Christmas treat:

A tradition in our family is to make these biscuits over the festive season. They are probably more relevant to the Northern Hemisphere, but we still enjoy having them here in Australia. My Austrian/Italian mother-in-law gave me this recipe in 1967 when I first married her son. I’m sure she’d be delighted for me to share them with you all.

 Vanilla Kipferl with love 😘

454g plain flour

454g butter

Pinch of salt

227g ground almonds or hazelnuts

227g castor sugar

2 teaspoon vanilla essence

Sieved icing sugar or castor sugar

The biscuits can be made in the mixer, but care must be taken not to over mix the sugar and butter.

On the board: put the mixed salt, flour and nuts on the board, make a well in the centre for the butter cut into chunks and the sugar. Work these together with the fingers, then gradually work in the surrounding flour etc. until a dough is formed.

Chill for one hour.

To form biscuits: try not to use any flour on the board as this will toughen the biscuits.

Pinch off pieces the size of a walnut and roll between palms into small balls. Roll each ball into a ‘pencil’, about 3/4 inch thick and 21/2inches long, then bend into a crescent. Arrange on ungreased sheets, leaving about 1inch between biscuits, as they may spread a little. Bake in a slow, moderate oven for 18 minutes or until a pale golden colour. Carefully lift onto a cooling tray and leave for three minutes to firm up, then dip into a bowl of icing or castor sugar.