Sugar Star Cookies

Flavoured with orange zest and prepared with ground walnuts and cloves, these Sugar Star Cookies are painted with your favourite jam and baked until lightly browned. Topped with coarse sugar, these beautiful holiday treats will set your cookie gift box above all others!

Smack dab in the middle of another lockdown back in 2020, I prepared the most delicious German Cinnamon Stars. Fast forward three years later, and I found myself in search of another star-shaped cookie recipe to share with you this holiday season. Allow me to introduce to you these Sugar Star Cookies! Without a doubt, Dear Reader, these are in my top 5 favourite cookie recipes of all time! Yes, they really are that good!

Now, my job as a food blogger is to encourage you to prepare my recipes at home in your own kitchen. But, it would not be fair to you if I did not admit that even though these cookies are phenomenal, the preparation, however, is tedious. The spreading of that jam onto the raw cookie dough takes some time. It’s worth it though! I don’t suggest you prepare these cookies if you’re planning to give them away as a present or a hostess gift. These need to be coveted and eaten in silence with a hot beverage. They deserve nothing less!

I’m going to tell you all about this cookie recipe and how you can make it in your home this holiday season, but first, I want to tell you about what you can expect from Lord Byron’s Kitchen this Christmas. I know we’re getting closer to the big day, so it’s time to get to the cookie recipes! Before I get into this brand-new series, let me make mention of the three previous holiday confection countdowns that I just finished up this year.

Back in October, I kicked off the holiday season with a holiday recipe series called Lord Byron’s 12 Christmas Donuts and followed that up with a second series called Lord Byron’s 12 Christmas Appetizers. And now, I’m starting out on this new series, which is the sixth annual instalment! I cannot believe that this is the sixth year in a row that I’ve shared Lord Byron’s 24 Cookies of Christmas! But, before we get to a list of ingredients and instructions for today’s recipe, let me tell you about this series and more!

LORD BYRON’S 24 COOKIES OF CHRISTMAS SERIES

Another holiday series, Lord Byron? Yes – why not!? Welcome, Dear Reader, to the fourth of my annual holiday recipe series for this season! This one is called Lord Byron’s 24 Cookies of Christmas – Volume 6! I will try to keep the recipes in this series quick and easy, just like in previous years. Even if a recipe looks complex, I promise you that it is not! My goal, as always, is to share recipes with you that are not too complex to whip up as a holiday treat for your family. 

Like every other holiday series I’ve shared over the years, this series will share a new recipe every day for the next 24 days – even on Saturday and Sunday! You might be asking yourself, how many Christmas recipes could one possibly have or need? Well, I say you can never have too much of a good thing. And, I love having lots of choices. Who wants to prepare the same holiday recipes year after year?

SUBSCRIBE NOW SO THAT YOU NEVER MISS OUT ON NEW RECIPES!

So, welcome, Dear Reader, to Lord Byron’s 24 Cookies of Christmas series! Even though this is the fourth series for this holiday season, you can always look back at previous years if you just cannot wait until the next recipe is published. Also, some of my favourite recipe collections from previous years are my 75 Homemade Gifts from Your Kitchen, my 50 Make Ahead Freezer Friendly Christmas Recipes, and my 30 No-Bake Christmas Recipes post.

You really don’t want to miss one of these recipes, so if you have not yet subscribed to Lord Byron’s Kitchen, I encourage you to do so. That way, a new recipe will be emailed to you every day. You won’t have to bother to come looking for it! Like in previous holiday recipe countdowns, I like to mix up the recipes in the series so that there is something for everyone. Are you ready!!??

INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO PREPARE THIS RECIPE

The following is a list of the ingredients needed to prepare this recipe. For exact amounts and measurements, refer to the printable recipe card located near the bottom of this post.

• Butter – Make sure your butter is softened and at room temperature.
• Confectioner’s Sugar – You might call it powdered sugar or icing sugar.
• Vanilla Extract – Want to know a secret among many bakers? Use white vanilla extract instead of the dark amber kind to keep your confections looking brighter!
• Orange Zest
• Cornstarch – It helps to create a crumbly and tender dessert-like texture.
• Flour – This recipe has only been tested with all-purpose, unbleached flour.
• Walnuts
• Ground Cloves
• Jam – I’m using my homemade Spiced Christmas Jam here, but you can use your favourite jam.
• Coarse Sanding Sugar and Granulated Sugar

GROUND NUTS – WALNUTS, ALMOND, HAZELNUTS – WOW!

Do you want to know something really great about Sugar Star Cookies? You can use almost any nut you like! Ground walnuts, almonds, or hazelnuts are the most commonly used nuts for this recipe. You can use all of one kind, or you can make your own blend of the three.

Once you have decided, it’s time to grind them. If you have opted to toast the nuts before, you must make sure they are completely cooled before you move forward. Warm nuts will most likely become pasty in the food processor. Cooled toasted nuts have firmed up and the natural oil has once again hardened.

Place the nuts into a food processor. We do not want nut flour or nut butter here! Literally, pulse the nuts two to three times maximum. What you want is a coarse sand-like consistency with quite visible chunks in it. Don’t worry about the consistency too much. The key here is to keep the nuts from becoming mushy or moist.

HOW TO MAKE SUGAR STAR COOKIES

Beat together the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and orange zest. Incorporate into the butter and sugar mixture. Add the flour, cornstarch, ground walnuts, and ground cloves. On low speed, beat them into the butter and sugar until well incorporated.

Divide the dough into two portions. Roll one portion of the dough to 1/3 inch thick on a lightly floured surface. Use a star-shaped cookie cutter, or your favourite cookie cutter shape to cut out the cookies. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet, leaving 2 inches of space between each cookie.

Use a food-safe paintbrush to brush a thin layer of the jam over the cookie. This may take some time, but be patient and have fun with it. Be aware of how much jam you’re using. You want a thin layer only. If you apply too much, it will run down the sides of the cookie when baking.

When the cookies are all spread with jam, set the baking sheet in your fridge for 30 minutes. In the meantime, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Bake for 12 minutes. Remove from oven sprinkle the top of each cookie with a little coarse sanding sugar and granulated sugar. Allow the cookies to sit for 2 minutes before transferring them to a wire cooling rack to finish cooling.

STORING, PACKAGING, & FREEZING

When it comes to most cookies, they taste best at room temperature, but they don’t hold up well to being left out on your countertop for long periods of time. Cookies will stay fresh in a cookie jar or food-safe container with a lid for 3-5 days if left to sit on your kitchen countertop. You can store them in a food-safe container in your fridge. When you want one, two, or half a dozen, take them out of the container and place them in a single layer on a plate. Let them sit at room temperature for 5 minutes and they’re ready!

If you plan to freeze your Star Sugar Cookies, you certainly can! Pile them into a clean, food-safe container. The container must be freezer friendly! You’ll want to ensure a very tight-fitting lid too. I use these quite often when freezing baked goods. I like to place a sheet of plastic wrap over the top of the container before pushing the lid on. This helps to create a better seal. The goal is to keep all of that freshness locked in!  

You can freeze these cookies for up to three months. If you plan to give previously frozen cookies as a gift, I would lay them out on a wire cooling rack to thaw completely. Once thawed, pile into cellophane bags and tie with a ribbon, or stack in a cookie tin/box.

QUESTIONS?

If I have not answered all of your questions in the text above, don’t hesitate to reach out to me! You can contact me by sending me a message in the comments section further down the page. I will try my best to answer as soon as possible! You might reach me even faster by following me on Facebook and sending me a private message. Scroll down below the recipe card to find my Follow Me on Social Media box and never miss another recipe!

Finally, as I stated previously, every day I will be posting a new recipe. If you miss one, don’t fret. You can find my entire collection of Christmas Recipes right here! There are over 200 Christmas recipes and counting. There’s something for everyone! Cheers! Recipe adapted from Rumbly in my Tummy.