Vanille Hoernchen - German Christmas Cookie

I got this recipe here while searching for a cookie recipe for a class I was doing on Germany. I had the darndest time converting it since I don't have a kitchen scale. It does have a converter on the recipe site (click "Change Servings") but then it converted everything in grams to ounces and well, flour in ounces is different than fluid in ounces so I still had to dig a little bit to get the right measurements. Plus I tripled the recipe because I needed/wanted about 90 cookies. If you want the recipe for 30 cookies in metric, go to the link above, otherwise I am posting it below in cups, triplicated. It worked for me like this, even though my conversions may be slightly -or more than slightly- off. They are so yummy, you'll want 90 cookies so you have plenty to share.

Vanille Hoernchen --Bake at 350° for approx 10-12 minutes

4 1/3 Cups flour
2 1/4 Cups finely ground almonds (I used a food processor)
2 1/3 Cups butter (not margarine)
1 1/3 Cups sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 Cups powdered sugar (for coating after baking)

Mix all ingredients except powdered sugar in a bowl. Knead dough just until it is mixed. Mine looked like this;



Divide dough into manageable sections and roll into logs or snakes and cut into even sections to about 1 1/2 inch balls. Shape into horns. I didn't have a cookie cutter so I rolled each section into kind of a log pointed on each end and set in onto the cookie tray and turned into a moon/crescent shape and then flattened and evened it out a little bit.



Bake in oven preheated to 350° for about 10-12 minutes or until golden. Gosh I made these in April and can't remember for sure but I think I had to cook them a little bit longer to get them golden on the edges. Carefully coat them in powdered sugar. They are still so warm that they will break easily so I just dipped the top side into the powdered sugar in a bowl and then let them cool on aluminum foil. Mine still got a little bit sticky (powdered sugar melted a little bit) but it didn't EVEN matter because they were so yummy!

Potato Rolls

Makes 48 rolls. Bake 12-15 minutes at 375°

3 Cups scalded milk
3/4 Cup sugar
1 Cup instant potato flakes
1 Tablespoon salt
1/2 Cup shortening
1/2 Cup margarine
4 eggs

Bring milk almost to boil in pan. In a very large bowl combine the sugar, potato flakes, salt, shortening and margarine. Add the milk and stir to melt the shortening and margarine. When slightly cooled (about 5 - 7 minutes) add the eggs and stir.

1 1/2 Tablespoons yeast
1/4 Cup very warm water
1/2 teaspoon sugar

While waiting to add eggs, sprinkle water over yeast and sugar in a small bowl and set aside.

8 Cups flour (approx)

Once the eggs are mixed in, add about two cups of flour and the yeast and mix by spoon. Gradually stir in the rest of the flour by spoon or hand. I knead the dough right in the bowl by putting my hand under the mixture and folding the dough in half while turning the bowl about a quarter turn as I go for about 5 - 10 minutes.

Put the dough into a greased bowl and cover with lightly greased saran wrap and let rise for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until double.

For crescent rolls, separate dough into 4 equal sections and roll each into a large circle.

Lightly butter. I use a sandwich bag to spread the butter on the dough and the baking pans.

Cut into 12 even pie slices.

Roll from the largest side towards the point.






Put onto a buttered tray and cover loosely with greased saran wrap and let rise another 30 minutes. If your kitchen is cold and you need to force the rise, warm the oven to 175° and then shut off and place rolls in warm oven to rise.



If rising in oven, remove rolls from oven and preheat to 375°. Remove saran wrap and bake for 12 - 15 minutes. I switch the trays in the oven halfway through baking so they brown evenly. Makes 48 rolls, 24 on each cookie sheet.