Vanilla Wafers are one of those cookies that consumers take for granted. They are sold in cardboard boxes (we know the color,) they have the texture of the cardboard box (kinda tough,) and they have the flavor…well, you know. Vanilla Wafers from a box are probably the least exciting cookie ever eaten.
A Recipe from 1985
I decided to sleuth out an old-fashioned recipe for Vanilla Wafers. Finding the right recipe wasn’t that easy. The recipes I found on Pinterest were bad. But then I remembered one of my favorite books which is a source of inspiration for many of the recipes that I write. “Better than Store Bought” was published in 1985 by Helen Witty and Elizabeth Schneider Colchie. Super sleuths in their own right, their book features recipes of the products that we take for granted at the grocery store: Marshmallows, orange jelly candy, chestnut puree…the homemade recipes they share work every time.
Of course, Colchie and Witty had the best recipe for Vanilla Wafers. I wanted to bring this recipe to you from 1985. It’s an absolute classic!
Use Parchment Paper for Quick Baking
I recommend using parchment paper for this recipe. Your batch of baked cookies will slide off the cookie sheet very quickly. Just remove the cookie sheet from the oven, pull the sheet of parchment off of the cookie sheet with the baked cookies. Slide a sheet of unbaked cookies on! Parchment paper is always my go to secret weapon in the kitchen for quick, neat baking or roasting.
Vanilla Wafers are good to have on hand for making quick puddings, trifles or my favorite, Classic Banana Pudding. Serve them alongside fresh fruit and whipped cream for a light desert (they are fairly low in calories.) You can make ice cream sandwiches with them. And you can always dunk them in chocolate or fill two of them with a chocolate hazelnut spread for a fancier cookie.
Vanilla Wafers
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 17 minutes
- Yield: 4 dozen 1x
Ingredients
¾ cup sugar (150g)
12 tablespoons butter, room temperature (172g)
½ tsp salt (2g)
3 egg white (use large eggs)
1 tbsp. vanilla extract (15ml)
1 1/3 cup cake flour (165g)
Instructions
Heat your oven to 375°F (190°C). Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and have another sheet of parchment paper ready.
Using an electric mixer, blend together the sugar, butter and salt in a large bowl. Add the egg whites one at a time to the bowl, blending between additions. Blend in the vanilla extract. Using a spoon, stir in the flour a bit at a time until all is incorporated.
Fill a pastry bag without a tip (or cut a ½”/1cm opening if using a disposable pastry bag) with the batter mixture. Pipe flattened circles 1 ½”/3.5cm in diameter onto the parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Make sure the circles are 2”/5cm apart. Place the cookie sheet with cookies in the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes, until the edges of the cookies appear golden brown. While the cookies bake, continue to pipe out more cookies on the remaining sheet of parchment paper.
Once the first batch of cookies is baked, simply slip the parchment with the baked cookies off of the cookie sheet. Slide the parchment with the unbaked cookies on. Continue to bake until all of the batter has been piped out and baked.
Cool the baked cookies on a wire cooling rack. Store in an airtight container.
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