Hiking Hotel Kirchner Spelt vanilla crescent cookies

Just because you own a hotel doesn't mean you don't bake cookies when it's snowing outside and Christmas is approaching. Quite the contrary. For the Kirchner family at the Wanderhotel Kirchner in Bramberg / Pinzgau, baking cookies together is an old family tradition.

Bake healthy vanilla crescent cookies with Annemarie.

Host Annemarie Kirchner is the creative force behind the Kirchner hiking hotel. She is always on the lookout for new cookie recipes and refining the classics. It is also thanks to her that the Kirchner family's vanilla crescent cookies are baked with spelt flour instead of the traditional wheat flour. "Firstly, they taste even creamier and almost melt in your mouth, and secondly, spelt flour is also a little healthier. So you can eat three more with a clear conscience," says Annemarie with a grin.

"After an active day out in the snow, guests particularly enjoy our cookie platters," laughs Christian, Annemarie's husband. That's why his motto is always: Before the vanilla crescent cookies, head for the mountain peaks – preferably on a guided snowshoe tour with his guests.

Spelt flour vanilla crescent cookies from the Wanderhotel Kirchner during a hiking holiday in Salzburg.

Ingredients for approx. 100 pieces

300 g spelt flour
300 g ground almonds
300 g cold butter
140 g organic cane sugar, finely ground
2 vanilla pods
4 egg yolks
100 g vanilla sugar
100 g icing sugar

Preparation

Roll spelt flour vanilla crescent cookies in the sugar mixture after a snowshoe hike in the Alps. — © Canva

The vanilla pods ...

...scrape out and quickly knead together with all the ingredients – except for the vanilla and icing sugar – to form a smooth dough. Leave to rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Then shape into crescents and bake at 180 °C for approx. 10 minutes. Allow to cool slightly, but while still warm, roll in the mixture of vanilla sugar and icing sugar. Caution: the hotter the biscuits are, the more fragile they are. If they are too cold, the vanilla sugar will not stick well.

Tip from the hiking hotels: If you don't feel like baking yourself but love biscuits, enjoy being active in winter and are still looking for a hotel for your winter holiday in the Alps, then the Kirchner hiking hotel is the perfect place for you. The Kirchners are a lovely family and run a beautiful hiking hotel – and their Christmas biscuits are all incredibly delicious!