Vanillekipferl recipe
Almond Vanilla Crescent Biscuits
As with all good recipes, this one was scribbled on the back of a printed piece of paper, decorated partly by the children, hidden inside Nigella’s Domestic Goddess book (because I love Nigella and by adding my recipes to hers, will I just BE more Nigella?).
I learned how to make these from a lovely flatmate and friend who would make them every year for her German advent party. She would make mountains of them (always roping in various friends to help) and mix with chocolate lebkuchen biscuits you see everywhere at Christmas but (I) never knew who bought them.
They originally come from Vienna and the crescent shape is said to be a reference to the Turkish crescent moon, symbolising the Austrian victory over the Turkish in 1683 at the battle of Vienna. I love to make them for a party or special occasion because they are perfect for placing on a side table, at first unnoticed, and then they slowly disappear over the course of the evening in delicious bites of almondy-vanilla. Here is the recipe I have settled on. Anna x
Recipe (makes around 60 small crescents)
100g sugar
225g butter (soft)
2 tsp vanilla essence
1/4 tsp almond essence
1 tsp cinnamon (optional)
A pinch of salt
125g ground almonds
250g plain flour
Icing sugar or vanilla icing sugar for dusting
Method
Line a couple of large baking trays with greaseproof paper and warm the oven to 180 degrees celcious.
Mix together the butter and sugar then add the other ingredients, slowly adding the flour in batches to make the dough.
Split the dough into two and roll into two sausages, one can be kept in the fridge while you make the crescent shapes.
Cut the sausage into small disc slices (between 10- 20 g, I tend to not be too precise) and shape into a crescent shape. It helps to have cold hands so the butter doesn’t get too warm.
Place on the greaseproof paper and continue to do this for the rest of the dough, making sure the crescents are a couple of inches apart. They don’t rise but can spread slightly.
Bake for around 8 minutes, until you see the crescents turn golden on the outside. Once they have hardened on the paper, slide them onto a cooling rack to cool properly.
When you are ready to serve, generously sieve over the icing sugar (or even better vanilla sugar) - some people dip them in icing sugar but I am more of a duster - onto the crescents. Arrange generously on your favourite serving plate.
The crescents will keep in an air tight box for a week, so you can save some for later and dust over the icing sugar when you are ready to eat. Enjoy!
