or when you want to sweeten liquids. Erythritol does not dissolve as easily as sugar does, and you don’t want crunch where you don’t need it.
These sweeteners will always be more expensive than table sugar. I have made peace with it because I know that they are better for me than sugar and after all, I don’t eat dessert every day, even when it’s sugar free. This recipe does need quite a bit, though most of my recipe use far less erythritol. Normally, a pack goes a long way.
Hope this helps. Let me know how your cookies turned out!