Chocolate Crescent Cookies- Schokokipferl
These chocolate crescent cookies are an easy cookie to add to your holiday baking lineup. They are basically Viennese crescents with the addition of rich chocolate.
🍽️ Recipe Name: Chocolate crescent cookies -Schokokipferl
⏰ Ready In: 1½ hours
⏳ Prep Time: 10 minutes
❄️Chill Time: 45 minutes
🔥 Cook Time: 12-15 minutes
👥 Serves: 60 cookies
🥕Main Ingredients: butter, flour, sugar, cocoa powder, ground nuts, vanilla, eggs
🍳 Special Equipment: mixer, food processor
⭐ Why You’ll Love It: These buttery, nutty crescent cookies are tender, easy to make, and perfect for holiday cookie trays.
👇 Full measurements and instructions are in the recipe card below.
They are nutty, buttery, and pretty addictive. Go ahead, try to eat just one. 🙂 Christmas is such a busy time of year; it’s nice to have a few cookies that don’t require rolling and cutting shapes, or decorating.
What Are Schokokipferl?
Schokokipferl are chocolate crescent cookies made with a buttery, nutty dough and cocoa powder. They are a chocolate variation of traditional crescent cookies such as Vanillekipferl, which are especially popular during the Christmas season.
This recipe comes from an old Künzler cookbook that has been in our family for years, although my father wasn’t sure whether one of its authors was actually a relative.
What You Need
- Sugar: The original recipe calls for caster sugar.
- Butter: Use unsalted butter, softened to room temperature so it creams easily with the sugar.
- Flour: Regular all-purpose flour works best. Spoon it into the measuring cup and level it off so the dough doesn’t get too dry.
- Cocoa Powder: Use unsweetened cocoa powder. It gives the cookies their chocolate flavor without adding extra sweetness.
- Ground Nuts: Grind the nuts fairly fine so they blend evenly into the dough. Stop before they turn into nut butter. You can use walnuts, almonds or hazelnuts.
- Vanilla Sugar: You can buy vanilla sugar; it’s usually in the European section of finer grocery stores. Or make your own vanilla sugar. It’s easy, but you have to do it ahead of time. In a pinch, substitute vanilla extract.
- Egg Yolks: Egg yolks add richness and help bind the dough without making the cookies cakey.
- Salt: A small amount of salt balances the sweetness and brings out the chocolate and nut flavors.
What Is Caster Sugar?
Caster sugar is a fine-textured granulated sugar commonly used in British and European baking. The crystals are smaller than regular granulated sugar, so it dissolves more quickly and blends easily into cookie dough.
If you can’t find caster sugar, pulse regular granulated sugar briefly in a food processor until the crystals are finer. Don’t process it long enough to turn it into powdered sugar.
How to Make Them
Cream the butter in a stand or hand mixer.
Add the sugars and cream until light and fluffy.
Add the egg yolks and mix until combined.
Add the flour and cocoa powder.
Combine again.
Lastly, add the nuts and combine.
Chill the dough for at least 45 minutes up to 24 hours.
Roll each piece of dough into a rope about 3 inches long, tapering the ends slightly. Gently curve the rope into a crescent shape and place it on the prepared baking sheet.
Bake at 350°F for 12-15 minutes until firm and slightly golden.
Mix the powdered sugar and vanilla sugar in a bowl.
Roll the cookies in the sugar while they’re still warm but not hot. The dough is very short (meaning lots of butter), so the cookies break easily when they’re warm. If you find lots of them breaking, let them cool more.
Place a sheet of waxed paper on the counter. Place a cooling rack on top of the paper (this makes cleanup easy). Place the powdered sugar-rolled cookies onto the cooling rack to cool completely.
How to Store the Schokokipferl
Once the cookies are cool, package them in an airtight container. Place a sheet of waxed paper in between layers.
These cookies freeze very well for about a month.
Variations
- Chocolate Dip: Instead of rolling the cookies in powdered sugar, dip the cooled crescents partially in melted chocolate. Add holiday sprinkles before the chocolate sets, if desired.
- Change the nuts: Use walnuts, almonds, or hazelnuts. Hazelnuts are especially good with the chocolate.
- Add orange: Add about 1 teaspoon of finely grated orange zest to the dough. Chocolate and orange work really well together.
- Add coffee: Add ½ to 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder with the cocoa to deepen the chocolate flavor without making the cookies taste strongly of coffee.
- Make smaller crescents: Shape them smaller for cookie trays or gift boxes. Just start checking them a few minutes earlier.
Pro Tips
- If you’re freezing or storing these cookies, they may absorb some of the powdered sugar, so they may need a light dusting of additional sugar before serving.
- Grind the nuts finely, but stop before they become oily or turn into nut butter.
- Chill the dough well before shaping. If it gets soft while you work, put it back in the refrigerator for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Try to make the crescents about the same thickness so they bake evenly. I weigh the dough balls to make them all the same size.
- Don’t overbake them. They should be firm but still tender when cooled.
- Let them cool for a few minutes before rolling in the sugar. If they’re too hot, they can break; if they’re completely cool, the sugar won’t stick as well.
- For a prettier finish, give the cookies a second light dusting of powdered sugar after they are completely cool.
More Delicious Christmas Cookies
- Hildabrötchen
- Ischlers
- Santa Claus Christmas Cut Outs
- Peppermint Rice Krispies Treats
- Jam-filled Cookies
Tools That Make This Recipe Work
Schokokipferl | Chocolate Crescent Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup minus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ½ Cup Caster Sugar
- 1-2 egg yolks
- 2 Cups minus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup Cocoa powder
- 1 Cup walnuts
For the dredge
- ½ Cup powdered sugar
- 2 Teaspoons Vanilla sugar
Instructions
For the Dough
- Cream the butter in your electric mixer bowl until light and fluffy. Scrape the sides of the bowl.1 cup minus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- Add the caster sugar, then cream until it is light and fluffy. Add the eggs and mix them in.½ Cup Caster Sugar, 2 Teaspoons Vanilla sugar, 1-2 egg yolks
- Blend in the flour and cocoa powder, gradually. Scrape the bowl and ensure all the flour is incorporated.2 Cups minus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, ⅓ cup Cocoa powder
- Blend in the nuts gradually. Scrape the bowl and ensure all the nuts are incorporated.1 Cup walnuts
- Chill the dough for at least 45 minutes or overnight.
How to Roll the Dough
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- We like to weigh the dough so that all of the cookies are a uniform size. Ours weighed 13 grams which was perfect.
- Form the dough into balls. Roll the balls against your work surface with your fingertips to form a rope. Then, shape the dough into a crescent shape.
- Place the crescents about ¾ inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
- Bake 12–15 minutes, until the cookies are set and firm around the edges. Let them cool slightly.
- Mix the powdered sugar and vanilla sugar on a plate. Remove the cookies from the baking sheet. Roll them in the powdered sugar while they are still warm.½ Cup powdered sugar
- Place a sheet of waxed paper on the counter. Add a cooling rack on top of the paper (this makes for easy cleanup.) Place the powdered sugar-rolled cookies onto the cooling rack to cool completely
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Notes
Nutrition
Originally published September 17,2026.
