Gluten-Free Zimtsterne: German Cinnamon Stars (Flourless)

Gluten-free Zimtsterne are Germany’s cinnamon star cookies: ground almonds, icing sugar and cinnamon bound with whisked egg white, cut into stars and topped with a white glaze before they bake. The traditional recipe uses no flour at all, so the labels that matter are the ground almonds, the icing sugar and any spice blend. One batch makes 30 to 35 stars, baked for 10 to 12 minutes at 150 °C.

This is our Zimtsterne bake-along from December 2025, written up as a recipe. Zimtsterne are one of the few classic Christmas cookies that never needed flour: the almonds give them body, the egg white holds them together, and the middle stays soft. Three labels deserve a look before you start: the ground almonds (what to look for on almonds), the icing sugar (what to check on icing sugar) and the cinnamon, if it comes as a blend (single spices and blends). If a pack leaves you unsure, run it through Label Lab.

Gluten-Free Zimtsterne: German Cinnamon Stars (Flourless)

Germany's soft cinnamon star cookies: ground almonds, icing sugar and cinnamon bound with whisked egg white and finished with a white glaze. No flour of any kind.

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Cook Time 12 minutes mins

Servings: 30 stars

Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: German

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

 

MetricUS

 

1x2x3x?

Dough

• 250 g ground almonds check the label
• 150 g icing sugar powdered sugar; check the label
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 egg whites medium
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 tsp vanilla sugar optional; check the label
• ½ lemon, grated zest optional

Glaze

• 1 egg white medium
• 150 g icing sugar check the label
• 1 tsp lemon juice

To finish

• icing sugar for dusting the dough and the cutter

Method

 

1. Mix the dough: In a bowl, mix the ground almonds, icing sugar and cinnamon (and the vanilla sugar and lemon zest, if you use them). In a clean bowl, whisk the 2 egg whites with the salt until stiff, then gently fold in the almond mix. The dough will be sticky; if it is very soft, chill it for 10 to 15 minutes.
   
2. Roll out: Roll the dough between two sheets of baking paper to 6 to 8 mm thick. Dust it with icing sugar, then cut out stars. Dip the cutter in icing sugar now and then so it doesn't stick.
   
3. Make the glaze: Whisk the egg white briefly, stir in the icing sugar a spoonful at a time, then add the lemon juice: the glaze should be thick and spreadable. Spread it over the top of each star with a brush or a small palette knife, without letting it run over the edges.
   
4. Bake: Heat the oven to 150 °C top and bottom heat (300 °F), or 120 to 140 °C fan. Set the stars on a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake for 10 to 12 minutes. The glaze should stay pale and the cookie soft: a minute too short is better than too dark.
   
5. Cool and store: Let them cool completely; the glaze keeps setting as they cool. Store them in a tin for 1 to 2 weeks. For extra-soft stars, put a slice of apple in the tin, not touching the cookies.
   

Notes

Coeliac notes
• Ground almonds: almonds contain no gluten, but some ground almonds are processed where wheat is handled. Choose packs with a gluten-free claim.
• Icing sugar: sugar itself is gluten-free, but icing sugar sometimes contains an anti-caking starch, usually corn or potato. Read the label; in the EU and UK, wheat would be named on it.
• Cinnamon: pure ground cinnamon, as a single spice, is gluten-free; read the label on any ready-mixed spice blend.
• Vanilla sugar (optional): a mixed product, so read the label like any other.
• Use a clean bowl and clean whisks, and keep the flour tin out of the way while you work.
• Contains tree nuts and egg: worth saying when you share them.
• When a label is unclear, treat it as "not for me".

Storage
• Keep them in a tin for 1 to 2 weeks. A slice of apple in the tin (not touching the stars) keeps them extra soft.

For gluten-free baking, weigh if you can: cups vary a lot with these flours.

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Sources: HTGF ingredient checks on almond flour and ground almonds (processing alongside wheat), on sugar and icing sugar (anti-caking starch; sources Coeliac UK, EU Regulation 1169/2011 and 828/2014, US FDA, Codex) and on spices (single spices vs blends; sources EU Regulation 1169/2011, Coeliac UK, Codex), checked 28 September 2026. Recipe: our Zimtsterne bake-along, December 2025. Last checked: 1 November 2026.