These vanilla cookies are one of the most traditional Croatian Christmas cookies. They have a specific crescent shape and wonderful vanilla taste, primarily from vanilla confectioners sugar they are rolled in.
This was my first time making them and I got very scared I thought when they didn’t quite turn out. But it turns out that everyone that was giving me advice from back home was right. These cookies are not supposed to be eaten the first day, maybe not even the second. The longer you wait, the better they get!
Vanilla Crescents
350 grams of flour
250 grams of butter, room temperature
100 grams of ground walnuts
80 grams of sugar
1 tsp of vanilla extract
1 egg white
confectioners sugar (vanilla)
* in US measurements
2 1/2 cups of flour
2 sticks + 2 tablespoons of butter
1 cup ground walnuts + 2 tablespoons
2/3 cups of sugar
1 tsp of vanilla extract
1 egg white
confectioners sugar (vanilla)
Mix butter with sugar, then add rest of the ingredients. If it seems too dry, once you start working the dough with your hands the butter and walnuts will release more moisture and you will be able to shape the cookies nicely. I like to let the dough rest in the fridge (shaped in a ball, wrapped in plastic wrap) for about half an hour to an hour before shaping them.
Once you start shaping the cookies you take a part of the dough, roll out a big snake thickness around and inch and cut it in equal little pieces. You will roll each again into a little worm about the size of your pinky finger or little thicker, then you give it it’s final crescent shape and put onto a baking sheet. They don’t really spread so you can fit a lot on one cookie sheet.
Bake them on 350 for 8 minutes, no more…or they will dry out. Let them cool just slightly before rolling them in vanilla confectioners sugar.
I make my own vanilla sugar by putting leftover vanilla pods into a small container with some regular sugar. After about two weeks you will have a wonderfully flavored sugar. If you know of a Mediterranean /Bosnian or similar store around your city, you can go and buy little bags of vanilla sugar. They are much more potent and I love using those for these cookies.
Also, if you are not a fan of walnuts, feel free to substitute them for almonds or hazelnuts. I tried both and they are delicious.
Are you guys counting down to Christmas like we are at my house? It is getting exciting. I am also realizing that I will not be making a third of things I wanted for Christmas, there is just not enough time…but there is always New Years cookies and cakes and more excuses to make yummy food!
Lijepi su jako, i ja ih imam danas u planu napraviti…
Pozdrav!
Hvala, upravo ih grickam za dorucak :)))
would you happen to know the conversations from grams to cups? im in the states and using grams as a measuring tool is extremely foreign to us. thanks!!
Conversion to US measurements added!
Is the 2/3 c. sugar called for in the dough, granulated sugar or confectioners sugar? Thanks!
I saw these and am now making them. Hopefully they turn out as nice as yours.
I'm making mine today! I hope they turned out ok!