two - Vanillekipferl




I think that for me, the Vanillekipferl, or vanilla crescent, is the quintessential Christmas cookie. Because it  has been there forever, it's on every cookie plate, really everybody makes it, and it looks as if it was quite an easy one to get right.

But. I've gotten pretty fussy about Vanillekipferl during the last years.
I don't like it when taste of raw butter instead of toasted nuts. I don't like it when they have a weird shape, too pointy or thin. And I don't like them too sweet, either.
To avoid making these mistakes, I hardly ever make them.
Also because they are one of the first cookies my mother bakes every year, so I always get to eat them anyway. But this year, I gave them another try.

I found a lot of versions of this recipe, using different flour-butter ratios and more or less eggs and almonds. Or even almonds mixed with hazelnuts.
For my taste, the version I'm giving you here is the best I've found so far. Nutty, fragrant with vanilla, and crumbly. I think it's key to find the perfect moment to take them out of the oven. My advice is to stick your nose to the oven door and wait (the smell tells a lot about their doneness, too).







Recipe (inspired by various different Brigitte recipes. makes about 70 cookies)

200 grams flour (see note)
100 grams ground almonds
70-80 grams golden raw cane sugar, according to your taste
175 grams cold butter
2 egg yolks
a good pinch of salt
a vanilla pod
more sugar


Mix the flours, almond flour, the scraped out seeds of half a vanilla pod, sugar and salt. Add the butter cut into little pieces and work it into the dough with your fingertips. When the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs, add the egg yolks and combine with your hands until you have a smooth dough. Form two logs out of it, wrap them in clingfilm and refrigerate them for at least two hours.

To bake the cookies, heat your oven to 160°C and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Take the logs out of the fridge (take the second one out once you're finished with the first one) and begin to form little balls with your hands, which you then turn into crescents (with not too pointy ends!). Place them on your baking sheets.
As with yesterday's snowballs, this is a dough that's full of butter, that's why you have to work quickly to prevent the cookies from spreading out in the oven.

Bake for 18 minutes (rotating the sheets once), they have to feel dry but don't change their colour very much (a good test is to look for golden bottoms).
Leave to cool on the sheets for a few minutes, then roll them carefully (they're very tender when warm!) in a bowl with sugar, combined with the remaining vanilla seeds.
Cool completely on a rack and store in an airtight container.

They keep for more then a week but I like them most during the first days, when they're so perfectly tender and crumbly.

Note:
I used 50% of all-purpose wheat and 50% of whole wheat Kamut, and can only recommend it. The Kamut flour gives them so much flavour.


0 comments: