Martha Stewart Cinnamon Stars Recipes

CINNAMON-ALMOND STARS

Steps:

• Cookies: Pulse almonds with 1/4 cup brown sugar in a food processor until finely ground. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.
• With a mixer on medium speed, beat butter with remaining 1 1/4 cups brown sugar until fluffy, about 4 minutes. Beat in egg and Marsala until combined. Reduce speed to low and add almond and flour mixtures, beating until just combined.
• Divide dough in half and shape each half into a disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours and up to overnight.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Let dough stand at room temperature until pliable. Roll out one dough disk on a lightly floured surface to just under 1/4 inch thick. Using a 3 1/2-inch cookie cutter, cut out as many stars as possible, rerolling scraps once. Arrange stars 2 inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets.
• Bake, rotating sheets once, until edges are golden, 9 to 11 minutes. Let cool on sheets 1 minute, then transfer cookies to a wire rack; let cool completely. Repeat with remaining disk of dough.
• Icing: With mixer on medium speed, beat confectioners' sugar, 3 tablespoons water, vanilla, and orange zest until smooth. Spoon mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a small writing tip, or a resealable plastic bag with a corner snipped off. Decorate cookies with icing and sprinkle with pearlized sugar; let set about 30 minutes. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container, between sheets of parchment or waxed paper, up to 1 week.

CINNAMON STARS (ZIMTSTERNE)

Steps:

• In a food processor, pulse almonds with 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar until finely ground, about 1 minute (do not grind into a paste). Add cinnamon and zest, and pulse twice.
• In a separate bowl, whisk egg whites and salt with an electric mixer at medium speed until stiff peaks form. Gradually whisk in remaining 1 cup confectioners' sugar. Continue to whisk until meringue is glossy and stiff, but not dry, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer 1/3 cup meringue to a small bowl. Add remaining meringue to mixture in processor, and pulse just until dough comes together. Place dough on parchment lightly dusted with confectioners' sugar; pat into a disk, and chill 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 300 degrees, with racks in middle and upper thirds. Dust top of dough lightly with confectioners' sugar, top with parchment, and roll to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut dough using a 1 1/2-inch star-shaped cutter, and transfer to parchment-lined baking sheets. Dip cutter into confectioners' sugar frequently to prevent dough from sticking. Reroll scraps, and cut more shapes.
• Stir the water into reserved meringue; brush mixture generously over tops of stars using a small paintbrush. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until firm when gently pressed, but not hard and dry, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cookies cool completely on sheets on wire racks. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.

CINNAMON ROLLS

Steps:

• Dough: Brush a large bowl with butter; set aside. Place potato in a small pot of water and bring to a boil. Cook until fork-tender, 10 to 12 minutes; drain. Pass through a ricer or mash with a fork until smooth (to yield 2/3 cup); let cool slightly.
• Heat milk until warm to the touch (110 degrees on a thermometer). Transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer; add yeast. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Stir in butter, granulated sugar, potato, egg, flour, and salt until a ragged dough forms. Place bowl on mixer fitted with the dough-hook attachment; mix on medium-low speed, scraping sides and removing dough from hook a few times, until soft and pliable, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a lightly floured surface; knead into a ball. Transfer to buttered bowl (dough will be very soft) and cover with plastic wrap. (Dough can be covered and refrigerated at this point up to 2 days). Let rise in a warm place until almost doubled, 1 hour and 10 minutes to 1 1/2 hours. Brush a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish with butter; set aside.
• Filling: In a medium bowl, stir together brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Punch down dough; transfer to a lightly floured surface. Roll out to a 14-by-18-inch rectangle. Spread evenly with butter, leaving a 1/2-inch border on far long edge; top with brown-sugar mixture. Starting at long edge closest to you, roll dough away from you into a tight jelly-roll shape. Transfer, seam-side down, to a parchment-lined baking sheet and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Trim ends, then cut roll crosswise into twelve 1 1/2-inch-thick rounds with a serrated knife. Arrange, cut-sides up, in prepared dish; cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 8 hours, or overnight.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove rolls from refrigerator and place in a warm spot until almost doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours. Remove plastic and bake until browned on top and a thermometer inserted registers about 210 degrees, 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool in dish on a wire rack, 10 minutes.
• Glaze: Meanwhile, whisk together cream cheese, confectioners' sugar, milk, vanilla, and salt. Spread rolls with glaze; let cool 15 to 20 minutes more before serving.