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    Home » Recipes » Christmas Cookies

    Vanilla Crescent Cookies – Czech Vanilkové rohlíčky

    Published: Dec 27, 2020 · Modified: Nov 19, 2024 by Petra Kupská | Cook Like Czechs · 30 Comments

    Jump to Recipe
    • 759shares

    Czech Christmas wouldn’t be complete without vanilla crescent cookies. They are the first type of Christmas cookies that disappears from the table! In Czech, we call them Vanilkové rohlíčky.

    Czech vanilkove rohlicky vanilla crescent cookies.

    ➜ What are Vanilkové rohlíčky

    Czech Vanilkove rohlicky crescents belong to the typical Christmas cookies. The base comprises a buttery dough with ground nuts. The pieces of dough are shaped into a crescent shape and baked in the oven. While the crescents are still warm, you need to coat them with vanilla sugar.

    Taste vanilla crescents and other classic Christmas treats in Prague during Advent! Prague, with its magical atmosphere, belongs to the best Christmas destinations in Europe.

    MY TIP: Try also these Linzer cookies (a must at Czech Christmas!)

    ➜ Pronunciation

    Do you want to know how to pronounce “vanilkové rohlíčky”? I recorded a short audio clip with the Czech pronunciation. Here you go:

    ➜ Ingredients

    Vanilla crescents ingredients.

    To make vanilla crescents, you need:

    • All-purpose flour
    • Unsalted butter; take the butter out of the fridge about half an hour in advance
    • Powdered/icing/confectioners' sugar
    • Walnuts; shelled, or pecans
    • Egg yolk; the egg yolk will make the dough stick together well, and the crescents will shape nicely

    HOMEMADE VANILLA SUGAR:

    • Powdered sugar
    • Vanilla bean
    • Airtight container; with a screw cap

    ✅ You will find the exact ingredient amounts in the recipe card below, which you can also print out.

    ➜ Instructions with Photos

    STEP 1: Grate the walnuts and put them in a bowl.

    STEP 2: Add the flour, egg yolk, powdered sugar and butter cut into pieces.

    Making Czech vanilkove rohlicky.

    STEP 3: Work into a smooth dough. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator to chill for two hours.

    Vanilkove rohlicky dough.

    STEP 4: Divide the dough into four pieces, roll each into a strand about 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick. Cut each strand into small, equal-sized pieces.

    Making vanilkove rohlicky cookies.

    STEP 5: Roll the pieces of dough into crescent shapes and place them on a baking sheet lined with baking paper.

    Vanilla crescent cookies on a baking tray.

    STEP 6: Bake in a preheated oven at 350 °f (180 °C) for 8 minutes.

    STEP 7: Roll the crescents while still warm in vanilla sugar.

    Coating vanilla crescent cookies.

    ➜ Homemade vanilla sugar

    These Christmas crescent cookies are rolled in icing sugar scented with vanilla.

    I make my homemade vanilla sugar by filling a large container with powdered sugar and adding a vanilla bean. After sealing the container with a screw cap, I give it a good shake. In just three days, the sugar becomes wonderfully fragrant and ready to use.

    TIP: Keep adding sugar to the container, do not remove the vanilla pod.

    ➜ Silicone mold for crescents

    If you want to make baking easier, get a silicone mold with crescent shapes to press the dough in. You put the mold with the dough to bake, turn out the slightly cooled rolls and roll them in icing/powdered sugar.

    Vanilkove rohlicky cookies.

    ➜ Useful Tips

    • I grate the walnuts using a manual rotary grinder with a blade for cheese.
    • Let the crescents cool for a few minutes after baking. Then remove cookies from the baking sheet and coat them with vanilla sugar while they are still warm.
    • Be careful when coating, the rolls are fragile!

    GOOD TO KNOW: The vanilla crescent cookies taste best about 2 weeks after baking. During this time, they soften and become tender. Count on it if you are planning to put the cookies on the Christmas table!

    ➜ Storage

    Store the crescents in layers inside a paper box with a lid, lined with foil. Keep the cookies in a cool, dry place such as a balcony, pantry, or the top of the refrigerator.

    Read also: Czech Christmas Folk Traditions

    More Christmas cookies:

    • Vosí hnízda – beehive nests
    • Masaryk’s cookies
    • Coconut meringue cookies – kokosky

    Tried this recipe?

    Leave a review down in the comments! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

    Other readers and I love hearing what you think. Stay in touch by following me on Facebook and Pinterest. For more Czech stuff, subscribe to my newsletter!

    Czech vanilla Christmas crescents.

    Vanilla Crescent Cookies – Czech Vanilkové rohlíčky

    Author: Petra Kupská | Cook Like Czechs
    Czech Christmas wouldn’t be complete without vanilla crescent cookies. They are the first type of Christmas cookies that disappears from the table! In Czech, we call them vanilkové rohlíčky.
    4.85 from 13 votes
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    Prep Time: 20 minutes mins
    Cook Time: 8 minutes mins
    Resting Time: 2 hours hrs
    Total Time: 2 hours hrs 28 minutes mins
    Servings: 46 pieces

    Tap or hover to scale

    Ingredients 

    Vanilla crescent dough:

    • 1 ⅓ cups all-purpose flour
    • 1 stick unsalted butter cold
    • ½ cup powdered sugar
    • ½ cup walnuts shelled (or pecans)
    • 1 egg yolk

    For coating:

    • ¾ cup powdered sugar

    Instructions 

    • Grind ½ cup walnuts and put them in a bowl.
    • Add 1 ⅓ cups all-purpose flour, 1 stick unsalted butter cut into pieces, ½ cup powdered sugar and 1 egg yolk.
    • Using your hands, work the ingredients into a compact dough. Be patient; it takes about five minutes for everything to come together nicely.
    • Shape the dough into a cylinder, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for two hours to rest.
    • After resting, unwrap the dough from the foil. Knead it briefly to soften, then divide it in half. Roll each half into a long cylinder about 1 inch (2.5 cm) in diameter. Slice into equal-sized pieces.
    • Roll each piece into a strand app. 2 inches (5 cm) long. Gently bend the strands into crescent shapes and arrange them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
    • Bake in a preheated oven at 350 °F for 8 minutes.
    • Let the crescents cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then roll each one in ¾ cup powdered sugar.

    Notes

    • I grate the nuts using a manual rotary grinder with a fine shredding blade.
    • Let the crescents cool for a few minutes after baking. Then remove cookies from the baking sheet and coat them with vanilla sugar while they are still warm.
    • Be careful when coating, the rolls are fragile!
    • To make baking easier, get a silicone mold with crescent shapes to press the dough in.
    • Czechs usually bake these crescents in the second week of Advent. These crescents are crispy right after baking but will soften in about two weeks—just as Czech Christmas cookies are meant to be!
    • Store them in a cool place, stacked in a paper box with a lid, lined with foil.

    Nutritional estimate pro serving

    Calories: 54kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 10mg | Sodium: 1mg | Potassium: 11mg | Fiber: 0.2g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 67IU | Vitamin C: 0.02mg | Calcium: 3mg | Iron: 0.2mg
    Servings: 46 pieces
    Calories pro serving: 54
    Course: cookies
    Cuisine: Czech
    Keyword: Czech Christmas
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    Do you like the recipe?I would be happy for your feedback! Please, rate the recipe and share your opinion or questions in comments bellow. Thank you very much.

    • 759shares

    More from Czech Christmas Cookies (Cukroví)

    • Czech perníčky.
      Czech Christmas Perníčky (Vánoční perníčky)
    • Czech Išlské dortíčky Christmas cookies.
      Išlské Dortíčky
    • Honey Balls (Medovníkové koule), traditional Czech no-bake Christmas cookies, beautifully arranged on a cookie platter.
      No Bake Christmas Honey Balls (Czech Medovníkové koule)
    • Heavy cream cookies (Czech slehackove cukrovi) coated in powdered sugar, served on a plate.
      Heavy Cream Cookies (Czech Šlehačkové cukroví)

    Comments

    1. Louise K. says

      October 23, 2021 at 1:21 pm

      5 stars
      Thank you for taking the time to post this. I'm going to try these!
      I plan on visiting Prague next year on a tour, and am always interested in the food of places I visit.

      Reply
      • Petra Kupská says

        October 24, 2021 at 1:22 pm

        Ahoj Louise, thank you for your kind comment! Give these vanilla rolls a try; they are great and easy to make. Prague is a beautiful city, and you will be thrilled, I guarantee! 🙂

        Reply
    2. Dagmar Berger says

      December 07, 2021 at 8:23 am

      5 stars
      Sounds very tasty. It would be useful to know the temperature of fan oven.

      Thanks.
      Dasha

      Reply
      • Petra Kupská says

        December 07, 2021 at 9:57 am

        Ahoj Dasha, thank you for your kind comment! Regarding your point, I am happy to add that the appropriate temperature for a fan-forced oven is 320 °F (160 °C). The rule of thumb in the Czech Republic (and probably in other countries as well) is that the temperature in a fan oven should be about 10-15 °C lower than when baking in a conventional oven with top and bottom heating. I hope this helps! With warm greetings from Bohemia, Petra

        Reply
      • Ann says

        September 28, 2022 at 10:00 am

        5 stars
        I adore these vanilla crescents. My son married a Czech girl and they live in Brno, so much of the Czech cuisines are really good so thank you for the time you have taken to make the recipes available to us all. I want to make these for Christmas this year. However I will do a test run first 😋!!!. Can you tell me roughly how many this recipe will make please. I appreciate it depends how big you make them, I do have the molds.

        Reply
    3. Elaine says

      December 11, 2021 at 4:56 pm

      I fell in love with these cookies when visiting my Czech family in Bohemia (they made all the best recipes for my visit)! You mentioned a mold to help make the crescents all the same size. Where can I buy this/order it (I’m in the US). I have a problem with getting my cookies to be the correct size!!!

      Reply
      • Petra Kupská says

        December 19, 2021 at 5:27 am

        No wonder your Czech family baked these vanilla crescents for you 🙂 The rohlicky rolls are one of the classic Czech sweets prepared for Christmas. As for the silicone mold for the vanilla crescents, try this one (link to Amazon.com). Otherwise, it is not a requirement to have one crescent like another, made at home and with love, they taste the best! Krásné Vánoce ????

        Reply
    4. Peter Vanicek says

      December 11, 2021 at 7:27 pm

      5 stars
      Ahoj Petro,
      My mother(who is from Podebrady) would make these every Christmas and it is my favorite Christmas cukrovy. Thank you for your website-I love Czech food and can't wait to try out several more recipes.
      Vesele vanoce Vam a Vase rodine.

      Reply
      • Petra Kupská says

        December 19, 2021 at 5:37 am

        Ahoj Peter, thanks a lot for your lovely comment! Podebrady is a beautiful spa town along the Labe River, I have been there several times, and it is a wonderful place. Otherwise, you're right, these vanilla crescents (vanilkove rohlicky) are one of the Czech classics, and your maminka knew it well 🙂 Krásné Vánoce také Vám!

        Reply
    5. Melissa says

      December 22, 2021 at 12:57 pm

      5 stars
      Ahoj Petra, I am making these for my Czech family, my grandma was born in Brne, is it OK for the dough to be in the fridge overnight?

      Reply
      • Petra Kupská says

        December 22, 2021 at 3:44 pm

        Ahoj Melissa, the dough can stay in the fridge for up to a week without any problems. Fingers crossed the rohlicky crescents are a hit! 🙂 Merry Christmas and veselé Vánoce!

        Reply
        • Melissa says

          January 06, 2022 at 1:15 pm

          5 stars
          They were excellent, Petra! A big hit with the family. I ended up substituting ground almonds for walnuts - they were not quite as authentic, but we were able to avoid some nut allergies this way :). Happy new year!

          Reply
          • Petra Kupská says

            January 11, 2022 at 5:05 am

            I am so happy to hear this! 🙂 and thank you for your nice feedback. Ground almonds are fine, I also use them when I run out of walnuts, so no stress 🙂 Happy new year to you and your family, too!

            Reply
    6. TJ says

      December 24, 2021 at 2:54 pm

      3 stars
      Tasty dough, but when I baked my cookies, the dough spread out and looked like oblong blobs and were very thin, maybe 4 mm, nothing like the form of the cookies in the picture. I tried putting the cookies back into the fridge for a while before baking but when after they were formed and put on the baking sheet. Any suggestions?

      Reply
      • Petra Kupská says

        December 26, 2021 at 4:13 pm

        Thank you for your comment. I'm sorry that the rohlicky crescents lost their shape while baking. I double-checked the recipe, quantity of each ingredient, instructions and everything should be fine.
        Here are the possible reasons why that happened:
        - Often the cause is in the butter. I use European butter, which contains at least 82% fat. Less fatty butter or margarine is less suitable.
        - The oven you put the cookies in must be preheated. In this case, to 340 °F (170 °C).
        - Always use high gluten flour.
        Hope this helps!

        Reply
        • TJ says

          January 15, 2022 at 12:33 pm

          5 stars
          Your suggestion worked! With the high-fat butter and high-gluten flour, the cookies kept their form while baking. And they were very tasty.

          Reply
          • Petra Kupská says

            January 16, 2022 at 2:07 pm

            I am very happy to hear this! Thank you for letting me know 🙂

            Reply
    7. David Vize says

      December 24, 2021 at 11:51 pm

      5 stars
      I used to live in Vienna and my ex Czech girlfriend used to bake them for Christmas. These taste exactly like hers. And they are delicious. My kids love them! Thanks for posting

      Reply
      • Petra Kupská says

        December 26, 2021 at 4:17 pm

        Thanks a lot for your comment! I think every Czech girl or woman knows how to bake these rohlíčky rolls. I am glad you and your family like these crescents! 🙂

        Reply
    8. Juliana Smith says

      December 13, 2023 at 6:48 pm

      Hello Petra,
      Could you please provide clarification around 'all purpose' flour which is not a term we use in Australia. We have either plain or self-raising flour. A google search gives me no clear answer. I do thank you for your recipes and am familiar with most as both my parents are from the Czech Republic (Prague & beautiful Bechyne). Thank you in advance, Julie

      Reply
    9. Ana says

      December 17, 2023 at 10:53 pm

      5 stars
      My husband is from Prague Im Scottish when his mother came to visit us here in America she brought with all her Czech Christmas cookie recipe but I didn’t speak Czech or read Czech.so my husband made the Christmas cookies.so I was delighted when I found your recipes online, so now I can make my favorite Czech Christmas cookies thank you Petra vesele’ va’noce 🇨🇿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

      Reply
    10. Karel Smolek says

      November 24, 2024 at 4:56 pm

      Excellent recipe pro vanilkove rohlicky.Ja je pecu zacatkem prosince.

      Reply
      • Petra | Cook Like Czechs says

        January 23, 2025 at 3:41 pm

        Thank you! I’m so glad you liked the recipe. Péct začátkem prosince je ideální.

        Reply
    11. Jindra Tronicek says

      December 21, 2024 at 6:15 pm

      In my family vanilkove rohlicky were always made with hazelnuts (filberts). I have tried both walnuts and almonds and they are very good but I promise you, the hazelnuts are worth a try.

      Reply
    12. Jana says

      December 21, 2024 at 7:12 pm

      5 stars
      I looked this up to compare with my mom's recipe and I'm surprised that there's no vanilla extract or vanilla sugar in the ingredients' list.

      Reply
      • Petra | Cook Like Czechs says

        February 12, 2025 at 3:55 pm

        Hi Jana! I actually add a vanilla bean to the container with powdered sugar and let it sit for about 3 days. The sugar absorbs the fragrance and gives the crescents a nice vanilla flavor when I coat them.

        Reply
    13. Lo says

      December 22, 2024 at 7:35 am

      Hello! Trying to make the recipe but everything is really dry?!? I am adding another yolk but is something missing?
      How about vanilla flavor? I cannot see any in the recipe but yes in the name 😉
      Just wondering
      Thank you!!!!

      Reply
      • Petra | Cook Like Czechs says

        December 22, 2024 at 8:03 am

        Please keep kneading the dough, it feels like dry at the beginning but it comes together after a while. Also, see the video recipe here: https://youtu.be/YVGukYLaX6o?si=sw5j-EVyvRsizE0a - good luck! 🙂

        Reply
    14. Johanka says

      January 22, 2025 at 9:02 am

      5 stars
      These came out wonderfully! My dad, who was born and raised in Czech Republic, and I made them together. He has an old cookbook, but this year we decided to try your recipe and the proportions were just right.

      I added Watkins organic baking vanilla for flavor.

      I also had trouble with crumbly dough. My hands hurt due to a medical condition so I have to look for shortcuts, so I put the dough into a warm oven and that softened the butter enough so the dough could come together. Then I refrigerated extra time.

      Reply
      • Petra | Cook Like Czechs says

        February 11, 2025 at 6:32 pm

        Wow, what a special memory with your dad! I am so glad the recipe worked out, and the organic vanilla must have smelt heavenly. Thanks for sharing your thoughtful adjustments.
        I am sure that helped a lot!

        Reply

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    Hi, I am Petra, a born-and-raised Czech and self-taught cook with 25+ years of experience. I am here to show you that you can cook Czech food—even if you live abroad or never learned it growing up. With clear steps and trusted guidance, Czech cooking becomes simple, joyful, and meaningful, right in your own kitchen.

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