Vegan Vanillekipferl Recipe with only 5 ingredients

Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without vegan Vanillekipferl in Austria! When I was growing up we baked them every year for Christmas. These crescent-shaped cookies will melt in your mouth and leave their unmistakable vanilla taste. You only need 5 easy-to-get ingredients for those mouthwatering cookies. So, I wouldn’t be surprised if you add these delicious Christmas cookies to your Christmas cookie staples no matter where you’re from.

Are you looking for more recipes for your holiday baking? Then you might also like my vegan gingerbread cookies or my vegan Linzer cookies.

Origins of Vanillekipferl

The word Vanillekipferl is German and translates to vanilla crescents. They’re named after their taste and shape.

Vanillekipferl are popular Christmas cookies in many countries in Europe, the name for those Christmas cookies varies depending on the country. Originally they were created in Vienna, Austria, and there you can find them all year round in some shops but in the rest of Austria, they are only made during the Christmas season.

Traditionally Vanillekipferl are not vegan since they’re made with butter. So, unfortunately, you won’t find any vegan Vanillekipferl at the Christmas markets in Vienna. But the Vanillekipferl recipe is super easy to make vegan, so you can just make them yourself. You just have to replace the butter with vegan butter. Or you can find some other delicious treats at vegan restaurants in Vienna.

How to make Vegan Vanillekipferl – Step by Step

You only need 4 ingredients for the cookies and one additional ingredient for the dusting. So just 5 ingredients for those delicious cookies! Flour, vegan butter, powdered sugar, hazelnuts and vanilla sugar. Instead of hazelnuts, you can also use other nuts. Also very popular are almonds or walnuts. If you take other nuts you might need a bit more or less butter depending on what kind of nuts you use.

You don’t even need a bowl for this recipe! Just put all your ingredients on the counter or table and start kneading. It’s easier if the butter is not too cold and if you cut it into smaller bits. Knead the dough until the butter is dissolved into the dough and the dough ball sticks together without crumbs falling off.

Now you need to refrigerate the dough. Most people recommend doing this in cling film but I try to minimize my waste so I put the dough into a bowl and cover it with a lid. It works just as well. Leave the dough in the fridge for at least one hour. Afterwards only take about a quarter of the dough at a time and leave the rest in the fridge so it doesn’t get too warm.

Roll out the dough into one big roll on the counter and then cut it into smaller, same-sized bits. You don’t need to use flour on the counter to roll the dough. Now, take each piece and roll it between your hands into smaller rolls and then shape them to crescents. I like it when my vegan Vanillekipferl are smaller, so I get a lot of cookies (about 80) out of this dough. Forming this many vanilla crescent cookies is the most time-consuming part of this Vanillekipferl recipe. So, it’s best if you have enough time or you have some helpers. Otherwise, you can make your Vanillekipferl a bit bigger.

Make sure all cookies are about the same size. This is very important, otherwise, the smaller ones will burn while the bigger ones are not done.

Bake the cookies at 180°C until the edges turn golden, this should take about 10 to 15 minutes depending on the size of your Vanillekipferl. The vegan Vanillekipferl still have a very light colour when they’re done, only the edges are golden.

Mix vanilla sugar with powdered sugar and sieve it over the still-warm Vanillekipferl while they’re still on the baking tray. Once they’re nicely covered gently shake the baking tray with the cookies on it from side to side, so the bottoms get covered as well.

Afterwards, let the vegan Vanillekipferl cool down completely before putting them into a Christmas cookie tin. They’re best stored in a cool place, then they keep for weeks. But chances are you’re gonna finish these delicious cookies way before then.

Vegan Vanillekipferl Recipe

Tina

Vanillekipferl are traditional Austrian Christmas cookies with a taste of vanilla. This vegan Christmas cookie recipe only has 5 ingredients and is super easy to make.

4.67 from 3 votes

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Prep Time 30 mins

Cook Time 10 mins

Resting Time 1 hr

Total Time 1 hr 40 mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine Austrian

Equipment

• 1 Scale
• 1 Backing tray

Ingredients

  

• 280 g Flour
• 200 g Vegan Butter room-temperature
• 100 g Hazelnuts ground
• 80 g Icing Sugar

Dusting

• 24 g Vanille Sugar
• 3 tbsp Icing Sugar

Instructions

 

• Put all ingredients for the cookies in a pile on your clean kitchen counter or table. Cut the vegan butter into smaller bits with a table knife. Knead the dough with your hands until it is one smooth dough. This will be easier if the butter is already softer.
• Place the dough in a bowl and refrigerate for at least one hour.
• Take out about a fourth of the dough at a time and leave the rest in the fridge. Roll it into a roll and cut it into smaller pieces. Then roll each small piece into a roll and shape it into a crescent.
• Bake the cookies at 180°C for about 10 to 15 minutes depending on the size of your crescents. They're done once the edges begin to get a golden colour.
• Mix together icing sugar and vanilla sugar together and sieve it over the still-warm cookies.

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Notes

• The dough can be a bit crummy but it’s supposed to be. This is the reason they will almost melt in your mouth later on.
• You can use vegan butter or vegan margarine, but I think it turns out better with butter.
• Instead of ground hazelnuts, you can also use almonds or walnuts.
• Most recipes say to dunk the baked cookies into the sugar mix but sieving the sugar mix over the cookies works just as well and is much easier and quicker.

Keyword Christmas