Vanillekipferl, or Vanilla Crescent Cookies, are central european vanilla shortbread cookies that are traditionally made during the Christmas season. The origins of this sweet treat comes from Vienna, Austria to celebrate the Holy League’s victory over the Ottoman Empire in 1683 at the battle of Vienna, hence the Turkish crescent moon shape of this pastry. Originally, Vanillekipferl was made with walnuts, but almonds and hazelnuts are now also used.
The dough is quite easy to make, but if you want to make these ahead, you can freeze the dough before or after shaping it into crescents and it should last for about 3 months. Then, when you want to bake them, you can defrost it in the fridge to shape it or you can bake them from frozen as normal, with it probably taking an additional minute or two to fully bake.
This dough, being a shortbread, can be a bit tough to form into shapes, so if you wish, you could add an egg or two, to help make it easier to work with, but it does change the texture from a very delicate, crumbly texture to a more chewy texture. So, if you accidentally added too much flour like I did, you can add some egg to fix your mistake or some water or milk to help the dough be less crumbly.
These cookies can be stored in an airtight container on the countertop for up to a month. But if you do use eggs though, I would recommend storing them in the fridge instead to help them last a bit longer. These actually taste better after a few days, as the flavors are allowed to marinate and intensify, so definitely try to save some for later to try them out.
These cookies will be a great gift to make for your loved ones and a great way to refill those cookie tins you have lying around rather than being disappointed by knitting needles and thread once again.
Ingredients:
- 1 ¾ cups flour
- 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
- 4 ounces (about 1 cup) walnuts, almonds, or hazelnuts (or 1 cup of almond flour)
- 1 packet vanilla sugar (about 1 ½ teaspoons)
- (or if you can’t find any, you can make your own by putting some sugar in a sealed container and a vanilla bean and letting the flavor infuse for a week)
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt (if using unsalted butter)
- For dusting:
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 packet vanilla sugar (about 1 ½ teaspoons)
Step 1: Prepare Dough & Refrigerate for at Least an Hour
First, we’ll prepare the dough. So, soften the butter by covering it with a warmed bowl and also prepare the ground up nuts by placing them into a spice grinder or blender and blending it into a fine powder.
Next, in a mixing bowl, add in the flour, softened butter, ground up nuts, vanilla sugar, 3/4 cup powdered sugar, and some salt, if needed. Give this a mix and knead this until the butter is thoroughly combined and the mixture is crumbly.
Then, shape the dough into a log and wrap with plastic wrap. If needed, you might find it easier to shape it into separate smaller logs rather than one long log.
But in either case, chill in the fridge for at least an hour.
Step 2: Preheat Oven to 350°F; Shape Dough into Crescent Shape
When you’re ready to bake your cookies, preheat the oven to 350°F.
While we wait, we’ll prepare the cookies, so take some of the dough out of the fridge, leaving the remaining dough wrapped in the fridge to stay cold.
And then cut off small circle slices of the dough and shape them into crescents. If the dough is too crumbly, you can add some water or milk to help form it up together or you can just push it together and place it in the fridge for another 10-20 minutes or so to help the dough firm up again.
Then, place the crescents onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet until you’ve shaped all of the cookies as needed.
Step 3: Bake Cookies for 12-15 Minutes or Until Golden
When your oven is ready, place your cookies in and bake on the middle rack for 12-15 minutes or until the edges begin to turn golden.
Step 4: Remove Cookies from Oven, Dust w/ Vanilla-Powdered Sugar Mixture, Let Cool, & Enjoy!
While we wait for the cookies to bake, in a small bowl, combine the 1/2 cup of powdered sugar and vanilla sugar.
Then, when the cookies are done, remove them from the oven and let the cookies sit for a minute before using a sifter to dust them with the vanilla-powdered sugar mixture while they’re still hot.
Then, transfer the cookies to a cooling rack to let the cookies cool completely and then give them a second dusting.
Continue baking and dusting any more cookies as needed, but once all of your cookies are done and dusted, your Vanillekipferl cookies are ready to eat.