These German vanilla crescent cookies are fall-apart-tender with almond flour and two sticks of butter in the dough. Vanilla extract recreates the classic Vanillekipferl flavor without expensive vanilla beans. And a dusting of powdered sugar (this is not the time to be shy) goes on the warm cookies for that festive snow-covered look.
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"Top 3 cookies I have ever eaten in my life, hands down..!!" -Nona
ALmond Crescent Cookies with Vanilla Extract
Growing up in Germany, I developed a lifelong love for anything dusted in powdered sugar, from my classic Christmas Stollen to these Vanillekipferl. Yep, I was the kid who always got caught with sugar all over her sweater. I wanted to bring this cookie from my childhood into my American kitchen, but simplified for the reality of busy family holidays. So I pared it down to just 6 ingredients, plus the powdered sugar coating, using pantry staples you can find at any U.S. grocery store that still capture those European flavors.
Vanillekipferl are buttery, crumbly shortbread cookies shaped like crescents. Traditional versions call for the seeds of a whole vanilla pod and vanilla sugar, but both are pricey or hard to find in the States. After testing, I found that vanilla extract and plain granulated sugar get you remarkably close.
And the real secret to that melt-in-your-mouth texture is the flour blend. In testing, I found that all-purpose flour plus almond flour keeps these cookies soft and tender for days, while still giving the dough enough structure to shape into crescents without crumbling apart.
If you love classic German holiday baking, try my 6-ingredient German marzipan cookies, another almond-forward Christmas favorite. And if you're a fan of crescent shaped cookies, my almond horn cookies are made entirely with almond flour.
Let's Gather Our Ingredients
- Unsalted butter - Butter is essential to make the dough pliable when shaping them into crescents.
- Granulated sugar - Sweetens the cookies a bit, and helps whip air pockets into the butter to make the texture really tender.
- Vanilla extract - Vanilla extract is an affordable alternative to traditional vanilla beans, or swap it with one scraped vanilla bean pod for a stronger flavor.
- Salt - I recommend using either non-iodized table salt or fine sea salt to best distribute within the dough and enhance the flavor of the other ingredients.
- All purpose flour
- Almond flour - You could either buy pre-ground almond flour, or finely grind whole almonds in a food processor or coffee grinder.
Let's Make Vanilla Christmas Cookies!
My Baking Tips for Crescent-Shaped Cookies
- Don't panic if the dough cracks as you shape the crescents. It's fragile by nature to bake up tender, so all you have to do is gently squish the dough back together to seal it.
- To shape each round of dough, press your thumb inward at the base to start a "C." Gently squeeze the dough into a crescent by pinching the two ends into slight points.
- The powdered sugar needs to get dusted on while the cookies are still warm from the oven so it sticks. Then let them continue cooling on the baking sheet for a few extra minutes until they firm up before serving. I tried tossing a batch in powdered sugar and they fell apart in the bowl.
Vanilla Crescent Cookies (without Vanilla Bean)
developed & tested by:
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature (2 sticks)
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract (or substitute one scraped vanilla bean pod)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup almond flour (see note below)
- ½ cup powdered sugar (for dusting)
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, use an electric hand mixer to beat the softened butter on medium speed until it's light and creamy, after 1-2 minutes.
- Add the granulated sugar and beat on medium speed until it's fluffy and pale yellow, after about 1 minute.
- Add the vanilla extract, salt, all purpose flour, and almond flour. Mix on low speed until it forms a crumbly dough.
- Separate the dough in half onto two separate sheets of plastic cling wrap. Use your hands to form the dough into logs, each about 2 inches in diameter. Wrap each dough log tightly in the plastic cling wrap. Chill in the fridge for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Working in two batches to bake the cookies, take one dough log out of the fridge, and unwrap it from the plastic wrap. Use a sharp kitchen knife to slice the log into ½ inch circular pieces.
- Gently squish each circle of dough and bend the ends towards each other to form a crescent, and arrange them on the baking sheet spread out 1-inch apart.
- Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, until the bottom edges turn golden. While the first batch of cookies bakes, shape the other log of chilled dough, then bake them on a second baking sheet or once the first batch of cookies have cooled a bit.
- Sift powdered sugar on the cookies right when they come out of the oven. Let them cool for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire cooling rack and cool for another 15 minutes before serving.
Notes
- Almond Flour: Both blanched almond flour and whole almond meal work in the dough. The former gets you lighter colored cookies, while the latter imparts a nuttier flavor.
- Storing: Cool the Vanillekipferl completely, then store them in an airtight container or cookie tin for up to several weeks, as the flavor only improves after a day or so.
- History: Legend says the cookie dates back to 17th-century Vienna, where the crescent shape celebrated a victory over the Ottomans, whose flag featured a crescent moon.
Shanon says
My family loved this!
Nona says
Top 3 cookies I have ever eaten in my life, hands down..!!
Carissa Erzen says
WOW! Haha now that's a big compliment! Thank you!!
Lee says
My family loved this!
Carissa Erzen says
I'm so glad!! 🙂