Wholemeal cookies from the bakery: nutty snowflake stars with couverture shine

Take the butter out of the fridge in good time: it should be soft enough that you can leave a light dent in it with your finger. Put the butter and raw cane sugar into a bowl and beat them with the hand mixer or the food processor for about 3 minutes until creamy. The mixture will become lighter and fluffy.

Beat the egg in a mug. Without its shell, an egg usually weighs almost exactly the 53 g called for in the recipe. With the mixer running, pour it into the butter mixture in a thin stream and keep mixing until it is fully incorporated. If you add it all at once, the mixture may curdle.

Add the oat flakes first, then the ground almonds to the bowl and stir them in briefly.

Mix the spelt wholemeal flour with the cinnamon and the pinch of salt, then add everything to the mixture. Stir on a low speed only until no dry pockets of flour are visible. The dough will still be crumbly at this stage, and that is exactly right.

Press the crumbs together in the bowl or on the work surface with your hands and knead the dough briefly until it is firm and smooth. Don't knead for longer than necessary: the less the dough is worked, the more tender the cookies will be.

Press the dough into a flat, rectangular block, wrap it in cling film and chill it in the fridge for about 1 hour. A flat block cools more evenly and is easier to roll out later than a ball.

Preheat the oven to 170 °C fan-assisted and line two baking trays with baking paper. Dust the work surface lightly with flour and roll the dough out to about 5 mm thick. The easiest way is to use two dough strips on the left and right as spacers: this makes the sheet even in thickness everywhere, and all the cookies will be ready at the same time.

Cut out the snowflake stars with the ice crystal cookie cutter. Place them as close together as possible so that few scraps are left over. Put the stars on the baking paper with some space between them. Knead the scraps together briefly, roll them out again and cut out more stars. If the dough becomes too soft in the process, chill it in the fridge for 10 minutes.

Bake the cookies in the middle of the oven for 10 to 15 minutes, until the edges turn lightly golden. They will still be a little soft when you take them out and will firm up as they cool. Let them cool completely on the tray before decorating: on warm cookies, the couverture would not set properly.

To make the couverture shine and snap nicely, you need to temper it. Melt two thirds of the couverture over a water bath or in the microwave in short intervals to 45 to 50 °C. Then add the remaining third and stir until everything has melted and the couverture has cooled to 31 to 32 °C. We show you exactly how this works in our guide to tempering.

Pour the tempered couverture into a small, rather deep bowl. Hold each star by one side and dip it halfway into the couverture at an angle. Lift it out slowly, let it drip briefly and wipe the underside against the edge of the bowl. Then place it on baking paper.

Sprinkle the sugar sprinkles over the still soft couverture straight away, ideally after every third or fourth star, so they still adhere well. Then leave the cookies at room temperature for about 30 minutes to set.