Vanillekipferl (Almond Crescent Cookies)

Vanillekipferl are small almond biscuits shaped like a crescent moon. They are particularly popular in Austria and Germany, where they are part of the culinary delights of Christmas biscuits. In most Austrian homes, baking biscuits is an essential part of Christmas preparation, a family activity to be enjoyed on wintry days when it is snowing outside. Children love to knead dough and cut out biscuits. They enjoy…
Ingredients
- 350 g plain flour
- 200 g cold unsalted butter
- 100 g icing sugar
- 100 g finely-ground almonds
- 1 egg
- 1 packet (8 g) vanilla sugar
- 1 pinch salt
Decoration
- 60 g icing sugar
- 2 packets (16 g) of vanilla sugar
Steps
- Sift the flour into a bowl.
- Slice the cold butter. Mix with the flour.
- Add icing sugar, salt, vanilla sugar, ground almonds and egg.
- Rinse hands in cold water. Knead the dough on a pastry board. Rest the dough, half an hour.
- Grease a baking tray or line with baking paper.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F/Gas 4).
- Form the dough into a cylinder, about 5 cm diameter. Cut 0.5 cm thick slices.
- Roll each slice between flat palms into a slightly tapered sausage shape.
- Lay in crescent shapes on the baking tray. Bake 8–10 minutes until light golden brown.
- Immediately dip the Kipferl into a mixture of icing sugar and vanilla sugar.
- Leave out overnight. Store in an airtight tin.
Notes from the original
- Vanilla sugar can be bought in many supermarkets. Alternatively, it can be made by putting a vanilla-pod and some sugar in an airtight jar for a week or two.
Source. Adapted from “Cookbook:Vanillekipferl (Almond Crescent Cookies)” by Wikibooks contributors, revision of 2025-06-19, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Changes. Steps rewritten into short commands. Introduction shortened. Wiki formatting removed. This adapted recipe is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photo. Vanillekipferl VK11.jpg by sunnyday72, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia. Resized; otherwise unchanged.






