Heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F and line two baking sheets with non-stick baking parchment.

Whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks using a hand-held electric whisk or in the bowl of a free-standing electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Add the icing sugar one tablespoon at a time, whisking all the while. Add
the cinnamon and give it a final few seconds of whisking before folding in the ground almonds with a spatula, bringing all the ingredients together into a sticky dough.

Dust the work surface with icing sugar and roll the dough out to a 5mm/1/8in thickness. Cut star shapes out of the dough with your cookie cutter and gently transfer them over to the baking sheet with 1cm/3/8in between each to allow for a little spreading. Re-roll all the dough offcuts into more biscuits.

Bake in the oven for 10–12 minutes until just golden on top and firm to the touch – they should still be soft inside. Allow to cool on the sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the icing, whisk the egg white to stiff peaks using a hand-held electric whisk or an old- fashioned double whisk with a cranking handle (my preferred choice; one egg white is too small an amount to whisk in a free-standing kitchen machine). Fold the icing sugar into the stiff egg white until a thick, glossy icing is formed.

Spoon small amounts of icing onto each cooled biscuit and, using the tip of a knife, drag the icing out to the pointed ends of the star, ensuring the entire top of the cookie is covered. Leave out to air dry for 8 hours (overnight is ideal).

Stored in an airtight container, these will keep well for a month or more.