This outstanding Almond Crescent Cookies Recipe comes from James Beard award-winning baker Dorie Greenspan. These buttery, melt-in-your-mouth cookies are a Christmas Tradition in Austria and Germany and they are truly the perfect holiday sweet—festive, vanilla-scented, sugar-dusted deliciousness!
Almond crescent cookies, also known as Vanillekipferl (vanilla crescents), are vanilla-almond flavored with a rich buttery consistency, similar to shortbread. The sugar-dusting looks like snow, making these fun festive cookies a perfect choice for Christmas or any winter celebration.
How To Make Almond Crescent Cookies
These cookies are easy to make in 5 simple steps. You can easily crank out a batch of 24 cookies in about 45 minutes. Here's an overview of the recipe with photos. Scroll down to the recipe card for full details.
- Cream the Butter and Sugar: Beat butter, sugar and vanilla with a hand mixer, until creamy.
- Form the Dough: Pulse in almond flour and all-purpose flour until the dough forms.
- Form the Cookies: Scoop up a tablespoon-sized piece of dough and roll it into a ball, then roll it on the counter into a 4-inch-long rope. Bend the rope into a crescent shape and place it on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat with the rest of the dough.
- Bake in a 350ºF oven for 20 minutes and then cool for about 5 minutes
- Dust with Sugar: When the cookies have cooled for just a few minutes, dust them generously with powdered sugar.
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Dust the baked cookies with powdered sugar while they're still warm. If you're making these ahead of time, I suggest that you give them an extra dusting of sugar just before serving, to give them a snow-covered look.
I use this baker's dusting wand for sugar-dusting.
If you're wondering why I keep showing photos of these almond crescent cookies with a cup of coffee, it's because I'm obsessed with the combination. Try dipping them - Yum!!
Prep Ahead, Storage and Freezing:
- Refrigerate Raw Dough: You can prepare the cookie dough up to two days ahead and keep it, wrapped in plastic wrap in the fridge. Bring it to room temperature and then shape and bake.
- Freeze Raw Dough: You can form the dough into cookies, freeze them, and then bake them at a future time. Wrap them up tightly and they will keep for 2 months in the freezer.
- Bake and Freeze: If you omit the sugar coating, the baked cookies can be wrapped and frozen for up to 2 months.
- Bake and Store at Room Temperature: If you plan to bake these ahead of time, they will keep for 3 days; give them a fresh dusting of confectioners’ sugar before serving.
If you need a few more delicious, festive dessert ideas from across the globe, give these Danish Aebleskivers a try. You may also love these Flourless Spanish Almond Cookies or this Austrian Linzertorte.
If you try these Almond Crescent Cookies, I hope you'll come back to leave a star rating and a comment. I'd love to know what you think!
PrintRecipe
Almond Crescent Cookies Recipe
- Total Time: 50 mins
- Yield: 24 Cookies 1x
Description
Nutty, vanilla-scented, sugar dusted, melt-in-your-mouth almond crescent cookies. Traditional for Christmas but delicious any time of year.
Adapted from a recipe in Dorie's Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 sticks (8 ounces; 226 grams) unsalted butter, cut into chunks, at room temperature
- ½ cup (100 grams) sugar
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon pure almond extract, to taste (optional) *Note, I didn't use any almond extract in my cookies.
- 1 ¾ cups (238 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1 ⅓ cups (133 grams) almond flour
- Granulated or confectioners’ sugar, for coating
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Instructions
- Position two oven racks to evenly divide the oven into thirds and preheat oven to 350ºF. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Working with a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the butter, sugar and salt together on medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes.
- Beat in the vanilla and the almond extract, if you’re using it, then scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- With the machine off, add the all-purpose flour all at once and then pulse the mixer to start blending. Mix on low speed until the flour is almost incorporated, then add the almond flour and mix only until it disappears into the mixture and the dough comes together. (For storing or freezing the dough, see the notes below)
- Using a medium cookie scoop (or tablespoon), scoop out walnut-size nuggets of dough. Work each piece into a compact ball between your palms and then roll it on the counter into a rope about 4 inches long. Bend the rope into a crescent, pinch the ends lightly and place on the baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between the crescents.
- Bake for 19 to 21 minutes, rotating the sheets top to bottom and front to back after 10 minutes, or until the cookies are golden at their tips, pale everywhere else and set, but too fragile to lift without breaking. Transfer the baking sheets to racks and let the cookies rest for 5 minutes before you give them the sugar treatment.
- Put the sugar in a small bowl and, one by one, dredge the cookies in sugar to coat the, and place them on racks to cool. (Note: I dipped the bottoms of the cookies in sugar and then used the baker's dusting wand for the tops. The wand prevents clumping and gives the cookies a snow-covered look.
Notes
- Storage and Freezing Raw Dough: The dough can be kept, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, or wrapped airtight and frozen for up to 2 months. If you decide to freeze the dough, I think you’ll find it more convenient to shape it first and freeze the crescents; let the crescents come to cool room temperature before baking them.
- Storage and Freezing Baked Cookies: If you omit the sugar coating, the baked cookies can be wrapped and frozen for up to 2 months. Once baked, the cookies will keep for about 3 days in an airtight container in the fridge or at room temp; give them a fresh dusting of confectioners’ sugar before serving.
- Nutrition Information: We do our best to provide accurate nutrition information using an online nutrition calculator however our nutrition information should only be used as an approximation.
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: German and Austrian
Originally published September 19, 2016. Updated with added helpful details in the written post, clearer instructions in the recipe card, an added section on storage and freezing. The same delicious recipe!
pulsa gratis
These cookies look off the hook delicious. Love it!
Svatia
Also, I put ground walnuts in mine to give it a nice twist and I don't use vanilla extract, but instead I coat it in vanilla sugar.
Svatia
I've been making this, as a traditional Czech Christmas cookie, for years now and ou still make better crescents than me, haha. Impresive!
cakespy
These cookies look off the hook delicious. Love it!
jual kolagit
whoah, it looks really delicious
in my country, every year theres a special day for muslimm called Eid Al-Fitr
on that day, every siblings and relatives come to visit, so we prepare cookies to welcome them
nah
almond cookies is one of my favourite, thanks for teaching me how to do it 🙂