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!