Vanillekipferl Austrian Vanilla Crescent Cookies Recipes

VANILLEKIPFERL (AUSTRIAN VANILLA CRESCENT COOKIES)

Steps:

• Place all of the ingredients in a large bowl and knead until thoroughly combined. Unless you're using the egg yolks the dough will be pretty dry and flaky, like shortbread cookie dough. Shape the dough into a log and wrap with plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Cut off small pieces of the dough and shape them into crescents. Place the crescents onto a non-stick or parchment-lined cookie sheet. Bake on the middle rack for 12-15 minutes (depending on the size of the crescents) or until the edges begin to turn golden.
• Combine the powdered sugar and vanilla sugar. Let the cookies sit for one minute and then use a sifter to dust them with the vanilla-powdered sugar while they're still hot. Let the cookies cool completely and then give them a second dusting.
• Stored in an airtight container in a cool place, these cookies will keep for several weeks.

VANILLEKIPFERL (VANILLA COOKIES)

Steps:

• Half the vanilla bean lenghtwise and scrap out the vanilla pulp. Grate lemon to get the peel.
• Sieve flour an put into food processor. Add vanilla pulp, grounded almonds, egg yolks, sugar, salt, lemon peel.
• Cut cold butter into pieces and add to flour mixture. Mix in food processor until dough has formed. Don't overmix.
• Take dough out of food processor and knead once or twice to form the dough.
• Wrap into clinge film and cool in the fridge for at least one hour. You can also leave it in the fridge over night.
• Preheat oven (180 c). Grease a baking tray.
• Take dough out of the fridge. Take a small portion of dough and form a roll of about 1 cm in diameter. Cut this roll into pieces of 6 cm.
• Shape these little rolls to make "half moons" or "horseshoes" (KIpferl).
• Bake cookies for about 15 minutes until light golden.
• Meanwhile mix mix caster sugar and vanilla sugar.
• Take cookies out of oven and let cool on rack. While still warm dust them with the vanilla-caster-sugar mixture.
• Keep them in an airtight container.
• NOTE: time to make does not include cooling time. Baking time is given for one tray. Custom yield is a guess.
• NOTE on Dusting: you can try other spices here. If you like cinnamon add some instead of vanilla. Or what is about cardamom or coriander. For a very different treat you could add cacoa and a bit of chili to it.

VANILLEKIPFERL (AUSTRIAN VANILLA CRESCENT COOKIES)

Steps:

• Place the butter and flour in to the bowl of your food processor. Pulse to combine until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Place the mixture in a large bowl.
• Add the ground almonds, powdered sugar, vanilla sugar, salt, and egg yolks to the mixture. Knead the dough with your hands in the bowl until it comes together, 5 min.
• Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces, shape each into a ball. Place the balls in a sealed plastic bag or covered bowl in the refrigerator for at least half an hour, up to 2 days, to develop flavor.
• Preheat the oven to 350F. Remove the dough from the refrigerator.
• Remove one ball of dough from the refrigerator. Roll it into a rope, 12 inches long. Cut the rope into 12 even pieces. Roll each piece into a 3-4 inch rope and shape it into a crescent. Place the shaped crescents onto a baking sheet lined with parchment or a non-stick baking mat, ½ inch apart. Repeat with the remaining dough, removing one ball of dough from the refrigerator at a time, until you have filled one tray.
• Bake the cookies, one tray at a time, for 11-12 min, until the tips of the crescents just start to turn a light golden brown.
• Remove the pan from the oven. (And place your second, cool tray with shaped cookies in the oven to bake, if necessary.)
• Let the baked cookies rest on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes while you prepare your sugar mixture. Mix ½ c powdered sugar and 1 Tbsp vanilla sugar together in a shallow bowl.
• Take the warm cookies from the baking sheet and carefully coat them in the sugar mixture. Place the coated cookies on a wire rack to finish cooling.
• Repeat as needed with the remaining cookies.
• Leave the cookies out overnight to harden, and then transfer them to an air tight container to store for up to 1 week.