Vanillekipferl (Vanilla Crescents) Cookies

This is Week 3 of our Saveur Holiday Cookie Challenge: Cookies We Love. I chose to bake the Vanillekipferl, that is – Vanilla Crescent – Cookies, this week. Here’s the recipe from Saveur, with my notes following:

Vanillekipferl (Vanilla Crescents)

(Yield: 4 dozen cookies)

Ingredients:

1 cup confectioners’ sugar, plus more for finishing cookies
16 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
2 tsp. vanilla extract
5 oz. walnuts, finely ground in food processor
2 1/2 cups flour, plus more for rolling

Preparation:

Heat oven to 325°. Beat together sugar, butter, and vanilla in a bowl; mix in nuts and flour. Flour and roll into a cylinder; divide into 48 pieces. Roll each into a sausage shape. Taper ends; bend into a crescent. Transfer to parchment paper-lined baking sheets, spacing cookies 1″ apart. Bake until golden, 12–15 minutes. Sift with confectioners’ sugar. Let cool.

Notes:

Of the cookies I baked from this series so far, these are by far our favorites. Crispy and tender, excellent flavor, and since you dust them with the confectioners’ sugar while they’re still hot, they don’t shed as much sugar on you when you eat them. I worry about that with powdered sugar covered cookies. That’s why I avoid doughnuts with powdered sugar on them, too.

I did find, however, that the dough was a bit more difficult to work with than I thought it would be. It kept coming apart on me when I tried to roll it into a cylinder. I found it was easier to divide the dough into 4 parts, roll those into something vaguely resembling a cylinder, then just pull off pieces of dough and roll them into balls a little smaller than a ping pong ball. I could then feel the dough melding together in the warmth of my hands, which made it much easier to then roll each piece into a small sausage, then crescent shape.

You should definitely make these cookies. They’re delicious and a very pretty addition to a holiday cookie platter. I’m going to make another batch.

Please be sure to visit my comrades in cookies to see what they chose to serve up!

I feel kind of bad that I haven’t posted anything recently for The 12 Weeks of Holiday (Christmas) Cookies. Since this is the last day of that cookie roundup, I hope they’ll let me count this one. Please visit these wonderful cookie bakers, too! Happy Holidays to All!

Week 12 Twelve Weeks of Christmas: