Vanilla Kipferl Recipe

     These cookies are from Austria but are also commonly made in Germany and Switzerland. They take a bit of work but the end result is delicious so it's worth the effort.

Ingredients

4-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 pinches salt

1-3/4 cups butter

1 cup confectioners' sugar

2 egg

2 tablespoons vanilla sugar

2-1/2 cups ground almonds/almond flour

Directions

To Make Your Own Vanilla Sugar: Place 1 1/2 to 2 cups of sugar and place in pint jar. Put a clean vanilla bean in the jar, cover and shake well. Let stand for a few days, shaking the jar occasionally, before using the sugar. As you use the sugar, replace with fresh sugar. I did not do this because it sounded like a pain in the ass so I just used some vanilla extract.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the salt and the flour. Cut in the butter or margarine, and mix in with your hands.

Add the confectioners' sugar, the egg, the vanilla sugar, and the ground almonds to the flour mixture. Place the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Divide the dough into several parts. Make rolls that are approximately 1 inch thick. Cut the rolls into 1 inch pieces, and bend the pieces into the shape of a semicircle ( just like a croissant). This step takes a while so for my second batch I just made circles. I went back to the curved shape for the the last batch. Place the kipferl on a baking tray, and leave them in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.

Bake at 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) for 10 to 15 minutes (I did 15 minutes because my oven is weak).

When done, remove kipferl carefully from the tray.

While still warm, dip the kipferl in a mixture of confectioners' sugar and vanilla sugar.

     Here's what the completed cookies look like!