Homemade Vanilla Wafers
Homemade Vanilla Wafers, made with real ingredients like butter and milk. Super-simple recipe, with a taste and texture that blows the boxed kind away!
Vanilla wafers are such a classic cookie, and they go so well with just about anything. But have you ever thought about making your own, from scratch?
I have! A lot actually. Vanilla wafers were a huge favorite for my younger son when he was a toddler, and he still enjoys them to this day.
I’ll never forget when he was just a little guy, barely talking. He would wake up in the morning, all tousled hair and rosy cheeks, and toddle straight to the kitchen, where he’d push a chair over to the counter, climb up, and reach for the box of vanilla wafers. All the while repeating, “Googie. Googie. Googie.” The first thing on his mind, from the moment he woke, was cookies.
I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. He’s got a mean sweet tooth, just like his mommy and dad.
I don’t mind indulging it from time to time, but I feel much better about that if I know that what he’s eating was made from wholesome ingredients.
I’ve tried a few different vanilla wafer recipes, but none of them tasted all that much like the original. This one really nails it. It’s got that same crunchy texture, but it’s not at all hard. The cookies practically melt in your mouth, with a rich buttery and intensely fragrant vanilla flavor.
Best of all, the recipe is so simple. Just a handful of basic ingredients in the mixer and you’ve got a big enough batch to make around 65 cookies. Now that’s a lot of toddler snacks!
Got a cookie monster in your house too? Make sure you’re following my “Cookie Recipes Galore” Pinterest board, for lots more awesome cookie recipes!
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Homemade Vanilla Wafers
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (113.5 g) unsalted butter, (1 stick), softened
- 1/2 cup (60 g) powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup (61 ml) milk
- 1 1/2 teaspoons (1.5 teaspoons) vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cup (156.25 g) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Place the butter, powdered sugar, and granulated sugar in a large mixing bowl, and beat on medium speed until pale and fluffy (3 to 5 minutes).
- Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl with a silicone spatula, then mix in the milk and vanilla until combined.
- Stir in the flour and salt, taking care not to overwork the dough.
- Transfer the dough to a pastry bag fitted with a 1A tip. Pipe 1-inch diameter circles onto the prepared baking sheets.
- Bake for 20 to 24 minutes, or until golden brown on the bottoms and around the edges.
- Cool completely, then store in an airtight container.
Someone above posted that they had very thick dough. I also had very thick dough, and I used your recipe as is shown above. I’m not new to baking (also, not stating the above poster is, as I do not even know that person). I know I used correct measurements and all ingredients with no substitutions, other than using vanilla bean paste instead of vanilla extract. My dough came out more like sugar cookie dough. I ended up just rolling out rough in my hands, but I’m still a bit disheartened. The flavor is spot on, just not sure what I did wrong to get the thicker consistency.
I’m not sure either, to be honest Elizabeth! I’ve made this recipe numerous times and it usually comes out a soft consistency that can easily be piped. I’m so sorry you’ve had difficulty!
I think this is why weighing ingredients vs “scoop and swipe” is so crucial. Flours are the problem. Some are drier than others, which means more particles will fit into a measuring cup. I suspect this is why some are finding their doughs stiff. I baked most of my life using cups and tablespoons, but then I discovered the secret used by many professionals – the digital scale. No more worrying, now, about how dry my flour might be on any given day. (And weighing ingredients is so much faster!!) Thank you Allie for this recipe and for providing ingredient weights. I can’t wait to try this…it’s been decades since I’ve had a good wafer. The commercial version was ruined long ago will all those chemical additives and “natural” flavors.
I’m sure you’re right Jo! Weighing ingredients is so much more reliable than using measuring cups. It’s truly the best way, but I know that most Americans prefer Imperial measurements. Check out this post: How to Measure Ingredients for Baking, for more info, and be sure to download the free weight conversion chart, it’s very useful! And thanks Jo, for chiming in with a great point!
Hi!! Today I baked your cookies. They are yummy!! I was wanting something that was simple, and not real sweet. I came across your cookies. Thank you for sharing!! I give them a ((Thumb Up!!)) 🙂
Yay! So happy you liked them Betty Jo! Thanks so much for the positive feedback!
Hi, i want to mae some of these vanilla wafers to use as crusts for mini cheesecakes (the store-bought versions have shrunk so much they no longer fill a standard muffin tin!). So, my question is, you say to pipe a 1″ round…how much do these spread, if any. I need a cookie that comes close to 2.75″ diameter. I am pretty sure i will need to make them bigger than the 1″ you mentioned but if i could get an idea how much yours spread I would know better how to adjust to my needs. Thank you!
Hey Bonnie! I’m so glad you’re going to give this recipe a try! They don’t spread a whole lot (there’s no baking powder or anything), so you’ll want to pipe them just a little smaller than you want them to end up being. Hope they work out well for you!
Crush these over ice cream. Blow your mind good!!”
Sounds amazing! I’ll have to give that a try!
Thank you very much from Spain. I used to eat before and loved them!, but now I’m Vegan. So, last week I tried these but with vegetable milk and vegetable butter, and the taste is really the same!!
* although I have many pipes, I use no pipe, I just cut the bag
I’m so happy to hear that the recipe works well with veggie ingredients! Thank you so much for sharing, Sonia! I’m sure other readers will be very glad to know this.
there is no way to pipe the dough out of a pasty bag…the dough was way too thick!
Hm very strange. I’ve done it a number of times, one of which can be seen on the video. ???
Who doesn’t love a good vanilla wafer?
The best!!
This brings back so many childhood memories! Yum!
Yum! I think those boxed vanilla wafers taste artificial. I’d love to use these in a banana pudding!
Thanks. I am on my 4th batch since I posted. ??
Since it doesn’t have eggs, I think they don’t spread out as much but wanted to know for making the first time how far apart to pipe out our 1″ inch size dots? ?
Hey Susan! I think if you leave about 2 inches in between you should be good. Have fun and enjoy!
Hi Allie,
I was looking for a vanilla wafer recipe to create banana pudding and I came across yours. This recipe looks great. I was wondering if I had to use powdered sugar or whether I could use granulated for the entire recipe. I want to substitute coconut sugar and can only find granulated in the store.
Thanks in advance for your advice!
Hey Lauren! So glad you’re going to give this recipe a try. I’m not clear though- are you wanting to use granulated sugar for this or coconut sugar? Either way, I have not tested it with any other ingredients besides what’s listed, so I can’t say for sure, but feel free to experiment!
Can I use one 1% milk with this recipe instead of 2%?
That should be fine. Good luck & enjoy!
Thanks for the quick response!
Of course!
Hi! If stored in airtight container, how long will these cookies stay good for?
Probably a week or two before they start to get stale. Enjoy!
I riffed on your fabulous recipe (and linked to it) in my post on my Pumpkin Spice Vanilla Wafers post.
Thank you SO much for the amazing basic recipe! It’s delicious. http://tikkido.com/blog/pumpkin-spice-homemade-vanilla-wafer-cookie-recipe
That’s awesome! Thanks so much for linking over! They look great!