Vanilla Bean Sugar Cookies are packed with that wonderful flavor you can only get from fresh Vanilla beans. When you slice the fresh beans down the middle and scrape the vanilla seeds out, the flavor and aroma are incomparable. Should you discover that your vanilla bean has dried out, just pop it into the microwave for 10 seconds and it will soften enough so that you can scrape out the seeds. I love seeing the tiny specks of vanilla in all the Vanilla Bean Sugar Cookies.
The size of these cookies is managed by you. If you slice the logs as is they will be large. If you halve the logs and re-roll them to maintain the round shape, the cookies will be smaller.
Make this dough at least two or three days in advance of cutting and baking the cookies for the vanilla flavor to fully saturate the dough. Be sure to wrap the logs tightly in waxed paper before you put them in the fridge.
For another recipe based on the flavor of Vanilla, try Tarte Tatin.
Prep time: 20 minutes
Vanilla Bean Sugar Cookies
By Published: April 20, 2016
Yield:
- 48
Ingredients
- 4 ounces non-dairy margarine softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure Vanilla extract
- 1 large fresh Vanilla bean
- 1 1/4 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Equipment
- electric mixer paddle inserted
- waxed paper
- shallow pan
- 2 large cookie sheets lined with baking parchment
- cooling racks
Directions
- Place margarine and 3/4 cup of sugar in bowl of mixer. Beat on medium speed until mixture is light and fluffy.
- Take a sharp knife and slit Vanilla bean in half lengthwise. Scrape out the seeds with the dull side of the knife. Add seeds to mixing bowl along with vanilla extract and egg. Beat well.
- Add flour, baking powder and salt to mixture. Beat again until all the ingredients are well blended.
- Tear off two medium sheets of waxed paper. Put half the cookie dough on each sheet of paper. Shape each piece of dough into a log. Roll each log in the waxed paper until until you have a 6 x 1/2 inch log. Wrap the logs again in foil. Refrigerate logs at least four hours until dough is firm.
- Preheat oven to: 375°. Pour remaining 1/4 cup sugar into a shallow pan.
- Remove cookie dough from the fridge. Unroll one log at a time and roll it around in the sugar. Cut log into 1/4 inch slices. Lay each slice down in the sugar and place it-unsugared side down- on the lined cookie sheet. You may need a metal spatula to help you slide the cookies from the sugar to the cookie sheet. Place cookies one inch apart. Repeat process until all the dough has been sugared and sliced. Bake 10-13 minutes or until cookies have browned slightly. Remove from oven. Cool slightly before moving cookies to cooling racks. If any of the cookies bake together, cut them while they are warm with a sharp knife. Enjoy!
