If there’s one thing in my family that defines our Christmas, is, without doubt, vanillekipferl cookies (also known as almond crescents). Basically, and to put it simply, Christmas and these delicious austrian cookies go hand in hand for us. My grandmother used to bake hundreds and hundreds (I’m not kidding when I say hundreds) of them each Christmas to hand out to family and close friends and among all the different types of cookies she would bake, these were everyone’s (and I mean EVERYONE’S) favourite. Unless you have a nut allergy I seriously don’t see how you wouldn’t like these, so if you are unsure about baking a batch or two, trust me, they will be a hit.
INGREDIENTS:
. 350 gr flour.
. 110 gr powdered sugar, plus more for coating once ready (about one cup).
. 100 gr almond meal (sometimes my mom makes them with walnuts so feel free to experiment with different nuts if you feel like to).
. 210 gr butter (at room temperature).
. 2 egg yolks.
. 1 packet of dr. oetker vanilla sugar.
WHAT TO DO:
. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl.
. Add yolks and butter and combine until well mixed. (if you have a KitchenAid then just throw it all in there and let the gadget do its thing!).
. Cover bowl or just wrap the dough in plastic paper and store in the fridge (not required but preferably) for an hour or two.
. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
. Take out of the fridge and make the crescent shapes (if you’re having trouble, you can just make small balls and call them “snow balls”).
. Transfer to a baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes or until just golden on the bottom.
. Place about a cup of powdered sugar in a bowl and let the cookies sit for about 2 minutes before rolling them in to fully coat them.
. Wait until cooled down to store in an airtight container where they will last weeks (they “age” veeeeery well, so if you can resist, wait a couple of days before you eat them).
