Walnut Crescent Cookies
Buttery walnut crescent cookies are a beautiful addition to holiday cookie trays.
According to a popular myth, the crescent shaped cookie, Kipferl in German or kifeljček in Slovenian, was invented by the Viennese bakers Peter and Eva Wendler after the Turkish siege of Vienna in the 17th century. The crescent shape is said to have ridiculed the Turkish crescent.
However popular this story might be, crescent shaped pastry has a longer history. The first depiction is believed to date to the Hortus Deliciarum in the late 12th century, though the pastry arguably looks more like a pretzel than a Kipferl. The crescents were first mentioned in writing in the Prince's Book by the Viennese poet Jans Enenkel in the late 13th century.
An important ingredient in modern day crescent cookies is vanilla, which originated in the Gulf of Mexico. It was considered extremely valuable and was therefore only available to the wealthy. At the beginning of the 19th century it became possible to grow vanilla on La Reunion (then: Ile Bonaparte or Ile Bourbon) and Java. The plants had to be pollinated by hand, which kept the price high. The real revolution came in 1874 when German chemists succeeded in producing vanillin synthetically. With that vanilla essence slowly found its way into middle-class households.
It was around this time, in 1884, that the first vanilla crescent recipe appeared in the cookbook Die Süddeutsche Küche by Katharina Prato from Graz. It used almond flour instead of ground walnuts. In the Austrian countryside, including Slovenia, walnuts were more common and often at hand (today as in the past) and so crescents are prepared with ground walnuts instead of almonds.
Vanillekipferl: Dem Original-Rezept aus dem 19. Jahrhundert auf der Spur
Recipe
Dough
225 g butter, room temperature
200 g ground walnuts
160 g powdered sugar
300 g flour
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 egg, room temperature
Decoration
powdered sugar
Instructions:
Dough
Place all the ingredients in a large bowl and knead until thoroughly combined (or use a food processor).
Wrap into cling wrap and put into the fridge for at least one hour or overnight.
Divide the dough into pieces with each weighing about 15 g or less.
Shape each piece into a crescent.
Making Walnut Crescents
Preheat the oven to 180 C (360 F).
Divide the dough into pieces that weigh around 15 g each.
Shape each piece into a crescent.
Bake for about 12 minutes (the exact time will depend on the oven) until the edges begin to turn golden. The cookies should be bright in color, not browned.
While the cookies are still warm, roll them in powdered sugar.
Serve and enjoy.
