Chocolate Almond Stars
Chocolate Almond Stars
December is cookie season! No other time seems as right for small treats to enjoy and share. This particular cookie is from Brunsli, Switzerland and are only made during the Christmas holiday. What I liked especially about them: a modest number of ingredients, easy to make and are gluten free. The dough is always made with ground almonds. I played around with two versions. One from Saveur magazine uses chopped chocolate and the dough is rolled very thin for a crisp cookie. The other from the cookbook Ottolenghi Simple. It uses cocoa powder and the cookies are rolled to a ½-inch thickness.
Yotam Ottolenghi also subs Chinese 5-Spice powder for the original cinnamon and ground cloves and adds grated orange zest. I decided to use the original spices and while the orange was interesting, I didn’t think I’d miss it if it wasn’t there. I would also bake the cookies for less time than Ottolenghi specifies for a more brownie-like bite. I loved that the dough scraps can be gathered up again and again without changing the texture.
I hope you try this cookie and let me know your thoughts! And I hope that all your holidays through the New Year will be happy, healthy and full of joy!
Chocolate Almond Stars
Chocolate Almond Stars
ingredients:
- 2¾ cup almond meal
- 1¼ cups granulated sugar, plus 1 tbsp to sprinkle on top
- ¼ cup plus 1 tbs confectioners’ sugar, sifted
- ½ cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder, sifted
- 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground cloves
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 large egg whites
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
instructions:
How to cook Chocolate Almond Stars
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Place all ingredients except the egg whites and vanilla in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the dough hook. Mix on medium speed, until combined. With the mixer running, add the egg whites and vanilla and continue to mix for 1–2 minutes, until the dough comes together into a ball.
- Turn the dough out on a clean surface, shape into a flat disk about 1¼ inches thick, and wrap in plastic wrap. Place in the fridge for about 1 hour, to rest.
- Cut out two pieces of parchment paper. Unwrap the dough from its plastic wrap, place in the middle of the two sheets of parchment paper, and roll out to ½ thick. Using star-shaped cookie cutters, cut out the stars and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Press together the scraps of dough and roll out again, cutting out more stars. Continue until all the dough has been used, then sprinkle the tops with the 1 tbsp of granulated sugar.
- Bake for 10 minutes, until the bottoms are slightly crisp and the middles are soft and gooey.
Calories
167Fat (grams)
9Carbs (grams)
20Fiber (grams)
2Net carbs
18Sugar (grams)
15Protein (grams)
4
