These German vanilla crescent cookies called Vanillekipferl are one of my all-time favorite cookies! The tender dough is made with ground almonds and shaped into a crescent, similar to Mandelhörnchen. Plus the sweet aroma and enticing flavor of vanilla is achieved with vanilla extract, so you don't need to break the bank on whole vanilla beans.
What are Vanilla Crescents?
Vanillekipferl translates from German to English as “vanilla crescents”. They’re shortbread cookies shaped like crescents. Ground nuts and vanilla add lots of flavor to these cookies, and a heavy dusting of powdered sugar on top sweetens them. They’re buttery, crumbly, and so scrumptious!
Each vanilla crescent cookie is topped with a generous dusting of powdered sugar, making them look especially festive during Christmas. In fact, these are my second-favorite German Christmas cookie, after Lebkuchen of course. But you don't need to wait for winter, because I promise these taste great year-round!
And the texture of the cookies is sooo buttery and crumbly. They practically melt in your mouth! Pssst - one of the secrets to making really tender cookies is almonds. These vanilla cookies use almond flour to get that delicate texture, but almond paste and marzipan are also common in other types of cookies, like my 6-ingredient German marzipan cookies.
Vanilla Cookies without Vanilla Beans
Traditionally these almond flour cookies are made with the seeds scraped from a whole vanilla pod, but those can be crazy expensive! And while cheaper vanilla extract doesn’t provide the exact same punch of vanilla flavor, I think it’s pretty darn close.
Growing up in Germany, I developed a love for all sweets dusted in powdered sugar. From Christmas stollen to these delectable Vanillekipferl, I'd often get caught with powdered sugar dusted on my clothes. Seriously, these festive holiday cookies are so delicious that I could easily eat half a dozen in one sitting!
Why are They Shaped Like Crescents?
These cookies are said to have originated in the 17th century in Vienna, Austria as a way to celebrate their victory over the Ottomans. A crescent moon appeared on the Ottoman flag (and now the modern-day Turkish flag). Therefore the Austrians were inspired by the crescent shape for their celebratory cookies.
Let's Gather Our Ingredients
- Unsalted butter - Softened 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 - While vanilla beans are more traditional in German Vanillekipferl, they're also really expensive. Vanilla extract is a more affordable alternative. Instead of vanilla extract, you could substitute one scraped vanilla bean pod for a stronger vanilla 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 - Provides the base structure for soft, tender cookies.
- Almond flour - You could either buy pre-ground almond flour, or finely grind whole almonds or hazelnuts in a food processor or coffee grinder.
- Powdered sugar - Adds a sweet coating to the cookies and makes them look really festive.
Let's Make These Buttery Cookies!
1. Beat the softened butter on high speed until it’s light and soft, after about 1 minute.
3. Add the vanilla extract, salt, all purpose flour, and almond flour. Mix until it forms a crumbly dough.
5. Wrap each dough log in the plastic cling wrap. Chill in the fridge for 1 hour.
7. Shape each circle of dough into a crescent. Space them out on the a prepared baking sheet.
9. Sift powdered sugar on top.
2. Add the granulated sugar and beat on low speed until it’s fluffy and pale yellow, after about 1 minute.
4. Separate the dough in half onto sheets of plastic wrap. Form the dough into logs, about 2 inches in diameter.
6. Take one dough log out of the fridge, and slice the log into ½ inch pieces.
8. Bake the cookies for about 10 to 12 minutes at 350°F, until the bottoms and edges turn golden.
10. Cool and enjoy!!
Step-by-Step: How to Shape Crescent Cookies
To shape the crescents with the dough, use your thumb to squish inward at the base of the circle of dough.
Then use your fingers to gently squeeze the dough to continue forming into a “C” shape while squishing together any cracks that form.
Use your fingers to squeeze the two ends of the “C” into slight points.
Recipe Tips
- The dough should remain cold, so the butter doesn’t get a chance to warm up before the cookies hit the oven. Therefore, it’s easiest to work in two batches.
- The dough is fragile and will crack as you shape the crescents. All you have to do is gently squish the dough back together to fix any cracks.
- Try to shape the cookies as identically as possible, so they all bake at the same time. You can use a kitchen scale to weigh each dough ball, to ensure each Vanillekipferl is the same size, but I usually just eyeball it.
Recipe Variations
- You can also roll the warm cookies in powdered sugar, but this is a little more difficult since the cookies are still delicate when they’re warm.
- Add a little vanilla sugar to the powdered sugar before dusting the cookies for extra vanilla flavor layer.
- For a bigger punch of vanilla flavor, replace the vanilla extract with one scraped vanilla bean.
Storing
Allow the Vanillekipferl to cool completely to room temperature before storing. I usually store mine in an airtight container (or a cookie tin for an authentic German vibe) for up to several weeks. As with many other German bakes, the flavor becomes better after being stored for at least a day.
German Vanilla Crescent Cookies | Vanillekipferl
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 (or finely ground almonds or hazelnuts)
- ½ cup powdered sugar (for dusting)
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, use an electric hand whisk to beat the softened butter on high speed until it’s light and soft, after about 1 minute.
- Add the granulated sugar and beat on low speed until it’s fluffy and pale yellow, after about 1 minute.
- Add the vanilla extract, salt, all purpose flour, and almond flour and 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 individually 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. Place each crescent of dough spaced out on the prepared baking sheet 1 inch apart.
- Bake the cookies for about 10 to 12 minutes, until the bottoms and edges turn golden.
- While the first batch of cookies bakes, shape the other log of chilled dough. Once the first batch of cookies come out of the oven, let them cool for one minute, then sift powdered sugar on top. Bake the second batch of cookies and dust them with powdered sugar too once they come out of the oven.
- Transfer to a cooling rack and allow to cool to room temperature. Enjoy!!
Notes
- The dough should remain cold, so the butter doesn’t get a chance to warm and soften before the cookies hit the oven. Therefore, it’s easiest to work in batches.
- The dough is fragile and will crack as you shape the crescents. Due to the high butter amount, all you have to do is gently squish the dough back together to fix any cracks.
- Try to shape the cookies as evenly shaped as possible, so they all bake at the same time.
- Dust the cookies with powdered sugar while they’re still warm from the oven, to get the powdered sugar to stick.
Shanon
My family loved this!
Nona
Top 3 cookies I have ever eaten in my life, hands down..!!
Carissa Erzen
WOW! Haha now that's a big compliment! Thank you!!
Lee
My family loved this!
Carissa Erzen
I'm so glad!! 🙂