Vanillekipferln. Sugar-dusted Bliss

If you ask any Austrian which type of pastry comes to their mind first and foremost when they think of Christmas cookies, they are very likely to say Vanillekipferln. These rich (butter!) little crescents have a mouth-watering smell and should, ideally, be so soft that they disintegrate in your mouth before your teeth even touch them. This is mainly achieved by not eating them straight away - if you can manage - but letting them "rest" in a tin for at least a week. Even though the dough is very easy to make, they are among the more time-consuming types of Christmas bakery if you take pride in a) size (the smaller, the better) and b) uniformity. If you don't, they are good to make with kids as well. Here's my granny's recipe:

Vanillekipferln (vanilla crescents)

150 g finely grated hazelnuts (toasted, if possible)

250g butter (at room temperature)

100 g icing sugar

1 sachet (equals 2 teaspoons) vanilla-sugar*

300g flour

* if you can't get vanilla-sugar in your country, you could use sugar infused with real vanilla from a pod instead.

Mix and knead all ingredients, roll to a ball and wrap in clingfilm. Let the dough rest in your fridge overnight or at least for 1 hour.

Form little crescents, the smaller, the better. I suggest rolling little "sausages" between your palms, then break or cut off a piece of 4 or 5 cms and bend to form a crescent. Put on a tray lined with baking paper. Bake at 160° for 10-15 mins, depending on the size of the Kipferln. They should be golden brown at the edges, but remain rather on the pale side. Take off your tray carefully (!) with a spatula as they are still very brittle when hot and generously dust when they are still hot with a mix of icing and vanilla sugar. The sugar-mix attaches itself best when the crescents are hot. The Kipferln should be coated all round with the sugar so I dust them layer by layer in the tin where I keep them for storage.

Enjoy and share!