Vanillekipferl – Vanilla Crescent Cookies
, Published Oct 22, 2024
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Vanillekipferl – Vanilla Crescent Cookies! Get ready to add a delicious and festive treat to your holiday baking list. This traditional vanillekipferl recipe will have you enjoying the buttery, nutty, and sugary flavors of this classic Christmas cookie.
Vanillekipferl are buttery vanilla-scented crescent cookies cookies dusted with fragrant vanilla sugar. These delicious, melt-in-the-mouth tender cookies hail from Austria but they are a traditional Christmas cookie in Germany, Hungary and other European countries.
Vanilla crescent cookies are a wonderful addition to festive cookie baking list (along with German lebkuchen, Greek melomakarona and Austrian linzer) and are sure to be hugely popular with one and all.
What’s more, they stay fresh for about three weeks stored in an airtight container if you manage to hold on to them for that long!
Vanillekipferl Ingredients
The secret to the BEST vanilla crescent cookies is making your own vanillezucker (vanilla sugar) to dredge them in for the strongest and most luxurious vanilla scent.
- Flour – we will be using all purpose flour (plain flour) plus a tiny amount of baking powder.
- Granulated sugar or caster sugar.
- Almond meal (ground almonds) – you can also use finely ground walnuts or hazelnuts in this recipe.
- Large egg at room temperature ( but note you will need to use a medium egg if you are in the UK).
- Unsalted butter – cold and cubed
- Vanilla bean paste and a vanilla bean (if you are making your own vanila sugar)
- Powdered sugar (icing sugar)
Lucy’s Pro Tip
How to make Vanilla Sugar
Vanilla sugar is sold in small packets in Germany, but many of these use artificial vanilla flavoring instead of the real thing. Making your own vanilla sugar is very easy and it really elevates these cookies from simple to sublime.
Add the sugar and vanilla bean into a small food processor and pulse several times, until the vanilla bean is finely ground and the sugar is powdery and speckled with the vanilla. You can keep any leftover vanilla sugar in a jar to use in other baking recipes. Presented in a cute mason jar it also makes a lovely gift!
How to make Vanillekipferl
Full measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page. Please take a look at the steps and video before attempting this recipe!
Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats. Place the flour, sugar, ground almonds and baking powder into a mixing bowl and briefly stir to combine.
Add the vanilla bean paste and cold cubed unsalted butter and beat together with a hand mixer until you have crumbly texture. Add the egg and beat together until the dough comes together. Use a spatula to scrape the dough onto plastic wrap. Wrap the dough and chill in the fridge for at least an hour.
Roll the dough into a log and cut into 20 equal pieces (keep any dough you are not using straight away in the fridge). Roll out each piece to a cylinder, dusting with a little flour or powdered sugar as needed, making the ends slightly thinner. Bend to form a small crescent and place on a lined cookie sheet.
Repeat until you have used all of the dough, spacing the cookies out so that they bake evenly. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the cookies just starting getting golden at the edges. Take out of the oven and leave them to cool on the tray for a few minutes so that they firm up.
Dust the warm cookies with powdered sugar or dredge them in homemade vanilla sugar – just be very careful when handling the cookies as they are quite fragile! Store the cookies in a cookie tin for up to three weeks.
Recipe Notes
- Vanillekipferl dough is quite sticky so keep it chilled, working in batches if necessary. Dust your worktop with flour or a some of the vanilla sugar to help you shape the cookies.
- Make sure the cookies are all the same size so they bake evenly and don’t overcrowd them on the cookie sheet as they do spread. Allow a good inch of space between each little crescent.
Looking for more German Baking Recipes?
- Lebkuchen – Traditional German Cookies
- Stollen Bites (no yeast!)
- Christmas Stollen
- Bienenstich – German Bee Sting Cake
Love to bake?
There’s to more your air fryer than savory time savers, with dozens of delicious, tasty treats – anything from pavlovas and celebration cakes to decadent desserts, savory bakes and even bread.
If you loved my Vanillekipferl recipe, please give it a star rating! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Snap a picture and share it with me on Instagram using the hashtag #supergoldenbakes – don’t forget to tag me @supergolden88
Vanillekipferl – Vanilla Crescent Cookies
Video
Ingredients
Vanilla Sugar
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- ½ vanilla pod
For the cookie dough
- 1 cup (125g) flour , all-purpose / plain
- ⅓ cup (70g) sugar , granulated or caster
- ⅓ cup (70g) ground almonds
- 7 tbsp (100g) unsalted butter , cold & cubed
- 1 large egg , room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
If you are not using vanilla sugar
- ½ cup (60g) powdered sugar (icing sugar)
Instructions
Make the vanilla sugar
- Add the sugar and vanilla bean into a small food processor and pulse several times, until the vanilla bean is broken up and the sugar is speckled with the vanilla. You can keep any leftover vanilla sugar in a jar to use in other baking recipes.1 cup (200g) granulated sugar, ½ vanilla pod
Make the cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats. Place the flour, sugar, ground almonds and baking powder into a mixing bowl and briefly stir to combine.1 cup (125g) flour, ⅓ cup (70g) sugar, ⅓ cup (70g) ground almonds
- Add the vanilla bean paste and cold cubed unsalted butter and beat together with a hand mixer until you have crumbly texture.7 tbsp (100g) unsalted butter, 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- Add the egg and beat together until the dough comes together. Use a spatula to scrape the dough onto plastic wrap. Wrap the dough and chill in the fridge for at least an hour.1 large egg
- Roll the dough into a log and cut into 20 equal pieces (keep any dough you are not using straight away in the fridge). Roll out each piece to a cylinder, dusting with a little flour or powdered sugar as needed, making the ends slightly thinner. Bend to form a small crescent and place on a lined cookie sheet.
- Repeat until you have used all of the dough, spacing the cookies out so that they bake evenly. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the cookies just starting getting golden at the edges. Take out of the oven and leave them to cool on the tray for a few minutes so that they firm up.
- Dust the warm cookies with powdered sugar or dredge them in homemade vanilla sugar – just be very careful when handling the cookies as they are quite fragile! Store the cookies in a cookie tin for up to three weeks.½ cup (60g) powdered sugar
Nutrition
Nutritional information is always approximate, and will depend on quality of ingredients and serving sizes.
