Although mostly associated with Christmas, you can enjoy these delicate crescent shaped Austrian Vanillekipferl cookies year round.
It’s time for the MENA (Middle Eastern & North African) Cooking Group. This monthly group has for goal to help us discover the culture and cuisine of the countries found in these parts of the world. For the month of January we did things a little different: we were asked to choose a traditional cookie from our culture. I made Austrian Vanillekipferl cookies, in honor of a big part of my cultural background but mostly in honor of my Austrian dad who is currently recovering from a successful heart surgery.
My Viennese dad immigrated to Canada in 1967 so I have Austrian blood running through my veins. I have been twice and I may go again this summer. I have little family there so the cultural side of me has always been a bit of a mystery, one I like to explore.
I chose an Austrian cookie for my dad as last Monday he had a second heart surgery in less than 3 years. Thankfully this one was not open heart. They went under the arm by endoscopy and repaired the mitral valve. This recovery will be so much easier than the last time but the whole process has been very stressful. But it went really well and he was already home resting by Friday night.
I am sure you remember my post where I made well over 200 Christmas cookies with 2 friends just before the holidays. We made 6 different types of cookies, including these Austrian cookies, called Vanillekipferl, from a recipe I found at The Ambassador’s Table.
These small Viennese crescent shaped cookies are usually made with ground almonds and they get their flavour from a dusting of vanilla sugar. Apparently the Austrian Vanillekipferl recipe was created in the shape of the Turkish crescent moon to commemorate the victory of the Austro-Hungarian army over the Turks in a war. Wow, I cannot believe I found a tie-in with a MENA country.
Complete the Austrian Christmas cookies trilogy with my Husarenkrapferl cookies and Linzer cookies.
I could not find vanilla sugar but I had ground vanilla so I mixed it up with the sugar. I went the unusual route as well and half my batch was simply drizzled with melted dark chocolate. Thank you to MENA Cooking Club for this challenge. Check out what the other member made in the roundup below or look for the hashtag #menacookingclub.
Austrian Vanillekipferl Cookies
Ingredients
- 110 g almond meal
- 70 g powdered sugar
- 210 g unsalted butter cut into 1|2 inch cubes
- 280 g sieved all purpose flour
- 100 g powdered sugar
- 2 packages vanilla sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 360F (180C).
- Mix in a bowl all the ingredients into a smooth dough. Cover and leave it in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Divide the dough in small pieces and roll out with your hands until it is about 3 1/2 inch long. Shape into crescents and place them at least 1/2 inch apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake for about 10 minutes or until a very light brown.
- Mix icing sugar and vanilla sugar, then delicately toss in the hot cookies.
You have such lovely cookies! And it looks really interesting! I hope you’re dad is doing well now.
Thank you Nagi. These are definitely great cookies, maybe the fave out of all of them6 recipes. Thanks my dad is doing very well and getting strong.
Hope your dad has already fully recovered. Love your Vanillekipferl, they look so tempting and we all seem never to get enough of them.
He is doing very well Daniela, thank you 🙂 And thanks again for the recipe, there are never enough for sure 🙂
Will pray for the good health of your dad, had these lovely cookies on my recent trip there but did not know the name and history of it. Interesting post.
Thank you Sneha for your prayers, he is doing great already. And so cool you had the real deal not so long ago!
LOVE this cookie. We have a similar recipe (there must be a 1000 variations of this!) that I just love. This is wonderful — thanks. And speedy recovery for your father!
Thank you John for your best wishes to my dad. And yes these are good cookies, no matter the version. Wish I had some around right now lol.
European pastries… HAVE SO MUCH on American favorites! Seriously.
I must absolutely agree with you on that one Gigi!
My mother used to make these. I forgot about them until I saw your post. I have to try this recipe, it is sooo good. Thanks for inspiring.
That is so cool that you know these cookies Cecilia! I hope you will try making them soon.
I love Austria! It’s gorgeous there. Lucky you!! And your cookies have to be delicious, Evelyne! Here’s wishing the best for your dad and you too!
Thank you Pam for your best wishes to my dad and yes the cookies rock. Austria is gorgeous I really need to go back soon.
Prayers for your dad’s complete recovery.these cookies look so perfect !!
Thank you Madiha for your kind words and hope you make the cookies 🙂
Great cookies, would love to try them. Hope your dad feels better very soon!
Thank you so much Suzanne!
These cookies look great Evelyne and I guess they bring you closer to your roots! I hope your daddy gets well soon!
Thanks for you good wishes for my dad. And it is true Katerina, cooking does get you in touch with your roots even if you ar not close to that country 🙂
These cookies are really nice! We made them in Vienna (or really we ate them at a cooking class where we sort of helped). I hope your dad recovers quickly! 😀
Ha ha love that story Lorraine from the cooking class. Well I hope you do make them at some point. Thanks for you good wishes for my dad.
Oh, boy, these cookies look divine! They’d be a wonderful addition to my Christmas cookie trays! I wish I could have given you some of my vanilla sugar—I just stick a sliced vanilla bean into a mason jar full of sugar and let it absorb the flavor.
P.S. Glad your dad is home.
Thanks Liz I hope you do add them to your other Christmas cookie recipes. OMG brilliant I should done that with the vanilla bean lol. Thanks for you good wishes for my dad.
I hope your dad has a full successful recovery. Your cookies look beautifully uniform in shape and very tasty!
Thank you so much and so glad the cookies look good 🙂
First of all, I hope your dad recovers, feels better soon and lives a love life. I loved the story about these and they look so good. I can’t wait to get my oven going again so I can bake cookies, these included.
Thank you so much Noor for your words. And yes get the oven working lo! That sucks.
I am so loving this new logo and your new site. I am loving the vibe here and I am also loving these photos. The cookies just look absolutely delicious. So loving this post Evelyne.
OK Kia thank you so much, and you gave me that little extra push I needed to do it! You deserve 5 cookies 🙂
Wishing your dad a quick recovery! I thought those cookies were shaped like a horse shoe, but turns out it’s a crescent moon 🙂 They look like very addictive cookies where you need to eat a lot of them at once!
Thank you Melanie for my dad. They are pretty close to horse shoes too it’s true lol
Wishing your dad speedy recovery! Cookies with almond meal would taste so good, nevertheless… they look really interesting…
Thank you Rafeeda for your best wishes for my dad. Glad you are curious to try these.
The vanillekipferl are a must in the holiday cookie platter. Hope your dad get well soon!
Angie you must know these for sure? Thank you Angie for my dad 🙂
It was so nice of you to share the Austrian Vanillekipferl Cookies in honor of your Dad. He will gets well soon..The history of the cookie is interesting.. And this is the new face of the blog? right? Last time I visited I think I read you were about to change.. I love the new name and the logo.. 🙂
Hi Famidha! Thank you for your best wishes for my dad and glad you like the cookies. Yes indeed I rebranded my blog. And more changes to come in design in the future!
Sending positive thoughts for your dad’s speedy recovery. My grandmother was Austrian and I never knew that these cookies had a history behind them. Thanks for sharing ?
Thanks you Tandy for my dad. Wow so cool we share an ancestry background 🙂