The Vanillekipferln (or vanilla kipferls) are Christmas cookies that stem from the Austrian, German, Hungarian and Polish origins. These cookies are typically baked in the shape of horns using ground almond and then dusted with both vanilla and icing sugar. The horn shape is supposed to represent the Hungarian victory over the Turkish army, with the crescent shape being a symbol of the Turkish crescent.
Vanillekipferln vary according to the different regions in which they are baked. Some variation will see this being made into a pastry with a filling; others would see the cookies being baked with almond nuts, walnuts or even hazelnuts. My version here is the classic and most original version, baked with ground almond (my favourite!) and vanilla sugar. They are really tasty – super tasty – irresistible – and so I will definitely be baking more, soon, for storage in my pantry cupboard! And no one else shall be sharing this with me – no!
Ingredients:
- Plain flour: 300g
- Ground almond: 100g
- Caster sugar: 50g
- Vanilla sugar: 1 tbsp + 2 tbsp
- Vanilla bean: 1 pod
- Salt: a pinch
- Unsalted butter (room temperature): 250g, cubed
- Icing sugar: 100g
Method:
- Preheat oven at 160 degrees Celsius.
- Combine plain flour, ground almond, caster sugar, 1 tbsp vanilla sugar, vanilla bean and salt in a mixing bowl.
- Add butter. Knead into smooth dough.
- Pinch 1 tbsp of dough and form into little balls, about 55 – 60 balls in total.
- Knead and then bend each ball into sausage forms. Place onto a greased baking tray.
- Bake 20 – 25min till golden brown.
- While hot, dip cookies into a mixture of icing sugar and 2 tbsp vanilla sugar. Use a spoon to transfer them around so as not to break them into crumbs.
- Cool before storage.
Disclaimer:
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This recipe was kindly adapted from Icing Sugar’s ‘Austrian Christmas Bakery: Vanillekipferl‘. I used a lot lesser caster sugar to bake the cookies with as I was sure the icing and vanilla sugar dip would suffice to give them enough sweetness. It tasted just right – not too sweet but still very tasty!
Serving:
About 55 – 60 pieces