Vanilla Butter Ring Cookies or Vanillekranse, is one of my absolute favorite cookies.
They are normally made and served during the entire December for Christmas celebration and is a part of the huge traditional assortment of Danish Christmas cookies.
The cookies are sweet, crispy and crunchy from the chopped almonds.
This cookie goes perfect to a hot glass of mulled wine (glögg) but also with a nice cup of tea or coffee – if you make them during summer.
We often make the Vanilla Butter Ring Cookies to bring as a sweet, homemade hostess gift. Sometimes I string them together with a band like a Christmas wreath or put them nicely in a Mason Jar with a cute little ribbon around.
That is a gift everybody likes!
Hope you like them just as much as we do!!
Vanilla Butter Ring Cookies
To begin with you blanche* or skin the almonds and chop them finely.
In a mixing bowl you now combine the finely chopped almonds with flour, baking powder and cold butter.
In another bowl, mix egg, vanilla seeds (or the vanilla bean paste) and sugar until it turns white and fluffy.
Now you add the flour mix and work it together until you get a sticky ball shape.
You now have to let the dough rest for minimum 30 minutes in the refrigerator. You can also leave it in the fridge over night, or up to a few days.
Now the dough is ready, but to make the traditional vanillekranse you need a star shaped pastry attachment your stand mixer. If you don’t have that you can easily use a cookie press instead. The only thing is that the dough is tough to pipe out since it has harden up a bit in the fridge. If the dough is too hard (if you left the dough i the refrigerator over night?) you can just leave it out on the kitchen table for a few minutes. But it is important that the dough is rather cold when you bake them.
You can also just roll out the dough on the table, cut it out into small, thin lengths of 2-3 inches and assemble to small rings. Star shaped or not, they taste great anyway.
I use a good old-fashioned cookie press when I bake vanillekranse.
When you are ready to pipe up your cookies, start by lining up a few baking trays with parchment paper. Place the cookie dough rings evenly spaced out.
Finally bake the cookies for about 8-10 minutes in a pre heated oven.
360 degree Fahrenheit.
Keep in an air tight container.
Enjoy.
* How to blanche or skin your almonds:
Place your raw almonds into boiling water.
Let them boil for exactly one minute. Don’t boil for any longer than 60 seconds, or your almonds will start to soften.
Drain the almonds immediately in a colander or strainer and rinse them with cold water to cool them.
Use your fingers to gently squeeze the almonds and loosen the skin from them.
Once you remove the skins, let the almonds dry off completely.
Discard the skins.

Vanilla Butter Ring Cookies or Vanillekranse
-
Cook Time: 8-10 min
-
Total Time: 8-10 min
-
Yield: 100 cookies 1x
Description
Vanilla Butter Cookie Rings or Vanillekranse are normally made and served during the entire December for Christmas celebration and is a part of the huge traditional assortment of Danish Christmas cookies.
The cookies are sweet, crispy and crunchy from the chopped almonds.
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cup flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 vanilla pod (or 1 tablespoon or vanilla bean paste
)
- 1 3/4 sticks of cold butter
- 1 egg
- 1 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup of blanched*, finely chopped almonds
Instructions
To begin with you blanche* or skin the almonds and chop them finely.
In a mixing bowl you now combine the finely chopped almonds with flour, baking powder and cold butter.
In another bowl, mix egg, vanilla seeds (or the vanilla bean paste) and sugar until it turns white and fluffy.
Now you add the flour mix and work it together until you get a sticky ball shape.
You now have to let the dough rest for minimum 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
Now the dough is ready, but to make the traditional vanillekranse you need a star shaped pastry attachment your stand mixer. If you don’t have that you can easily use a cookie press instead. The only thing is that the dough is tough to pipe out since it has harden up a bit in the fridge. If the dough is too hard (if you left the dough i the refrigerator over night?) you can just leave it out on the kitchen table for a few minutes. But it is important that the dough is rather cold when you bake them.
You can also just roll out the dough on the table, cut it out into small, thin lengths of 2-3 inches and assemble to small rings. Star shaped or not, they taste great anyway.
I use a good old-fashioned cookie press when I bake vanillekranse.
When you are ready to pipe up your cookies, start by lining up a few baking trays with parchment paper. Place the cookie dough rings evenly spaced out.
Finally bake the cookies for about 8-10 minutes in a pre heated oven.
360 degree Fahrenheit.
Keep in an air tight container.
Enjoy.
Notes
You can easily keep the dough in the refrigerator over night or for a few days until you have time to bake the cookies.
* How to blanche or skin your almonds:
Place your raw almonds into boiling water.
Let them boil for exactly one minute. Don’t boil for any longer than 60 seconds, or your almonds will start to soften.
Drain the almonds immediately in a colander or strainer and rinse them with cold water to cool them.
Use your fingers to gently squeeze the almonds and loosen the skin from them.
Once you remove the skins, let the almonds dry off completely.
Discard the skins.
Keywords: vanilla, vanilla butter, butter cookies, cookies, vanilla, vanillekranse, danish, danish cookie, Christmas cookie,
hej 🙂
Jeg har lavet dine vanilije kranse og de smager super godt, det eneste er at mine ikke bliver til kranse men flyder ud og bliver til småkager der skal “brækkes” fra hinanden? Har du et tip
Hilsen
Charlotte (Encinitas CA)
Det kan maaske vaere at dejen har vaeret for varm til at starte med. Husk at lade den hvile i koeleskabet foerst. Dejen skal vaere fast og holde formen, naar du arbejder med den.
Hvis du kan skaffe hjortetaksalt, Ammonium bicarbonate (NH₄HCO₃), kan du istedet for baking soda og baking powder proeve at bruge 1 teaspoon af dette istedet. Du kan bla. koebe det paa amazon.com.
Haaber dette hjaelper.