Simple and sweet, with the flavor of vanilla sugar and a melt-in-your-mouth consistency, these lovely little crescent cookies are easy to make and more than easy to enjoy. They’re a shortbread type of cookie, with plenty of butter but no egg or leavening agent, so they have a rich, crumbly bite. The flavors are subtle and come mainly from the almond flour and snow-like vanilla sugar, but their balance creates a cookie that’s nearly irresistible.

Vanillekipferl originally come from Austria but are well known throughout Europe, showing up in Germany, Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Romania, and Slovakia. While they’re especially popular around Christmas, in many countries you can find them year-round… and if you can’t, you can easily make them yourself!

These can be made with ground walnuts, hazelnuts, or almonds. We prefer almonds for their flavor and the light finish they give the cookie, but it really is just a matter of preference – they all give a great end result. The dough is shaped quickly by hand, no cutters or special equipment needed. In fact, the only ‘special equipment’ you really need is vanilla sugar, which is a signature of this cookie.

You can buy vanilla sugar, but you can also easily make your own to keep on hand. The simplest method is to mix the seeds from a vanilla bean with granulated sugar, but if you don’t have vanilla beans around or don’t want to invest in them, you can also get the same effect with the more economical vanilla extract. Just pulse together some vanilla extract and granulated sugar in a food processor and spread it out onto a plate to dry. It will clump a bit as it dries, but you can then return it to the food processor to eliminate any clumps that have formed.