Vanilla Wafers – A Delicious Cookie for Bake Sales and Pot Lucks
There is something so delightful about a simple vanilla wafer. A cookie with that pure flavor that is just such a perfect accompaniment to a cup of tea or a dish of ice cream. Sometimes you don’t want a fancy dessert, but just a little something sweet. This cookie is the perfect answer. I’m revisiting this recipe because it’s just so good.
The ingredients are simple and few; this cookie lives and dies by the quality of the vanilla that you use. If you go with imitation or cheap vanilla the cookie will suffer. I recently discovered vanilla bean paste so I add some for an extra punch of vanilla flavor in recipes where you really want the vanilla to shine. You can also add the scrapings from a vanilla bean if you want. But if you only have vanilla extract these will still be good – just use good vanilla! I don’t even remember where the original recipe came from; my copy is handwritten and it came to me from my mother. I’ve adapted it through the years.
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Vanilla Wafers
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 eggs
2 tsp pure vanilla extract and 1 TBS vanilla bean paste OR 2 TBS pure vanilla extract
1 tsp salt
Preheat the oven to 350°
Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Add the eggs and the vanillas. Add the dry ingredients and mix just until combined.
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Line heavy duty cookie sheets with silicone mats or parchment paper. I used a small scoop to place the dough on the sheets. This assures uniform cookies. You can also use two spoons to drop the dough.
Bake in the preheated oven for 8 minutes and then rotate the trays and bake for another 4-5 minutes until the cookies just start to brown. You don’t want these cookies to have much color on them. Remove the to a rack to cool.
How Were the Vanilla Wafers?
These cookies are truly delicious – slightly chewy, slightly crunchy with a lovely, true vanilla flavor. They are very tasty on their own and make a perfect cookie for ice cream sandwiches. I have also dipped them in chocolate for a half and half look. I make them quite often as they are so easy to make and with so few ingredients I always have what I need on hand. They would be lovely on a cookie tray with chewy molasses cookies and chocolate sugar cookies.
