Traditional Vanillekipferl (Vanilla crescent cookies)

5 from 2 votes

Traditional Vanillekipferl (Vanilla crescent cookies)

Deliciously easy, melt-in-the-mouth vanilla crescent cookies. This Vanillekipferl recipe is super simple and a perfect Christmas treat.

Course Cookies/ Biscuits, Dessert

Cuisine German

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 12

Cooling Time 1

Servings cookies

Calories 75kcal

Author Marita

Equipment

baking parchment
Baking Tray

Ingredients

300 g flour 2.4 cups or 10.5 oz (German 405 type flour, US pastry flour, UK plain flour)
100 g ground nuts 3.5 oz /about 1 cup - either ground almonds, hazelnut or walnuts or a blend of those nuts.
100 g sugar ½ cup or 3.5 oz
1 pulp of vanilla bean can be replaced with 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or 2 teaspoon vanilla sugar
1 pinch salt
2 egg yolks
200 g cold butter 7 oz or 0.8 cups

To decorate

3 tablespoon powdered sugar
8 teaspoon vanilla sugar 2 packs, or 0.8 oz - or use the pulp of one vanilla bean - see below for notes

Instructions

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)
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.
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.)
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.
Line a baking tray with baking parchment and preheat your oven to 180°C/ 356°F top to bottom heat.
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.
Bake in the oven, on the middle tray for approximately 12 minutes.
While the cookies are baking, mix 8 teaspoons of vanilla sugar with 3 tablespoons of powdered sugar.

Notes

I recommend having a look at the recipe step pictures in the main post. For best results use a kitchen scale and weigh your ingredients.

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.

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

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 . You can also freeze them. Wait until they are cooled before placing them in a freezer bag. Defrost at room temperature.

Nutrition