PinTo my mother’s credit, she never bought us many pre-packaged sweets….well, almost never. Usually, if we were going to have things like cookies, we made them together, but Nilla Wafers were something I only experienced at Sunday school. I vividly remember sneaking extra handfuls of them off the snack table to take home with me and eat in private. They were soft inside with a slightly chewy bite and tons of sugary vanilla flavor — oh, so yummy.
Why can’t pre-packaged cookies be better for us!? That lament is one of the reasons why I love trying to figure out how to make healthier, homemade versions of pre-packaged products. The treats of my childhood are wrapped up with so many wonderful memories I want to share them all with my own kids — just without all the preservatives and artificial flavors.
While you may think that a Vanilla Wafer would be complicated to make in your kitchen, my take on it is easy. After many blunders trying to perfect a homemade recipe, I eventually arrived at this version which tastes as good as, if not better than, the ones I remember. Kenya and Chloe have never tried the box kind, but give them a small handful of these cookies and a tall glass of milk and I don’t think they’re missing a darn thing!
Vanilla Wafers
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 Cup all purpose flour
- 1 Tsp baking powder
- 1/4 Tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 Cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/3 Cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Place the first 3 ingredients in a bowl and combine.
- Place the butter and sugar in a standing mixer (or bowl using a hand mixer) and cream for 3-4 minutes until the butter is light and fluffy.
- Add the vanilla extract and egg and mix for another minute, scraping down the sides of the bowl as you go.
- Add the flour mixture and mix until combined.
- Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
- Roll 1 tsp of dough into a ball, about 1 inch, and place on a parchment or Silpat-lined baking sheet.
- Flatten each ball into a disk then bake for 15 minutes.
- Cool and serve.
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Made these yesterday. They came out ammmaazziinnngg. This recipe is soo simple to make. I got about 60 of 1 inch size wafers. Cooktime, about 12 minutes the edges started to brown. It depends on the oven I think. My 14 month old loved them. Next time, I wanted to try the exact same recipe with almond extract instead of vanilla. And maybe top off the wafer with a whole almond.
Thank you for the wonderful recipe.
What is the best way to store these and about how long would they last (assuming they aren’t all eaten with a day or two) 🙂
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Always looking for more recipes for my 2 year old granddaughter.
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Try substituting white whole wheat flour for AP flour, all or half and half. I have a similar vanilla wafer recipe that calls for white wheat. The cookies still have sugar, but at least there is added fiber. Oh, and my kids devour them just as fast. I use the homemade vanilla wafers to make my own “nilla wafer” crust for my favorite rhubarb torte recipe.
Made these ones today, too! Not bad at all! I wouldn’t say they’re the healthiest but they’re definitely better than what you can get in store. Thanks for another great recipe!
wunderful!
My 5 1/2 year son says this is the best cookie he’s ever had, they’re soooo good.
My oven cooks very hot and fast. I set the temp on about 315 (turned the dial to between 300 and 325) and checked them after 10 minutes. The edges were just turning golden brown – perfect! My son and I both think they’re delicious.
Nilla Wafers bring back memories! I’ll have to give these cookies a try. 🙂
I usually freeze cookies before baking them!