Vanillekipferl

Vanillekipferl are a traditional Christmas biscuit from the German-Austrian region.

They are made from a shortcrust pastry of flour, butter and sugar and grated almonds. Depending on the region, walnuts, peanuts or hazelnuts are also used. Adding egg yolk to the dough makes it easier to shape the crescents, which are traditionally moulded by hand.

There are many theories and legends about the origins of vanilla crescents. One says that after the liberation of Vienna, which was besieged by soldiers of the Ottoman Empire, an Austrian baker couple baked the vanilla crescents in the shape of a crescent moon as a mockery of the enemy. The crescent was to be seen on the flag of the Ottoman Empire, today's Turkey.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

300 g flour

100 g ground hazelnuts

70 g sugar

5 sachets of vanilla sugar

2 egg yolks

1 pinch of salt

200 g butter

Preparation:

1. mix all the ingredients together and knead into a shortcrust pastry. Chill the dough for one hour.

2. then roll and shape the dough into croissants on the work surface. Place on baking trays lined with baking paper (this portion makes about two trays).

3. bake at 175 degrees for about 10 minutes.

Tips:

- All ingredients should be cool during preparation

- When the biscuits come out of the oven, they should still be soft and light in colour. They will stabilise as they cool.

- If the crescents in the biscuit tin have become too firm, simply place a piece of apple in the biscuit tin overnight.