I was inspired to make these traditional Eastern European vanilla crescent Christmas cookies by my insta friend Veronika‘s cookie posts from last year. Her traditional Czech vanilkové rohlíčky looked and sounded so good and after researching the recipes out there they seemed like good candidates for vegan-izing. (And go check out her feed, it’s a lovely mix of her beautiful photography, food, family, and seasonal rhythms!)
I’ll be making these again and again each holiday I’m sure. They are relatively easy and quick to make, no refrigerating, or rolling out dough or fancy piping for decoration. So basically my kind of Christmas cookie, haha!
You can halve or double this recipe as suited to your needs. I adapted a traditional Czech recipe I found online by Barbara Rolek to make this vegan version. Hope you like it as much we do!
xx Kaity
recipe after the jump…
Vegan Vanilla Crescent Cookies
Yield ~3 dozen cookies
It's a basic shortcrust cookie dough with the addition of ground nuts. I love the crescent moon shape and the festive snowy coating of powdered sugar. They have a crumbly texture that is perfect for tea time or with your morning coffee. I added almond extract to really bring out the almond flavor as well as ground vanilla bean for more vanilla flavor.
Ingredients
- 1 cup vegan butter (like earth balance or miyokos kitchen)
- 5 tablespoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon ground vanilla bean (optional)
- 1 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups almond meal or ground walnuts
- garnish: confectioner's sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350˚F.
- Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- In a mixing bowl with a hand held beater or stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add vanilla and water (and vanilla bean and almond extract if using) and cream again to incorporate.
- In a separate bowl whisk together flour, salt and ground nuts.
- Add the dry mixture to the butter/sugar mixture and combine until a stiff dough forms, 1-2 minutes.
- Form heaping tablespoons of dough into crescent shapes by rolling the dough between your hands. Place them on the baking sheets into the crescent shape, spacing each cookie about 1 inch apart.
- Bake cookies at 350˚F for about 15 minutes until golden brown on the bottom and edges.
- Allow cookies to cool the baking sheets for 2 minutes then dust them or roll them in powdered sugar while they are still warm. When cookies are completely cool dust or roll them again in powdered sugar. Enjoy!
Notes
The cookies will keep for several days stored in an airtight container.
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Tag @fareisle on Instagram and hashtag it #fareisle.
recipe adapted from Barbara Rolek
Prop Love: Measuring spoons and mushroom bowl by Facture Goods.
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