Traditional Vanillekipferl (Vanilla crescent cookies)

A Vanillekipferl is a delicious vanilla-flavored cookie with a melt-in-your-mouth texture. These crescent-shaped cookies are made with ground nuts and sprinkled with vanilla-infused powdered sugar. A classic German Christmas cookie that was imported from Austria.

They are some of the most popular Christmas cookies in Germany. Here you can buy them in supermarkets or at Christmas markets. Their shortbread-like, melt-in-your-mouth texture and their subtle vanilla and nut flavor combination make them a crowd-pleaser.

Let me show you this traditional German vanillekipferl recipe in english.

What are Vanillekipferl?

Vanillekipferl is a crescent-shaped cookie that is especially popular during Christmas time in the German, Bohemian, and Austrian Regions. The recipe consists of a simple short-crust pastry dough made with ground nuts (such as almonds, hazelnut, or walnuts). The star ingredient is vanilla, that is used in the dough. [source: Wikipedia]

You form the dough into little thin rolls, and then bend them into the crescent form. After you bake them, you can coat them with vanilla-infused powdered sugar.

"Vanille" - is the word for "vanilla" in German. The term "Kipferl"describes the crescent-shaped form of the cookie. So Vanillekipferl translates as "Vanilla Crescent" in English. This is how you pronounce it.

History

The cookie originated as a Christmas cookie from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, most probably from Vienna. As the Turks occupied Vienna in the 16th and 17th centuries, we assume that they imported this typical Islamic moon shape.

As vanilla, sugar, and salt were precious commodities until the 20th century, we can assume that this cookie was reserved for the upper class. Only at the end of the 19th century when the discovery of "vanillin" made the vanilla flavor more accessible.

How to make Vanillekipferl

Ingredients

• flour (Germany 405 type flour, USA all-purpose flour, UK plain flour)
• ground nuts (either almond, hazelnut or walnuts, or a mix)
• refined sugar 
• 1 vanilla bean (affiliate link) - can be replaced with vanilla sugar or vanilla extract (affiliate link)
• salt
• egg yolks - there is a debate as to whether to use egg yolks for vanillekipferl in Germany. I use them as it makes the dough easier to work with.
• cold butter - it is important to use cold butter for this cookie, as mixing the cold butter with the flour will inhibit the process of gluten forming, and so helps the cookie get its famous crumbly texture.
• Powdered sugar (icing sugar/confectioners sugar)
• Vanilla Sugar * see below notes

German Vanilla Sugar

Vanilla sugar is an important European ingredient and essential for this cookie. You can buy it at the supermarket or use my easy method to make it yourself. If you want to read more about vanilla sugar read my in-depth article

Fast Vanilla Sugar - You will need 220 g / 1 cup sugar and 1 vanilla pod.

1. The fastest way to make vanilla sugar from organic ingredients is to scrape out the pod.
2. Pour the sugar into the jar and add the pulp.
3. Grind the shell of the vanilla pod in a coffee grinder or blender and give it to the sugar mixture. 
4. Alternatively, you can grind the pulp, pod, and sugar in a blender before pouring it into the jar. 
5. You can use the sugar immediately, or wait for 2 weeks for the optimal flavor to unfold. 

Vanilla Crescent Cookies Recipe Step-by-Step:

1. If you plan to use a vanilla bean: slice open the vanilla bean lengthwise and remove the pulp and mix it with the ground nuts. (Keep the vanilla bean to make homemade vanilla sugar for your next German baking experience)

2. Separate the eggs. Create a mound with flour, sugar, and ground nuts. (I used hazelnuts in the example). On the top create a little crater and then add in egg yolks. Now cube the cold butter and add on top of the ingredients
3. With ideally "cold" hands you knead the ingredients to a smooth dough. (At first, the dough will feel very crumbly and dry. Do not despair, it will come together in time, and if you are struggling add 1 teaspoon of water at a time. You do not want to knead the dough for too long, as you want to avoid it becoming too chewy or elastic.)

4. Once the dough has come together, wrap it in cling film and place it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. This will allow the butter to cool down again and makes the dough easier to shape.
5. Line a baking tray with baking parchment and preheat your oven to 180°C/ 356°F top to bottom heat.

6. After the chilling time, divide the dough into 2 parts. Roll them each into approximately 30 cm/ 12 inch rolls and then slice them into 1 cm pieces. Roll each piece into an 8-10 cm / 3-4 inches long roll with tapered ends. Carefully bend them into crescent form and place them onto the baking tray.
7. Bake in the oven, on the middle tray for approximately 12 minutes.
8. While the cookies are baking, mix 8 teaspoons of vanilla sugar with 3 tablespoons of powdered sugar.

9. Once the cookies are baked, carefully turn them in the powdered sugar-vanilla mix, while still hot. The sugar will stick better to the cookie when they are hot. Then leave them to cool on a rack. The sugar will soak up any remaining moisture from the cookie to make them extra crumbly.
10. Store in a cookie tin (affiliate link), and dust again with powdered sugar before serving.

4 Tips for the best Vanillekipferl cookies

1. Use Cold Butter

Using cold butter will help the vanilla cookie maintain its crumbly texture. The cold butter acts as a barrier for the flour particles so the gluten, which makes a dough smooth and elastic, does not form.

This is why you do not want to knead the dough too much. Once you use warm butter, your moon-shaped cookies will break after baking. Even if you cool the dough before forming.

Never replace the butter with margarine.

2. Turn in powdered sugar while still hot

Do not wait for the cookies to cool down before dusting them with sugar. The heat will allow the sugar to attach to the cookies. If the cookies are too cold the sugar will just fall off.

3. Use real vanilla

Use real vanilla pods. They might be more expensive, but you will be able to taste the difference. Artificial substitutes such as vanillin will negatively affect the taste of your cookies

4. Do not bake the cookies for too long

10-12 minutes will be enough for these vanilla crescent cookies. They may still be relatively soft when they come out of the oven. Once the dough cools down and the butter hardens, the vanilla cookies will become more stable.

If you bake them too long they might break once they cool down.

Storage Instructions

Store the cooled cookies in an airtight container. In Germany, we use cookie tins. This allows the icing sugar to soften the vanille kipferl and prevents them from getting hard. After a week their texture will be perfect.

Vanillekipferl will last up to four weeks in a cookie tin (affiliate link). You can also freeze them. Wait until they cooled down before placing them in a freezer bag. Defrost at room temperature.

FAQ

Recipes to use up the leftover egg whites

Do you want to learn more about German Christmas traditions?

More German Christmas Cookies

This post was first written 17. 12. 2020 and updated 7.12.2022.

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