recipe-site/_includes/difficulty_stars.html

{%- if page.difficulty or recipe.difficulty -%}
	{%- if page.difficulty -%}
		{%- assign difficulty = page.difficulty -%}
	{%- else -%}
		{%- assign difficulty = recipe.difficulty -%}
	{%- endif -%}

	{%- if difficulty < 6 and difficulty > 0 -%}
		{%- comment -%} note: these characters are invalid unicode. they will only render properly on the webpage using the bundled "stars" font. {%- endcomment -%}
		{%- assign empty_star ="" -%}
		{%- assign full_star = "" -%}
		{%- assign half_star = "" -%}

		{%- comment -%} build a string of empty stars {%- endcomment -%}
		{%- assign stars = "" -%}
		{%- for i in (1..5) -%}
			{%- assign stars = stars | append: empty_star -%}
		{%- endfor -%}
		{%- comment -%} replace the first difficulty stars will filled stars {%- endcomment -%}
		{%- assign page_stars_rounded = difficulty | floor -%}
		{%- for i in (1..page_stars_rounded) -%}
			{%- assign stars = stars | replace_first: empty_star, full_star -%}
		{%- endfor -%}
		{%- if difficulty != page_stars_rounded -%}
			{%- comment -%} stars ends in .5 (or .1, or .9, or whatever) {%- endcomment -%}
			{%- assign stars = stars | replace_first: empty_star, half_star -%}
		{%- endif -%}
		<span class='stars'>{{ stars }}</span>
	{%- endif -%}
{%- endif -%}