Vaniljekranse
Vaniljekranse is a traditional Danish cookie made in the weeks leading up to Christmas. I have very fond memories of helping my Mom and Dad make vaniljekranse when I was a little girl. It’s a fun process of the dough coming out of the grinder into strips, cutting the strips into pieces and forming them into circles. The cookies have a sweet vanilla flavor and are slightly crunchy on the outside. Making Vaniljekranse makes for wonderful Danish family “hygge” (coziness).
Vaniljekranse are not difficult to make, however, it took some doing to actually make it happen. The reason being, that in Denmark there is an attachment to your meat grinder that has a star shape on it. So the dough is run through the meat grinder with the star attachment. I could probably just have used a pastry bag with a star tip, I tried it, but it takes a lot of muscle to get the dough out. The other option would be to use a cookie press and you can get some sort of circle pattern, but I really wanted to show the making of this cookie the authentic way.
Vaniljekranse
So I described the attachment to my wonderful husband Joe, he looked at the thickness of the meat grinder discs, and him being a Blacksmith and all, he was able to fabricate the disc for me…Yeah! My wonderful husband is so brilliant, I think I’ll keep him 🙂 He helped me make this cookie the authentic way. Thanks Joe.
Update: I have since then been able to buy a star attachment in Bilka in Denmark while we were home for a visit, it fits my KitchenAid mixer perfectly.
Star attachment for KitchenAid
Star attachment for KitchenAid
Vaniljekranse
Ingredients:
375 grams flour (13 oz)
125 grams cornstarch (4.4 oz)
375 grams salted butter (13 oz)
100 grams slivered almonds (3.5 oz)
250 grams sugar (8.8 oz)
1 vanilla bean
2 teaspoon vanilla powder
1 egg
Directions:
Place slivered almonds in food processor and blend until a powder. Set aside.
In a large bowl add flour and cornstarch, blend together. Cut butter into small pieces, add butter to flour mixture and blend together on low-speed with a handheld mixer until it starts to become crumbly. Cut open vanilla bean and scrape out seeds. Add vanilla seeds, vanilla powder, almonds and sugar, blend to combine. Add egg and mix to combine. Using your hands, press mixture together until it forms a dough. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 390 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Using the star attachment for your meat grinder, pastry bag or cookie press to form your cookies. Traditionally, you will use a star attachment for your meat grinder. Cut dough into small segments and load into the meat grinder. Run the dough through the star attachment into long strips, place dough onto floured surface. Then cut dough into 4 inch long pieces and form into circle. Place on prepared baking sheets. Bake in the middle of oven for 8 minutes or until slightly golden. Cool on baking sheets.
Glædelig Jul and Merry Christmas♥
Ground up slivered almonds
Dough coming out of grinder
Strips of dough
Vaniljekranse
Source: adapted from my Mother’s recipe
My Danish Kitchen 
Hi there, thanks for sharing the recipe. I’m a big fan of this cookie since i was a kid and thanks to you now i think i can make them myself. 🙂
I want to ask you about the almond. How if i don’t use almond? Can i replace the almond with something? Mange tak 🙂
Flo, the almonds are part of what gives the cookies their destinct flavor. If you don’t want to deal with the raw almonds you can use almond meal instead. Could you replace the almonds altogether? I’m sure you can but the cookie will have a different flavor. I would just do some experimenting. Good luck 🙂
I would like to know where to buy one of these
I am sorry Nicolas, I don’t sell my baked goods or the star attachment. If you don’t have the star attachment you could simply just roll the dough into thin logs and hand-form them into circles. Or you could just use a cookie press and the cookies would simply just have a different shape. Hope this helps you.
[…] Recipe from My Danish Kitchen […]
I’m curious…I don’t see any leavening in this recipe…did you use all purpose or self-rising flour?
Simply used all-purpose flour. No need for self-rising flour or baking powder, the cookies really don’t rise at all.
I got a Vintage Mirro cookie press from eBay with a star tip (they have two sizes, but the bigger one is better.) This is a GREAT press for these cookies with a twist handle!
Gail, I looked it up on eBay and it looks like a great device. Glad it works good since this dough can be a little on the firm side. Thanks for sharing you great find with me.
oh i love how buttery these cookies are… i am so drooling over it. thanks for sharing this.
Such pretty cookies, I love your photos of both the process and finished product, where do I find the cute little people? I know have to go to Denmark! Your husband is definitely a keeper, what a clever invention!
The little Nisse boy and girl are Danish crafts that my mom has sent me over the years. They are everywhere in Denmark….and everywhere in my house at Christmas 🙂
Meat grinder star attachement? Perfect.. .these look so awesome and yummy. I realized I have not answered the questions on my blog yet but fall is so busy with too many birthdays, holidays etc. Hopefully I will be able to do it before the year is over 😉
these are one of my favorite cookies! it’s so great to see you enjoying some that are homemade as well. yum!
What a creative idea of making these beautiful cookies. The cookie recipe sounds really interesting, too. I think I can use the pasta machine to make the dough come out like that 🙂
Pasta machine, really? I would never have thought of that. If you try it let me know how it worked.
Oh – forgot to add – love the pictures, especially your little ‘helper.’
What a wonderful recipe and a great process for making (have to get out that grinder for my mixer!). Thank you for sharing as I’ve never heard of these!