The Sweet Taste of Christmas - Austrian Vanillekipferl

 

When you are Austrian, Christmas and Vanillekipferl goes together like Thanksgiving and turkey, or coffee and cream.
One of my favorite childhood memory is the delicious smell of these freshly baked cookies, together with the aroma of fresh pine tree and the imaculate white of the first snow.
I know, I know, this sounds like the worst kitch, but it's just  the way it was and still is.
These recipe is known as well as almond crescents and has been passed on from generation to generation. Each family has a slightly different recipe and some "secret ingredients"
they will hardley reveal.
Vanillekipferl are an all time favorite, they are wonderfully light, litterally melt in your mouth and are quite addictive. Just try  for yourself and you will see..
Ah, and before I forget, when you prepare this speciality, try to get in the mood with some Christmas music, I promise theyKipferl will  taste even better like this :)

This is what you need:
A dash of cool Christmas music
and
110g almond meal
 70g powdered (icing) sugar
210g unsalted butter, cut into 1|\2 inch cubes
280g sieved all purpose flour

For the sugar coating:
100g powdered sugar
2 packages vanilla sugar

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 180C.
Quickly mix all ingredients

  to a smooth dough 

and leave it in the fridge for about half an hour.
Tip: Keep the dough all time covered in the fridge so it won't try out.
Separate the dough into several parts, keep one to work with and set the rest aside in the fridge.
Divide the dough in small portions ( I used a melon cutter)

,roll out every piece in your hand (about 3-3 1/2 inch long) and shape into crescents.

 OR:
Roll out the dough to a about 1cm thick roll. Cut the roll into small pieces, formong crescent shaped cookies.
Arrange the cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. As they will grow when baking, place them at least 1/2 inch apart.
Bake for about 10 minutes or until light brown in color ( They should not be too dark)

Mix icing sugar and vanille sugar (reminds me of skiing!)

together and sieve, then toss the hot cookies carefully in the mix.

Uups,this one was too good to resist!

Store in airtight bcontainer or cookie box.
Enjoy!