My homemade vanilla wafers are perfect for enjoying on their own or in banana pudding, can be made in less than 30 minutes with basic ingredients (and there’s no chilling required)! Recipe includes a how-to video!
Homemade ‘Nilla Wafers
Oh the humble, unassuming vanilla wafer. Such a simple little cookie, perfect for snacking on its own or smothered in vanilla pudding and bananas (they also make a great banana cream pie crust).
If you follow me on Instagram, you got a sneak peek at these cookies a while ago, and you know that despite their overall simplicity, developing a good recipe for them was actually pretty complicated.
I used this vanilla wafer recipe as an example for how exactly I go through the process of developing a recipe (the stories are still available in my highlights) and I documented about 5 attempts in one day, though ultimately the recipe took me over 10 tries to totally perfect (who would’ve thought!).
Finally I’m ready to share this perfected sweet and simple recipe. It uses basic ingredients you probably already have on hand, meaning there’s no excuse to buy those yellow-box cookies! Let’s get to it.
What You Need
The main thing that I love about these cookies? They’re easy to make, fuss-free with very basic ingredients. Let’s go over a few of them:
- Butter. For perfect flavor (and for complete control over that flavor), I use unsalted butter and add salt. If you only have salted butter on hand just reduce the salt that the recipe calls for to ¼ teaspoon.
- Vanilla extract. You need quite a bit of vanilla for this recipe: 4 teaspoons. Fortunately, if you don’t feel inclined to dip into your stockpile of the “good stuff” (anyone else make homemade vanilla extract?) this recipe works well with imitation instead. In fact, it may even give you a flavor that’s closer to the vanilla cookies sold in a yellow box at the store…
- Egg. Just one! I tried this recipe with no eggs (too crumbly, dry, and all-around lacking), just the yolk (too tender, didn’t spread enough), just the white (not as good as using both the yolk and egg) and ultimately settled with one single egg.
- All-purpose flour. I tested this recipe with all-purpose and cake flour hoping for a finer crumb and a slightly more crumbly results with cake flour. To my surprise, the all-purpose flour won every time. Possibly also worth noting: I tried many versions using cornstarch (one of my favorite secret ingredients). I was sure it would help me get the consistency I was looking for, but ultimately that proved to not be the case!
- Milk. I recommend and personally use whole milk but I suppose 2% would work in a pinch.
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Vanilla Wafers
- Beat together sugar and butter, then stir in eggs and vanilla extract.
- Separately, whisk together dry ingredients. Stir half into the wet ingredients, then stir in your milk, then the rest of the dry ingredients. This just makes a more cohesive batter than if you were to add the milk with the butter mixture (where it tends to separate).
- Drop the dough by rounded spoonful onto a baking sheet, spacing cookies 2 inches (5cm) apart. This is a fairly soft dough.
- Lightly flatten the dough with dampened fingertips. This encourages them to spread jusssssttt enough and to cook evenly, otherwise they may end up too thick, meaning centers that are softer and chewier than they ought to be (vanilla wafers should be thinner and crisp!).
When they’re finished baking, the cookies will be pale golden in color with deeper golden edges. If you flip one over, the edge should be deep golden in color as well. If yours isn’t, it may just need more time in the oven.
Frequently Asked Questions
No, they’re much better. The vanilla wafers you can buy in the store are overwhelmed by artificial flavors and some questionable ingredients (I’m clearly no health-food-fanatic, but high fructose corn syrup and unpronounceable ingredients are a turn off for me).
It’s those artificial flavors that overpower the store-bought cookies and gives them their distinct taste. This taste can’t be replicated by home bakers like us who are using commonly available (and… cough*so-much-better*cough) ingredients.
My vanilla wafers instead are richly flavored with real vanilla, perfectly sweetened with just the right amount of crunch, and accented with buttery undertones. It’s clear that they’re vanilla wafers, but they’re much better than anything you could buy at the store.
Yes, this recipe doubles well. However keep in mind that while it may not seem like very much dough, the cookies are small and this recipe makes quite a few!
Absolutely! I just did so with my own banana pudding recipe, which I’ll be sharing on Monday! One batch makes enough for banana pudding (my recipe, anyway).
The wafers can be stored in an airtight container for 3-5 days. If I’m going to be making banana pudding with them, sometimes I’ll leave them out uncovered overnight, just to make them a bit stale before I use them in the pudding.
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Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! Make sure to check out the how-to VIDEO in the recipe card!
Vanilla Wafers
Ingredients
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter softened
- ⅔ cup (133 g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg room temperature preferred
- 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups (190 g) all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon milk
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Combine butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and use an electric mixer to beat together until creamy and well-combined.½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, ⅔ cup (133 g) granulated sugar
- Add egg and vanilla extract and stir on medium/low speed until completely combined.1 large egg, 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.1 ½ cups (190 g) all-purpose flour, ¾ teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt
- Add about half of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir on low-speed to combine.
- Add milk and stir again on low speed until combined.1 Tablespoon milk
- Finally, add remaining flour mixture and stir until combined.
- Scoop dough into two-teaspoon sized scoops and drop onto prepared baking sheet, spacing cookies at least 2” (5cm) apart. Lightly flatten with damp fingertips.
- Bake on 350F (175C) for 12-14 minutes or until cookies are light golden brown around the edges.
- Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes on baking sheet then transfer to cooling rack to cool completely. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Kathleen
Thanks, Sam. I made mimi nilla wafers, using just 1 tsp (6 g) dough per cookie. They turned out great – very authentic looking and tasting.
I love your recipes, and also appreciate that you repeat the ingredients within the instructions. Include gram measurements and it would be perfect.
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Kathleen! I’m not sure what happened to the grams in the instructions list, but I agree it would be very helpful and I will look into it to try and get those added in. 🙂
Kathleen
Thanks, Sam. I should add to my review that if you want to make mini nilla wafers, then cut the baking time down to about 8 minutes.
Ariana
Wow! I made these today to put into a banana pudding and they were so perfect, my kids ate half of them while they were cooling on the counter! I’m about to make a second batch! Thank you so much for this perfection!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so glad they were a hit! Thanks for using our recipe, Ariana ❤️
Lena
These are the closest to store bought wafers that I’ve made so far. I can’t get enough of them. They are great to snack on by themselves or you can dip them in left over frosting.
Sam
Thank you so much for trying my recipe, Lena! I really appreciate it! 🙂
Emily
Yum! Made these with my daughter last night so we can make banana pudding today and they are fantastic! I also used a piping bag, but just cut a hole rather than used a tip and that was perfect. Other than that I followed directions exactly and will be making these again for sure, thank you!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Wonderful! We hope you love them in the finished pudding 🥰
Gina
I’m an American that has been here 30 years and I think these are amazing. It’s lovely to know that there are not added preservatives when you make it homemade also. I made this in my thermo mix and it was spot on because it gives you weight measurements also. Thanks
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so glad you enjoyed them, Gina! 🙂
Laura
Great recipe! I needed vanilla wafers, but didn’t feel like going out to the store. 🙂 I piped the dough onto the parchment paper as well to try to be consistent size-wise (still wasn’t). They taste like store-bought, but not quite as crunchy. I’ll be using them for banana pudding and I think they’ll be even better. Thanks!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you found our recipe, Laura! They’ll work perfectly in your pudding 😊
Mary
Super easy to make taste great the only thing I did different was I cut the edge of a Ziploc bag to put them on the cookie sheet (less mess) that’s the only thing I did differently. I followed the recipe exactly and they are fantastic!!! Thank you so much for this recipe.
Sarah
Thank you so much for this! I moved to Australia about 5 years ago so haven’t been able to get store bought Nilla wafers. This recipe is honestly a godsend. The first time I tried this recipe, I made them way too big to get crispy, but they were still delicious.
The second time, I made them smaller and also used a cup of sugar instead of 2/3 cup, and added an extra teaspoon of vanilla essence and they taste almost exactly (if not exactly) like store bought. Thank you so so much. I made banana pudding with these and it turned out freaking incredible.
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Sarah! 🙂
Jackie
Love these lil babies they are delicious would love to make them with coco powered and suggestions on how much to put in? Thank u ☺️
Sam
Hi Jackie! I haven’t tried it myself so I can’t say for sure how you would alter it to make them chocolate. 🙁 If you try it I would love to know how they turn out. 🙂
Sky
I would add 1 tbsp. And1/2 tsp of expression powder to the milk, And then an extra 1/2 tsp milk
Jenny
I made it into a cake, baking it for 20 minutes. Used it as a base under banana pudding. It was delicious.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re glad it turned out for you, Jenny–sounds delicious! Enjoy 🥰
Candace Johnson
Absolutely amazing cookies. They are so good. I piped mine out of a pipping bad and 2A Wilton tip. My 2 tsp scoop just wasn’t cutting it for me.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so glad you liked them, Candace! Thanks for your review ❤
Donna
Hubby really likes these! I use vanilla almond milk and a bit more extract for a really vanilla flavor!
Lori
I made these today. You have to really flatten them or they don’t come out right They taste really great!
Gisele
Hi, I’m just wondering if i can freeze them or will it change the texture.
Sam
Hi Gisele! You shouldn’t have any issues freezing these. 🙂
Cheryl
These are simple and tasty, they reminded me of bite of pound cake. I made w gluten free flour for my grandson to have banana pudding. Worked well.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Wonderful! Thanks for letting us know how they worked with gluten-free flour ❤
Denise Post
I am making the vanilla cookie recipe right now but I am a little confused. The directions say a 2 teaspoons scoop but the video says a 2 tablespoon scoop. Which scoop do I use? Thank you.
Sam
Hi Denise! Sorry for the confusion! I had not caught this prior. You will want to use 2 teaspoons here, or you’ll end up with some pretty big vanilla wafers. 🙂
Miriam
Can’t wait to try these! I will be making these for banana cream pie for my husband’s birthday! He loves nilla wafers so I know he will love these!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Sounds delicious! We hope your husband enjoys his birthday dessert 😊
Pae
If one uses vanilla bean paste instead of extract, will it be less teaspoons? It seems like the paste will be much stronger in flavor. Your thoughts?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Pae! We haven’t tried this substitution ourselves, so we can’t say for sure how it would turn out. If you do try it, will you let us know how it goes for you? 🙂