‘Nothing says Christmas like the smell of fresh-baked cookies and the love of family’
These cookies are delicious and can easily be made gluten free, without the audience knowing. You can interchange the nuts from almonds to pecans to walnuts, all taste delicious. The mix of butter and nuts makes the cookies incredibly satiating.
This recipe is a generational recipe, documented by great grandma Rose Vittuli. It has a delicate texture whilst being rich and decedent.
It is said to originally be a Viennese recipe, called ‘Vanillekipferl’ meaning vanilla crescent that originates as far back as the 13th century. It has become a deeply ingrained advent tradition across Europe.
Christmas cookies are steeped in history, having started in the 7th century Persia with sugar’s arrival, to the medieval monks who used sugar flour and spices like ginger to create celebratory, shareable treats, to the Dutch who introduces festive cookies to America, solidifying cookies as a beloved staple in the USA.
Ingredients:
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
- 5 Tbsp. cane sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- ¾ tsp. salt
- 2 cups GF flour, sifted (cup 2 cup flour is great)
- 2 cups almonds, ground
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
Method
- Preheat the oven to 375F
- Line two baking trays
- Add the butter and sugar to a bowl and cream using a hand or stand mixer
- Add the vanilla and stir
- Add the salt to the sifted flour and mix, then add this mixture to the butter/sugar and mix thoroughly by hand
- Stir in the ground almonds. You can use pecans or walnuts or a blend. Almonds are traditional.
- If the mixture doesn’t stay together add in 1-2 tbsp water, 1 tbsp at a time
- Refrigerate the dough for 30 mins to make it easier to work with
- This recipe yields 48 small cookies, so size accordingly. I made 24 larger. For the larger use a ball of dough similar to a walnut, roll and bend into a curved crescent shape
- Space the cookies 2 inches apart as they will expand a little
- Bake for 20 minutes, they will harden as they cool also
- Roll in powdered sugar
