Ingredients
Method
1.Line two baking trays with baking paper, or grease them lightly. Make sure the egg whites are at room temperature, not straight from the fridge.
2.Combine the almonds, cinnamon and lemon zest in a large bowl.
3.Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff, then gradually beat in the icing sugar. Set aside one third of this in a covered bowl for the topping.
4.Tip the remaining meringue into the almond mixture and combine thoroughly – it should be a fairly firm dough. If it is too soft to roll out, add a handful of ground almonds. Roll out the mixture on a floured board until it is about 5mm thick.
5.Cut out carefully into large or small stars (dip the cutters in water to prevent them sticking) and then transfer to the baking sheets using a spatula. Press the scraps together, re-roll and cut more stars.
6.Now you need to brush the stars with the reserved meringue mixture to make a lovely crisp, white topping when baked. If the meringue seems too stiff, thin with 1 teaspoon of cold water. Use a fairly small brush and take your time over this.
7.Set trays aside for biscuits to dry out a little – at least 1 hour or even overnight if that suits you better. Don’t cover them closely or the surface will stay damp. I use an umbrella food cover but you could improvise by draping a clean cloth over some tall jars.
8.Preheat oven to 150°C and bake stars for 10 minutes or until biscuits are light brown and firm but still moist (I bake one tray at a time so I can watch it).
9.Cool on wire racks and store in airtight containers.
