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.

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.

Vanilla Wafers

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A simple cookie with a delightful taste of vanilla

• Author: Patty@bookscookslooks.com
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 24 minutes
• Total Time: 34 minutes
• Yield: 48 1x
• Category: dessert
• Method: Baking
• Cuisine: American

Ingredients

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• 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

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Instructions

• 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.
• 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.

Notes

Cook time includes baking for multiple trays of cookies

Keywords: cookies, vanilla wafers, vanilla cookies