Vanillekipferl (vanilla crescents)
Vanillekipferl
Contains allergens
- Author
- Equipo Cocinoa
- Preparation time
- 2 hr
- Servings
- 10
Summary
An easy recipe for 10 servings. It takes about 146 minutes to make. It is vegetarian.
The vanilla crescents of Austrian Christmas baking: a melt-in-the-mouth shortbread dough of butter and ground almonds, rolled while warm in vanilla icing sugar. The recipe makes about 50 and they improve after a few days.
Ingredients
- 250 g Wheat flour
- 200 g Butter (cold, diced)
- 1 pinch Salt
- 2 u Egg Yolks
- 100 g ground almonds (or ground hazelnuts)
- 180 g Icing Sugar (70 g for the dough and 110 g for coating)
- 2 u vanilla pod (one for the dough and one for the coating)
Instructions
Split one vanilla pod lengthways and scrape out the seeds. Mix the flour, ground almonds, 70 g of the icing sugar, the salt and those seeds in a bowl.
3 min
Add the cold butter and rub it in with your fingertips until the mixture looks like coarse sand. Add the egg yolks and bring the dough together quickly with your hands, without working it more than necessary.
6 min
Divide the dough into four, shape each piece into a log about 3 cm thick, wrap in cling film and chill for at least an hour.
60 min
Meanwhile, make the coating sugar: mix the rest of the icing sugar with the seeds of the second pod, rubbing them between your fingers to spread them evenly, and tip it into a shallow dish.
3 min
Heat the oven to 170 °C conventional (155 °C fan) and line two trays with baking paper. Cut the logs into 1 cm slices, roll each into a rope about 7 cm long, thinner at the ends, and curve it into a crescent on the tray, leaving 2 cm between them.
25 min
Put the trays in the fridge for 10 minutes so the crescents hold their shape in the oven.
10 min
Bake one tray at a time until the base and tips are just turning pale golden and the rest is still pale, about 12 minutes per tray.
24 min
Leave them on the tray for two or three minutes, then, while still warm, carefully roll them in the vanilla sugar or dust them generously with it. Let them cool completely on a wire rack and roll them again before storing.
15 min
Notes
In Austria and southern Germany no plate of Christmas biscuits is complete without Vanillekipferl. They are baked during Advent alongside other homemade biscuits to have ready for Christmas, offer to visitors and give away in boxes; they are also much loved in the Czech Republic and Hungary. These quantities make about 50 crescents 6 or 7 cm long. The dough must be cold and handled as little as possible: if it warms up the crescents spread and lose their shape, so chill the shaped trays as well. They bake very briefly, only until the tips start to colour; the middle should stay pale. Straight from the oven they are very fragile, but that is when the sugar sticks best, so wait a couple of minutes and handle them gently. You can swap the almonds for ground hazelnuts, which some families prefer. If you don't have a vanilla pod, use two sachets of vanilla sugar in the coating. Holiday plan: the dough keeps for two days in the fridge or three months in the freezer. The biscuits last three to four weeks in an airtight tin, in layers separated with baking paper, and taste best after two or three days, once the vanilla has worked its way into the dough.
More information
Guide indicatorsDifficulty, quality and data reliability
Guide indicators
- Estimated difficulty49/100
- Recipe completeness65/100
- Nutrition reliability
- Medium
Calculated automatically from the ingredients, steps, time and community feedback. They are not a guarantee.
StorageKeeps 4 days in the fridge
Frequently asked questions
- How long does Vanillekipferl (vanilla crescents) take to make?
- It takes about 146 minutes in total.
- Which allergens does Vanillekipferl (vanilla crescents) contain?
- It contains cereals containing gluten, milk, eggs and tree nuts. Always check the labels of the products you use.
- How long does Vanillekipferl (vanilla crescents) keep in the fridge?
- Up to 4 days in the fridge, in a closed container. It can also be frozen.
- Which diets is this recipe suitable for?
- It is vegetarian.
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