Cathy Polenz Stallone kindly provided the following two (related, in more ways than one) recipes, the first being based on a recipe from her mother, Anna Huber Polenz, who was born in Blumau at her maternal grandfather's house and grew up in Deutsch Tschantschendorf. The second, German-style recipe comes from the grandson of her mother's half-sister, Gunter Gablerits, who now runs the family farm in Blumau... apparently pumpkins being the major crop. As Cathy says, Until recently, I did not know that my cousin in Blumau grew pumpkins and he produces an award winning pumpkin seed oil.

Why two recipes, you might ask? I'll let Cathy give the background:

I do a lot of baking at Christmas but only one recipe is from my mother: Vanilla Kipferl. Unfortunately, between my sister's children and mine, we have a rather large group who are highly allergic to nuts. This past Christmas it occurred to me that, sadly, my mother's recipe would probably perish with me. But then in early February, my cousin in Bad Blumau sent me a link to his website. There I found a recipe for Vanilla Kipferl made with pumpkin seeds!! The recipe is in German. As my German ist sehr schlecht and GoogleTranslate wasn't very helpful, I just used my mother's recipe and substituted pumpkin seeds for the walnuts. My nieces and nephews loved them. I am thrilled that all my family can now enjoy them!

So, given we had recipes from both Cathy and cousin Gunter, I decided to run both, providing a translation of the German-language recipe. I'll warn you that the German recipe lists its ingredients quantities as weight in grams, so you will need a kitchen scale. Secondly, like many German recipes, baking temperature and time are not provided: you are just supposed to know! (but I suggest something similar to those in Cathy's recipe... you know, 177° Celsius and, yes, 10-12 minutes!).


(recipe begins on page 2)
VANILLA KIPFERL
(from Cathy Stallone)

Ingredients:
  • 2-1/2 cups flour
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 3-1/2 oz. grated pumpkin seeds
  • 1/2 lb. sweet butter (softened)
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1/2 egg white
  • 2-3 tsp. vanilla extract
Preparation:

Pre-heat oven to 350°F. Mix dry ingredients in bowl. Grate butter into center. Add eggs, egg white, and vanilla extract. Mix to combine all ingredients. Using about a tablespoon of dough, roll with palm of hand on table to form a cylinder measuring 2-3 inches and shape into a crescent. Bake for 10-12 minutes until lightly browned on bottom. Let cool and then dip in granulated or confectioners sugar to cover cookie. Makes 5-6 dozen.

Note: Ingredients should be cool, especially in summer.

Variations:
  • Instead of pumpkin seeds, use 4 oz. grated walnuts or other nuts such as almonds or hazelnuts.
  • Before dipping in granulated sugar, dip tip of one end in melted chocolate.
  • After dipping in sugar, drizzle melted chocolate over cookies.
(recipe #2 is on page 3)


PUMPKIN SEED KIPFERL
(from Gunter Gablerits)
gablerits.at/page_rezepte_kk.html

Ingredients:
  • 210 gm flour
  • 180 gm butter
  • 70 gm pumpkin seeds (ground/grated)
  • 50 gm powdered sugar
  • 2 egg yolks
  • salt
  • vanilla sugar (see Note below)
Preparation:

Crumble the butter into the flour, then mix with the grated pumpkin seeds, powdered sugar, egg yolk and a pinch of salt and process quickly into a dough. Let dough rest for half an hour then roll flat. Cut into small pieces and shape into crescents. Place on a baking pan and lightly bake. Remove and roll the baked crescents in vanilla sugar.



Note: Vanilla Sugar (VanilleZucker in German, available on line at, among other sources, Amazon or Walmart) is a staple baking ingredient found in most German recipes for sweet treats like cakes and cookies. While you can buy it, doing so can be expensive in the US. Most people think homemade vanilla sugar has a better aroma and flavor than the commercially-produced counterparts, and it is easy to make.

How to make Vanilla Sugar: transfer 2 lbs. sugar (white, granulated) into a sealable container. Slice a vanilla bean lengthwise and place it in the container with the sugar. Push the vanilla bean down into the sugar for the greatest distribution of flavor. Seal tightly and leave the container in a cool place for 2-3 weeks, shaking the container every few days to help distribute the natural flavor evenly. Once ready to use, continue to store the sugar with the split vanilla bean. As you use it, occasionally refill the container with more sugar. The vanilla bean will continue to add flavor to the newly added sugar as long as it is still fragrant.

Equivalency: 1 tablespoon of homemade vanilla sugar equals 1 "packet". If you can’t wait for your vanilla sugar to be ready to use, you can put some vanilla extract in your batter and use regular, granulated sugar.