A Christmas recipe for children

Aunt Marie’s Delicious Cinnamon Stars -By Elisabeth Hurley

Have you ever walked into a room where the warm smell of cinnamon was hanging in the air? Have you ever had a craving for whatever it was that had created this welcoming aroma? If you did, you know what Aunt Marie’s kitchen was like.

Aunt Marie came to America from a small mountain village in Germany. She loved to bake, especially at Christmas time. Her – and everyone else’s – favorite cookie was one she had created herself. Here is the recipe for her cinnamon stars:

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

• Mom’s or Dad’s help
• A large space on the kitchen counter
• A large mixing bowl
• A food processor (or grater) – you may have seen it used before
• A rolling pin
• A star-shaped cookie cutter
• Wax paper
• Foil

WHAT YOU WILL ALSO NEED:

• 1 pound of white flour
• 2 sticks of unsalted butter
• 3 egg yolks (you know, that’s the yellow part from the eggs)
• 2 pound of sugar
• 1/4 pound of almonds
• 1/4 pound of filberts (nuts you can get in a health food store if you can’t find them in the supermarket)
• 2 lemon (the peel only)
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 small bowl with a mix of sugar and cinnamon (don’t make the mix too dark)

HOW THE COOKIES ARE MADE:

1. With the help of a grownup, grind the almonds and the nuts in a food processor. (If your Mom doesn’t have one, ask a neighbor. It takes forever to grate them by hand.) Grind or grate the lemon peel.
2. In a large bowl, mix the flour, small pieces of the butter, egg yolks, sugar, almonds, filberts, lemon peel, and baking powder. Knead everything well together into a ball (just like you would knead clay).
3. Separate the large ball of dough into two smaller balls. Wrap each portion of dough in wax paper and let it rest (yes, dough rests too!) in the refrigerator for about 15 to 30 minutes.
4. Ask your grownup helper to turn the oven to 325-350 degrees. Let it heat up while the dough is resting.
5. Prepare a large, free counter space with wax paper and cover three to four baking sheets with foil to give them a Alining@ so cookies won’t stick.
6. With the rolling pin, roll out one of the pieces of dough (from the refrigerator) to about 1/4 inch thick. Cut out as many stars from that piece of dough as you can. Put the cookies very carefully on the baking sheets (leave a little space in-between each cookie).
7. With the help of Mom or Dad, bake the cookies for about 20 to 25 minutes. They should look golden when done.
8. While the cookies are still warm from baking, cover them in the sugar-cinnamon mix. Let them cool on a plate.

Your first batch is done. Will you be able to wait for a taste until all the cookies are baked? Another thing. Will you ever be able to forget that wonderful cinnamon smell or have Christmas without it? I bet you won’t!

Elisabeth Hurley
E-mail me