This post may contain affiliate links.Please read our disclosure policy.
Vanillekipferl (German Vanilla Crescent Cookies) are traditional German Christmas Cookies made with ground nuts and dusted with vanilla sugar! They are tender, nutty and melt in your mouth. A perfect cookie to make ahead that’s always a hit.
Vanillekipferl are small, crescent-shaped cookies with a heavy dusting of vanilla sugar which gives them their typical flavor. The little croissant shaped cookies are a real classic German Christmas cookie and
Probably every German grandmother makes Vanillekipferl at Christmas time. But they can also be enjoyed all year round!You only need a few ingredients to make them and they keep fresh for weeks. Like German Gingerbread and Traditional German Stollen, they get even tastier after a few days in my opinion.
One of my favorite Christmas memories is baking cookies with my Oma (that’s the German word for Grandmother). I always made sure there were enough cookie dough scraps for me and my Grandfather to enjoy. Both my grandmothers always made many different cookies during Christmas time. One even made about 20 different ones, I really don’t know how she accomplished that but I loved going through all the cookie tins and filling my cookie plate with all my favorite Plätzchen (German for cookies). These Vanillekipferl were one of them!
Tips and Tricks for Making this Vanillekipferl Recipe
- Vanillekipferl are made WITHOUT eggs! Eggs (and baking powder) are not used in traditional recipes, you won’t get the same melt-in-your-mouth texture if you are using eggs.
- The dough should always stay cold while you are shaping the cookies. Take only 1/4 of the dough out of the fridge so the remaining dough stays cold. Shaping the crescents might take a little bit especially if you’re doing it for the first time.
- Make sure your crescents are all the same size so they bake evenly.
- Don’t bake them too long! They should not brown, only the edges should be a little bit golden but the cookie should be pale.
- In my opinion, dusting the vanilla cookies with vanilla sugar works better than dipping them. It’s easier (and safer) because you don’t have to touch the hot cookies and dip each one into the sugar. Sprinkle the cookies with half of the vanilla sugar immediately after you take the cookie sheet out of the oven and then repeat the process when they are cooled completely.
- Store the cookies in a cookie tin. That’s the way it’s done in Germany. The cookies will stay fresh for weeks in a cold and dry place.
How to make Vanillekipferl
Traditional Vanillekipferl are made without eggs or baking powder. The only binding agents are the butter and the nuts. When you make them for the first time you might think this recipe won’t work because when you combine all the ingredients and start mixing the mixture will look very dry and crumbly. Don’t worry, the mixture will come together after about a minute or so.
You will get a dough that looks like crumbs at first, press the crumbs together with your hands to form it into a ball. Don’t handle the dough too much you don’t want the butter to get warm. Chill it for an hour and then form crescents.
German Vanilla Crescent Cookies are only baked for about 15 minutes until the edges are lightly golden, you don’t want them too brown. Take the pan out of the oven and dust them with vanilla sugar. Many recipes say you should dip them in the sugar mixture but I find it easier to dust them because the cookies break very easily.
These cookies keep fresh in an airtight container for up to 3-4 weeks. But most of the time they’re all eaten long before then!
How to make Vanilla Sugar for German Vanilla Crescent Cookies
For this recipe, you need vanilla sugar (German: Vanillezucker). The Kipferl are dusted with a mixture of vanilla sugar and powdered sugar, this is a very important step to make them.
You can buy Vanilla sugar (see link above the recipe) or make your own. It’s really easy and you can use it also for your coffee or other recipes that use sugar and vanilla. Vanilla sugar is used in many traditional German recipes instead of vanilla extract which is difficult to get in Germany.
To make your own vanilla sugar you need 1 cup sugar and 1 vanilla bean. Place the sugar into the bowl of a food processor. Scrape out the vanilla bean using the back of a knife and add the scraped out seeds to the bowl. Pulse the sugar and vanilla seeds until well combines and the sugar resembles powdered sugar.
Store your vanilla sugar in an airtight container or mason jar in a cold and dry place. I always add the scraped out vanilla pod to the jar this adds even more vanilla flavor.
Looking for more traditional German Christmas Recipes?
- German Lebkuchen Recipe {Elisenlebkuchen}
- German Gingerbread Spice Mix
- Traditional German Stollen for Christmas
- German Christmas Punch (Kinderpunsch)
- Easy Cinnamon Candied Almonds
Tools and Ingredients used for making this recipe
Vanilla Sugar: This one is made with real vanilla, don’t buy one with artificial vanilla! The cheapest way is to make your own.
Ground Almonds: This almond meal/flour is made from finely ground almonds and perfect for making Vanilla Crescent Cookies. You can use almond meal with or without the skins or use the same amount of ground hazelnuts or walnuts.
Cookie Tins: Storing the cookies in cookie tins like my Grandmother always did keeps them fresh for weeks.
[social_warfare buttons=”Pinterest, Facebook”]
Vanillekipferl (German Vanilla Crescent Cookies)
Ingredients
For the cookie dough:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, spoon and level
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, cold, cut into small cubes
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- ¾ cup finely ground almonds, or hazelnuts or walnuts
- ½ vanilla pod, seeds scraped out or 2 tsp vanilla extract
For the sugar mixture:
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- ½ vanilla pod
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment combine flour, salt, cubed butter, powdered sugar, nuts, and vanilla seeds. Mix at medium speed until a crumbly dough forms, about 1-2 minutes. If the dough is too crumbly add 1-2 Tbsp milk.
- Use your hands to press the dough together and wrap it in plastic wrap. Chill the dough for one hour in the fridge.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and line one or two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Roll the chilled dough into a log approximately 1/2 inch thick. Cut the log into 1 1/2-inch pieces, form the pieces into small cylinders and taper the ends into dull points. Bend each one into a crescent shape. Place the Vanillekipferl on the baking sheet about 1 inch apart.
- Bake the Vanillekipferl one cookie sheet at a time for 12 to 15 min (depending on the size of the cookies) until the edges are golden. They should not brown.
- Scrape out vanilla pod and combine with powered sugar. This works great in a small food processor. Sift the mixture over the hot Vanillekipferl. Let them cool completely then give them a second dusting.
- These cookies keep fresh for about 3 weeks in an airtight container stored in a cool place.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Watch how to make them!
We posted this recipe 2 years ago. Today we’ve updated the photos, improved the recipe, and included a video tutorial to show you how easy these cookies are to make.
I have tried with and without the addition of egg yolk. The dough is much easier to work with when using egg, but the cookies lose a little bit of tenderness. Just a note on origin: these are Austrian cookies, not German. Though Germans have happily added them to their baking traditions. The recipe dates back 400 years, when the Viennese celebrated their victory over invading Turks. The crescent is the symbol on the Turkish flag. The same goes for croissants. Considered a French invention, but they originated in Austria.
Ganz lecker!! Wie zuhause!
Really delicious! Like home!!
I picked up blanched finely ground almond flour. The one in the recipe video looks more coarse and has brown bits. Am I better to by whole almonds and grind them up or will the one I bought yield same result?
Thank you!
In the video, I use whole ground almonds, they are usually coarser than almond flour but (blanched) almond flour works too.
I am going to be making these for a cookie exchange party and need some ingredient clarification. If I am using the Bob’s almond flour does that substitute for the ground almonds or 2 c. all purpose flour?
It is a great substitute for the ground almonds. I don’t recommend replacing all the flour with almond flour.
This recipe worked out well. But, I recall that my grandmother’s version was much more ‘delicate’ and ‘melt-in-your-mouth’. This one was more hard (and very tasty) cookie. Do you have any suggestions to make more delicate??
I’m glad you still found them tasty, Daniel! It could be the time in the oven, try to take them out sooner, overbaking makes them hard. Overhandling the dough and kneading it too much can also be the culprit.
I have a crescent pan from Germany. How would I use it versus hand shaping them?
You just press the dough into the pan and then use a dough scraper or a knife to make sure the top is level with the pan.
Do you think the pan should be greased?
It depends on the pan, if it is a silicon pan then no but a metal pan should be greased.
Hi Julia, could you use a crescent cookie cutter?
Yes, you can. I find it easier to shape them by hand but rolling out the dough and using a cookie cutter works too.
Vanilla sugar–I imagine you are saying vanilla from the bean.
do you just mix the vanilla and sugar together?
The cookies look delicious, I just want to get it right. :)
The post has instructions for making vanilla sugar, it’s really easy. Just scroll up from the recipe card :)
You can find vanilla sugar in any polish shop in the uk.
I used to make these with my grandmother and made some minor adjustments to your recipe – they are really great with orange rind and using half almonds/half pecans. I also simplified it a little – 1 cup plain flour, 1 cup nuts and 125 gms unsalted butter. Other adjustment is that i sprinkle them with icing sugar (you call it powdered sugar I think), after 10 minutes in the oven, keep baking and then sprinkle them again whilst still warm at the end.
Very nice will make them again
I remember making these with my mother every Christmas and this year decided to try and find a recipe
I made them and my daughter and son in law said these were the best cookies ever my family has now asked me to try other recipes from your site which contains many that I remember eating during my childhood
Thank you this was a great recipe and I will make them again soon although I do want to restrict them to Christmas to keep the tradition