The VANILLEKIPFERL, or vanilla crescents, are Christmas cookies of Austrian origin but widely enjoyed throughout the territories of the former Habsburg Empire. They are easy to make, buttery, incredibly crumbly and have an intense almond and vanilla aroma. Like all holiday sweets, they are always welcome at the end of a meal or at any other time of the day, pleasing both children and adults equally.
These simple cookies owe their flavor to the intense vanilla aroma, but the feature that truly makes them special is their crumbly texture, due to the almond flour and the butter—an ingredient that really makes a difference here. They can also be made in large quantities but, I assure you, they will disappear in no time. A tip: you can prepare them a few days before Christmas and turn them into a charming, sweet gift for your friends. They’ll appreciate it and, rest assured, they’ll come back asking for the recipe.
LOOK AT OTHER COOKIES TO MAKE FOR CHRISTMAS:
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Low cost
- Rest time: 1 Hour
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 40 vanillekipferl
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Autumn, Winter
- Energy 96.59 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 8.91 (g) of which sugars 3.73 (g)
- Proteins 1.39 (g)
- Fat 6.21 (g) of which saturated 3.06 (g)of which unsaturated 1.77 (g)
- Fibers 0.46 (g)
- Sodium 11.30 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 18 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
- 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup almond flour (blanched)
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (or the seeds of one pod)
- 3 egg yolks (medium)
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 cup butter (cold)
- 3 1/3 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 3 1/3 tablespoons vanilla powdered sugar
Tools
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Stand mixer
- 1 Baking sheet
- 1 Parchment paper
Steps
Making VANILLEKIPFERL is really child’s play.
First, place the blanched almonds in the oven and toast them for 5 minutes at 356°F. Then remove them, let them cool and chop them finely. Alternatively, use ready-made almond flour.
In a large bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, place the sifted flour, the almond flour, the powdered sugar and a pinch of salt.
Mix the dry ingredients and add the cold butter cut into pieces and the vanilla extract, or the seeds of a pod. Start kneading quickly until you obtain crumbs. Add the yolks and incorporate them quickly into the rest of the ingredients until you have a homogeneous dough. If it seems too soft and sticky, add half a tablespoon of flour.
Shape the dough into a disk, wrap it in plastic wrap and transfer it to the fridge to firm up for at least 1 hour.
Preheat the oven on conventional mode to 356°F or to 320°F if using fan-assisted mode. Take the dough out of the fridge, break off pieces of about 0.6 oz each and work them with your hands until you obtain little sticks that are narrower at the ends.
Shape them into crescents and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, spaced slightly apart.
Bake the VANILLEKIPFERL for 8–9 minutes. They should only lightly color at the tips.
Remove them from the oven, let them cool slightly and roll them on both sides in powdered sugar mixed with vanilla powdered sugar, then let them cool on a rack. Once cold, dust them with additional powdered sugar.
STORAGE
They keep for up to 10 days if well sealed in a tin box or a glass jar.
