Vanillekipferl

 

Vanillekipferl are crescent-shaped almond shortbread cookies traditionally made at Christmas time in many European countries, e.g., Germany, Austria and Switzerland. They're a very close cousin to nut snowballs or Mexican wedding cookies, but the dough is much smoother with the addition of almond flour.  I love that they aren't too sweet so you don't feel guilty eating so many.  I'll be including them in this year's holiday cookie box.  

Vanillekipferl (recipe from Katrin Pfeiffer)

500g all-purpose flour

400g unsalted butter, room temperature

200g almond flour (I prefer blanched almonds)

160g powdered sugar

2 packets vanilla sugar (I used 1 tbs vanilla extract instead)

 

Powdered sugar and vanilla sugar for coating

 

Preheat oven to 350 F.

 

Mix all the cookie ingredients in a mixer until a cohesive dough is formed.

Take about 1 1/2 teaspoons of dough and form into a 3" log and then shape into a crescent.

Place on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Bake for ~12 minutes or until lightly brown. 

When cookies are cooled, roll in a combination of powdered sugar and vanilla sugar.