Schokokipferl (Chocolate Crescent Cookies)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large mixing bowl
• •Two baking trays
• •Parchment paper
• •Heatproof bowl for melting chocolate
• •Small saucepan for water bath

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the dough

   Cut the cold butter into small cubes and put them in a large bowl with the flour, cocoa powder, ground hazelnuts, powdered sugar, Vanillezucker, and salt. Work everything together with your fingertips, rubbing the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture looks like damp sand and starts clumping when you press it. Then bring it together into a smooth dough with your hands, kneading it briefly on the counter, no more than a minute. The dough should hold together and feel like cold clay. If it's sticky, you've overworked it and the butter has warmed up. If it's crumbly and won't come together, press harder. The ground hazelnuts have enough oil to bind everything.

   Cold butter is not a suggestion. It's what makes these cookies short and crumbly instead of tough. If your kitchen is warm, chill the cubed butter for ten minutes in the freezer before you start.
2. 2

   Chill the dough

   Flatten the dough into a thick disc, wrap it in cling film, and refrigerate for at least one hour. The dough needs to firm up so you can shape it cleanly. Cold dough holds its crescent shape in the oven instead of spreading into flat little puddles. Don't skip this step. Go make a coffee. Read something. The dough will wait for you.

   You can make the dough up to two days ahead and keep it in the fridge. It also freezes well for a month. Thaw overnight in the fridge before shaping.
3. 3

   Shape the crescents

   Preheat your oven to 170°C (340°F). Line two baking trays with parchment paper. Take the dough from the fridge and pinch off small pieces, about the size of a walnut. Roll each piece between your palms into a small log about seven centimeters long, slightly thicker in the middle and tapered at both ends. Curve the log gently into a crescent and place it on the tray. Leave about two centimeters between each cookie. They won't spread much, but they need room.

   If the dough cracks when you roll it, let it warm up for five minutes on the counter. Too cold and it snaps. Too warm and it sticks. You want it cool but pliable. This is the rhythm Gretel taught me: pinch, roll, curve, set down. Once you get it, your hands know what to do.
4. 4

   Bake the Kipferl

   Bake for 12 to 14 minutes. The cookies are done when the surface looks dry and matte and they feel just firm when you press one lightly with your fingertip. They will still feel slightly soft in the center. That's right. They firm up as they cool. Overbaking is the enemy here. A Kipferl that snaps when you bite it has spent too long in the oven. You want it to crumble and melt on your tongue. Let them cool completely on the tray. They are fragile when warm and will break if you try to move them too soon.

5. 5

   Melt the chocolate

   Break the bittersweet chocolate into small pieces and melt it gently. A bowl set over a pot of barely simmering water works best. Keep the heat low and stir often. The water should not touch the bottom of the bowl and you must not let a single drop get into the chocolate, or it will seize into a grainy mess. When it's smooth and glossy, take it off the heat.

   Use good chocolate here, not baking chips. The chocolate is not hiding inside the cookie. It's on display. You can taste the difference between good 70% chocolate and the cheap stuff, and so will everyone you share these with.
6. 6

   Dip the tips

   Take each cooled Kipferl and dip both tips, about one centimeter deep, into the melted chocolate. Hold it for a second to let the excess drip off, then lay it back on the parchment. Work steadily but without rushing. If the chocolate starts to thicken as it cools, set it back over the warm water for a moment. Once all the cookies are dipped, let the chocolate set completely. A cool room takes about thirty minutes. The fridge works in ten but can leave the chocolate with a dull bloom, so I prefer patience.

7. 7

   Store and serve

   Layer the finished Schokokipferl in a tin between sheets of parchment paper. They keep beautifully for two weeks in a cool place, and they actually improve after a day or two as the flavors deepen and the texture settles. Arrange them on a plate with Vanillekipferl for the full effect: dark crescents and pale crescents side by side. That's a proper Austrian Weihnachtsteller. Mahlzeit!

Chef Tips

• •Grind your own hazelnuts if you can. Buy whole hazelnuts, toast them in a dry pan until the skins crack and the kitchen smells like a Christkindlmarkt, rub off the loose skins in a tea towel, then pulse them in a food processor. Stop before they turn into butter. You want a coarse, sandy texture, not paste.
• •Use Dutch-process cocoa, not natural cocoa. Dutch-process has been treated with alkali, which darkens the color and mellows the flavor. It's what Austrian bakers use. Natural cocoa is sharper and more acidic, and the cookies won't taste right.
• •Gretel always said the best Christmas cookies come from a cold kitchen and warm hands. Work quickly, handle the dough gently, and if your kitchen runs warm, chill the shaped crescents on the tray for fifteen minutes before baking.
• •A tin of Schokokipferl layered with parchment makes a better gift than anything you can buy. Austrians know this. We've been giving tins of Christmas cookies instead of wrapped presents for as long as anyone can remember.

Advance Preparation

• •The dough can be made up to two days ahead and refrigerated, or frozen for up to one month. Thaw overnight in the fridge before shaping.
• •Baked and dipped Schokokipferl keep for two to three weeks in an airtight tin at cool room temperature. They improve after a day or two as the hazelnut flavor deepens.
• •If you're baking a full Weihnachtsteller, make the Schokokipferl dough first and chill it while you work on other cookies. The dough is very forgiving about waiting.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 15g)