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Vegan almond crescent cookies are one of the most loved German Christmas cookies ever! Let me show you how to make Vanillekipferl without eggs and dairy!
Crispy and crumbly with a wonderful vanilla flavor wrapped in powdered sugar – that’s exactly what makes a perfect almond crescent cookie. They are as soft as butter and melt almost on the tongue – who can say to such a thing?
No wonder are these Kipferl cookies one of the most loved Christmas cookies ever! It’s a traditional German cookies recipe, which is also known under the German name Vanillekipferl!
Vegan Almond Crescent Cookies
It’s easy to make these crescent cookies vegan. Most recipes call for an egg, which can be left out without hesitation. Furthermore, you must replace dairy butter with dairy-free butter or margarine, which you can nowadays buy in any large supermarket.
That’s all the magic! No fancy egg replacement or special ingredients needed.
You see, baking vegan Christmas cookies is easy. Further down is a list with links to even more delicious and easy vegan Christmas cookie recipes!
Almond Crescent Cookies Recipe
This cookie dough is made with ground almonds, which gives them a wonderful aroma and mild taste. You must use peeled almonds for this recipe, also known as blanched almonds. This is very important because peeled almonds have a milder flavor than unpeeled almonds. It’s also the only way to get those snow-white vanilla crescents cookies.
Almond flour is always made with peeled almonds and is perfectly suitable for this recipe. Don’t use almond meal, as this one is made with unpeeled almonds.
I always buy ground almonds, but if you have a food processor at home, you can make it yourself. Pulse blanched almonds until they are fine but still slightly crumble.
How To Make This Vanillekipferl Recipe
- Identically with most cookie recipes, you must first mix the dry ingredients: White flour, almond flour, powdered sugar, vanilla sugar, and a pinch of salt.
- Add the butter in pieces and mix with a stand mixer or hand mixer until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
- → The dough is now very crumbly (as you can see in the picture below), almost like breadcrumbs. That’s how it should be.
- Use your hands to knead the crumbly mixture into a smooth dough and form into a ball.
- Wrap it with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for about an hour. → It is very important to cool the dough before forming crescents with it. Warm dough is very hard to handle.
- After you have formed the dough into crescents (see further below or in the video how to form them), you can bake them immediately. No need to cool them again, which is a huge timesaver.
Cooling: It is best to cool the dough in the fridge for an hour. If you are in a hurry, chill it for 15 minutes in the freezer.
Baking: They are good as soon as the ends start to turn into a very light brown, but the rest of the crescent is still white. You don’t want brown Vanillekipferl.
Sugar-Coating: Sprinkle the cookies with the sugar coating (powdered sugar & vanilla sugar) while still warm to ensure that the coating sticks. Take them out of the oven, place them on a cooling rack, and sprinkle immediately with the sugar coating using a small fine-mesh sieve or flour sifter. → Place a clean parchment paper under the rack to collect and reuse any topping that didn’t stick on the cookies.
Vanilla Sugar: This is a very common Swiss and German baking ingredient. It’s nothing else than regular sugar with vanilla bean. If you can’t buy vanilla sugar in your country, you can make your own by mixing 2 tablespoons of caster sugar with the scraped out seeds of one vanilla bean. Mix well and use it for the recipe. I don’t suggest replacing it with vanilla extract!
Powdered Sugar: It is very important that you use powdered sugar and not granulated sugar to make the cookie dough.
How to Form Crescent Cookies
There are different methods on how to shape Vanillekipferl in its typical crescent shape.
Let me explain to you how I shape them:
- It’s important to work with a cold dough! Divide the dough into 3-4 equal pieces and roll each into a rope of about 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick. → No need to work on a floured surface.
- Divide each rope into ∼0.4 inches (1 cm) slices. → Use a dough scraper or a knife.
- Roll each piece between your hands into a thin rope. It is ok if the roll is a little thicker in the middle and thinner at the ends.
- Finally, form it into a crescent using your fingers.
That’s all the magic there is. Repeat this with the rest of the dough.
→ Make sure to watch the recipe video to see how to make and form almond crescent cookies!
Recipe FAQ
How to store the cookies?
Store them in a Christmas Cookie Tin or in an airtight container at room temperature.
How long does it keep fresh?
You can keep them for at least one week.
More Christmas cookies recipes you’ll love:
- Vegan Linzer Cookies
- Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Cinnamon Star Cookies (German Zimtsterne)
- Austrian Linzer Tart Cookies
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Almond Crescent Cookies (German Vanillekipferl)
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 cup (125 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (60 g) almond flour (ground blanched almonds)
- ¼ cup (30 g) powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp vanilla sugar see notes
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup (113 g) vegan butter or margarine
Sugar Coating
- 2 tbsp powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp vanilla sugar see notes
Instructions
Cookie Dough
- Mix flour, almond flour, powdered sugar, vanilla sugar, and salt in a bowl.
- Add the butter in pieces and mix using a stand mixer or hand mixer until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
- Use your hands to knead the crumbly mixture into a smooth dough and form into a ball. Wrap it with plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour. *see notes
- Meanwhile, mix the ingredients for the sugar topping in a small bowl.
Form & Bake
- Preheat your oven to 355°F/180°C.
- Divide the dough into 4 pieces and roll each into a rope of about 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick. Divide each rope into ∼0.4 inches (1 cm) slices using a dough scraper or knife.
- Roll each piece between your hands into a thin rope and form into a crescent.
- Transfer them on a with parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes in the preheated oven. They are good as soon as the ends start to turn into a very light brown, but the rest of the crescent is still white.
- Place them on a cooling rack and sprinkle with the sugar coating (using a flour sifter or a small fine-mesh strainer) while still warm. → Place a clean parchment paper under the rack to collect and reuse any topping that didn’t stick on the cookies.
Notes
- Vanilla Sugar: Vanilla sugar is a very common Swiss/German baking product. If you don’t have vanilla sugar, you can make your own by mixing 2 tbsp caster sugar with the scraped out seeds of one vanilla bean.
- Cooling Time: If you are in a hurry, store the dough for 15 minutes in the freezer instead of 1 hour in the refrigerator. Cold dough is much easier to form.
- Store them in an airtight container at room temperature.
- Keeps fresh for at least one week.
- Sugar Coating: Sprinkle the cookies with the sugar coating while still warm to ensure that the coating sticks.
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