Name: Vanillekipferl
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 10 min
Yield: Yield: twenty-four to thirty 2½-inch cookies
Cuisine: German
Ingredients: ½ cup sugar; 1 cup ground almonds, plus ¼ to ½ cup extra for sprinkling during rolling (technique if grinding yourself); 1 teaspoon almond extract; 10 tablespoons (1¼ sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature; ½ teaspoon baking powder; 1¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour (protein 3 grams per ¼ cup); 2 teaspoons vanilla sugar, or ½ of a vanilla bean (to scrape pulp and sift with the powdered sugar—see note at end of recipe); 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 1 egg yolk; ½ cup powdered sugar; ¼ teaspoon salt

Preparation info

Yield:
twenty-four to thirty
2½ inch cookies

Difficulty
Easy
Ready in
10 min

Appears in

German Heritage Baking

By Heidrun Metzler

Published 2024

About

Vanillekipferl are one of the most recognizable Christmas cookies in Germany and other parts of Europe. These cookies are a particular favorite in my family. My mother uses the traditional ground almonds, which are listed in this recipe, but my aunt’s specialty is to prepare them with ground hazelnuts instead. Give the hazelnuts a try if that flavor is preferred over almonds or create a mixture of ground almonds and ground hazelnuts. This dough needs thirty minutes to rest in the ref