Recipe Tip: Vanilla Crescent Biscuits "Vanillekipferl"

Top Recipe. All ingredients and tips for getting it right. These vanilla crescents are a favourite Austrian Christmas pastry. Here is a recipe from the famous Demel confectioners in Vienna.

Ingredients

• 300 g flour, sifted
• 250 g butter
• 100 g icing or powdered sugar
• 10 g vanilla sugar (eg Demel's)
• 150 g ground hazelnuts
• icing sugar for dusting
• vanilla sugar to sprinkle

Steps

1. Lightly dry toast nuts in a pan without adding any oil or butter. Allow nuts to cool.
2. Beat room temperature butter, icing sugar, vanilla sugar, hazelnuts and some of the flour in a food processor.
3. Gradually add remaining flour and knead everything into a smooth dough. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and let rest in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
4. Preheat oven to 160 °C.
5. Sprinkle a work surface with flour. Roll dough into 1.5cm thick strands, cut off pieces weighing about 5g each and shape each piece into a crescent shape (see tip).
6. Place the crescents on a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake in the oven for about 15 minutes or until they are golden brown on the edges.
7. While still hot, sprinkle the crescents with a mixture of icing sugar and vanilla sugar. If necessary, sugar them again when they have cooled down.