In a blender grind the almonds along with the skin to a fine powder & set aside

Beat the egg whites along with the lemon juice till very stiff (the mixture starts to look opaque)

Now to make the meringue, add the sugar and mix it well until it is fully dissolved.

Keep aside about three fourth of this meringue.

In a large bowl add one fourth of the meringue and fold in the almond powder, cinnamon powder and vanilla essence.

Knead it into a smooth dough (similar to the chapathi dough) and set aside covered for about 30mins

Preheat the oven to 150 degrees celsius for about 6 minutes. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper

Now sift some powdered sugar over a working surface/wooden cutting board

Divide the dough into two and roll out half of it into a thick sheet (about a quarter inch thick)

Use a star shaped cookie cutter to cut out star shaped cookies (I didnt have a star shaped one so I used a regular flower shaped cutter)

Place the stars on the baking tray and brush them with some meringue ensuring that it does not dribble down to the sides*

Bake stars on the lower and middle racks for 25 minutes, switching the sheets about halfway through baking time.

Remove from oven & cool them off on a wire rack. The base of the cookies will be sugar coated and the top would be glazed