Ingredients
Dough
- 280 gplain flour
- 200 gcold butter, cubed
- 100 gground almonds or hazelnuts
- 80 gicing sugar
- 1egg yolk
- a pinch of salt
- seeds of 1 vanilla pod
To coat
- 100 gicing sugar
- 2sachets vanilla sugar, or the seeds of 1 vanilla pod ground with sugar
To serve
- at Christmas, from a tin
Directions
- Use cold butter and work quickly. Grind blanched almonds or hazelnuts fairly finely, but not to a powder. Rub or pulse the cold butter into the flour, ground nuts, icing sugar, salt and vanilla seeds. Add the egg yolk and bring it together with your hands as quickly as you can.
- Work it minimally. It will feel dry and crumbly and it will look as though it will not hold. Press it firmly and it will come together. Wrap it and chill it for at least an hour. Chilling is essential, since warm dough is impossible to shape and the biscuits spread in the oven.
- Take small pieces and roll each into a short log with tapered ends. Roll them on a cool surface with light hands, and if the dough cracks, press it back together.
- Make them small, about 6 cm, since large ones break under their own weight. Keep the ends thin and the middle slightly thicker, which is the classic shape. Work in batches and keep the rest of the dough in the fridge. Chill the shaped crescents for 15 minutes before baking, which holds their shape. Now bake at 170°C (340°F) for 12 to 15 minutes.
- Mix the icing sugar with the vanilla sugar in a shallow dish. Let the biscuits cool on the tray for 3 or 4 minutes only. Now roll them in the sugar while they are still warm. Roll them too hot and they crumble apart in your fingers, and roll them cold and the sugar simply falls off and will not stick.
- Warm but firm is right, and the residual heat is what makes the sugar cling in a thick white coat. Lift them carefully with a palette knife, since they are at their most fragile now.
- Coat them generously on all sides. Some bakers roll them twice, once warm and again when cold, which gives a thicker coating. Serve them from the tin with coffee, and they are part of the Christmas plate alongside Zimtsterne, Linzer Augen and the rest.
Technique
- The kipferl shape predates the croissant and the two are frequently confused.
- Hazelnut versions are common and many prefer them.
- They improve over the first few days and keep for weeks.
Substitutions
- Ground hazelnuts or walnuts in place of almonds.
- Vanilla extract if you have no pod, though the seeds are better.
Variations
- Made with hazelnuts.
- Dipped in dark chocolate at one end.
- Made larger, though small is traditional.
History
Crescent-shaped almond biscuits; the kipferl shape is documented in Vienna long before the croissant and is now Christmas baking.
Frequently asked questions
What is Vanillekipferl?
Vanillekipferl is a snack from Austria: vanilla-almond crescent cookies baked at Christmas. Crescent-shaped almond biscuits; the kipferl shape is documented in Vienna long before the croissant and is now Christmas baking.
How long does Vanillekipferl take to make?
Vanillekipferl takes 30 min plus 1 hr chilling of preparation and 15 min of cooking. The recipe makes about 40. It is rated medium to make.
What can I substitute in Vanillekipferl?
Yes, within limits. Ground hazelnuts or walnuts in place of almonds. Vanilla extract if you have no pod, though the seeds are better.
