Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Christmas Cookies

Vanille Kipferl or Vanilla Crescents is a cookie I learned to make
when we were living in Germany. 
I only saw them in the bakeries and shops during Advent
so I only make them this time of year. 




These are easy to make, they taste very good, and if you can't find ground almonds buy them whole and grind them in your food processor - or use a Salad Shooter.  This recipe makes 5 or 6 dozen cookies - lots for you and some to give away.

2 cups & 2 Tablespoons of flour
2/3 cup of sugar
3 egg yolks
1 1/3 cups of ground almonds
1 cup & 1 Tablespoon of butter
1 Tablespoon of Vanilla

Put all ingredients into your mixing bowl.


After two minutes of mixing.


  After four minutes of mixing.



 
After about 4 or 5 minutes of mixing you can squish the dough with you fingers and ...


...form a big ball.


Now the dough is ready to make into crescent shapes. 
Some people start with a ball, some start with a straight bit of dough. 
You can make them however you want to. 
Try to keep them all about the same size, this will help them cook evenly. 


Bake on lightly greased cookie sheets (or use parchment paper to line the cookies sheets).  Bake at 350 for 11-13 minutes.  Some of the cookies will be lightly brown just on the edges.


One minute after you take the cookies out of the oven, roll them in sugar (you'll need approximately 1/3 cup sugar to roll the cookies in, so have some extra sugar standing by).  Please note this time I used a mix of granulated sugar and "sparkling sugar" - this stuff really sparkles. 


Then put them on a rack to cool. 

I let them cool a few hours or over night before packing them away.  
These will taste better the next day and will still be good next week.  

I like to store them in tins
(Christmas tins, of course).


One more thing:  Thank you Granny Sue's News and Reviews .  I commented on one of her posts and won a lavender sachet.  How easy was that?! 



How sweet is this?! 


I hope you are having a wonderful week. 

What's your favorite Christmas cookie?



*


6 comments:

Joy@aVintageGreen said...

I like the idea of sparkly cookies. I also enjoyed the clear steps in pictures as well as words.

Bev said...

Those look so good. Thanks for the recipe!... My favourite Christmas Cookie.... hmmm I have many!!

Anonymous said...

Oh neat, I'm gonna try these. Thanks, C.J.

rubyslipperz1052 said...

Favorite Cookie? I have more than one favorite =P
Peanut Butter
Oatmeal/raisin
Sugar (soft) with thick creamy icing
Soft chocolate chip
...that's what I think of in just a couple of minutes. give me more time, the list gets longer =P

hugZ,
annie m.
anniesrubyslipperz.com

FABBY'S LIVING said...

Thanks for the great crescents recipe, I love them and your recipe looks easier. Merry Christmas!
FABBY

FABBY'S LIVING said...

I'm also your newest follower. Follow back if you so would like. I'll be visiting more often.
FABBY