Vanillekipferl/Wiener Kipferl

Image: Vanillekipferl

Makes ~60-80, depending on the size you make them.

• Ingredients
  • 300g butter
  • 180g sugar
  • 2 packs of vanilla sugar (~16g) or some vanilla extract
  • 200g ground almonds
  • 400g flour
  • Some powdered sugar, ideally mixed with vanilla sugar
• Instructions
  • Mix butter with sugar and vanilla sugar.
  • Add ground almonds and flour and knead well.
  • Form crescent shapes and set them on a tray. The dough is very brittle, so it helps to first press small portions into balls and then form the crescents from those. (Dough balls) (Crescents)
  • Bake on middle rung at 200 C for 10-12 minutes, until they are light brown. (Image)
  • Leave to cool, then cover in powdered sugar.
  • Notes
    • The crescents are extremely brittle when they are first taken out of the oven, so they need to cool a bit before then can be removed from the tray.
    • The original recipe said to add the powdered sugar when the cookies are still hot. I prefer to let them cool first because the sugar doesn't mix as much with the hot butter then.
    • I find that the crescents become too flat when baking, although that might just be my opinion. Reducing the amount of butter didn't seem to help much. Maybe it would help to add some eggs, but that isn't part of the traditional recipe.

Source: "Haarer Kochen und Backen nach Grundrezepten", 4th Edition (1970).