Vanilla Cookies Recipe

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Pillowy soft and chewy sugar cookies bursting with fresh vanilla flavor and dusted with a sweet sugar coating.

Vanilla Cookie vs Sugar Cookie

While vanilla cookies and sugar cookies have very similar (maybe even identical in some recipes) ingredients, we typically classify them differently. Sugar cookies refer to any kind of cookie that is flavored very basically with granulated (white) sugar. Furthermore, many people consider a cut-out cookie a sugar cookie.

A vanilla cookie may simply be a cookie that is flavored with vanilla, but could take any form (a drop cookie, a cut-out cookie, a slice and bake cookie), but these vanilla bean sugar cookies sort of combine both worlds.

This vanilla cookie recipe cannot be rolled and cut with cookie cutters, but it is definitely more flavorful than just a sugar cookie or a vanilla cookie. With the addition of the sparkly sugar coating and bold vanilla paste, we blend both cookie worlds for a soft, pillowy cookie that is unlike any other you’ve tried before.

There are all kinds of cookie textures out there in the world, but I feel like most people fall into one of three main categories: people who like very crunchy cookies, people who like crisp on the outside/chewy on the insides (like my classic chocolate chip cookies), and people who like very soft cookies (like my pumpkin spice cookies).

I am typically in the middle camp, going for a cookie that has some texture to the edges, but is nothing but soft/chewy/gooey/melty in the center. This is why I turned my go-to classic chocolate chip cookie recipe into a small batch chocolate chip cookie recipe, so that I could have roughly the same texture in a much faster amount of time.

But there is one cookie flavor that I will only accept as all the way super soft, almost like a cloud or a pillow, and it’s one of those textures you just know when you see it.

I had been wanting to add a super soft sugar cookie recipe to my collection for many years, but, you know, this is a very specific texture I was going for. And honestly, I was intimidated by going about it on my own.

I have been patiently waiting the perfect sugar cookie recipe to come across my eyeballs, and when I collaborated with a bunch of bloggers for lemon week 2021, I knew that the lemon sugar cookie recipe my friend Rebecca from Devour Dinner contributed was it.

Like… I saw one picture of the cookies, my eyes got big, and I said aloud “oh my gosh, that’s it.” I could just tell by looking at them, this is what I had been searching for– a super soft sugar cookie that melts in your mouth, is unfussy in both ingredients and instruction, and was tested so that I didn’t have to do any recipe perfecting of any kind.

So, I made those, and I was SOLD. Signed, sealed, delivered, I’m yours.

And when Rodelle asked me to use their vanilla bean paste in a cookie recipe, I knew I had to recreate the recipe to make the soft vanilla cookies you are currently drooling over at this very moment (how did I know?).

Now, before I get to what exactly this chewy vanilla cookie recipe entails, I have to give a shoutout to Rodelle, who I have been working with since early 2016 (my first recipe with them was my peach almond streusel muffins!), before I even had our first son.

Rodelle carries an extensive line of baking ingredients, specializing in vanilla extracts and pastes that are of incredible quality and fair trade sourced from vanilla farmers.

I have been using Rodelle extracts (my favorite is almond!!) exclusively since I started working with them, and that’s simply because I love them, I love their products, and they help me continue to bring you delicious goodies on the regular.

In fact, my vanilla bean cupcakes, which make an appearance in my kitchen pretty regularly, have been made with whole vanilla beans, vanilla extract, and vanilla paste at various times in my “what’s available in my pantry?” baking. All delicious, all simple, all vanilla-y.

In addition to actually containing pure vanilla extract, vanilla paste also contains the flecks of vanilla beans that add to the draw of vanilla bean treats and give what might be a plain looking cookie a little extra something. Like little vanilla bean sprinkles!

All that said, you can find Rodelle’s vanilla paste in select retailers in the U.S. as well as online, and this product page will give you the ability to track some down close to you (or find it online if it’s not close to you).

Alternatively, you can simply use vanilla extract in place of the vanilla paste in these easy vanilla cookies, you just won’t have those cute little flecks. I promise, they are still just as perfect in taste and texture if you go that route.

The other thing I really loved about Rebecca’s original lemon sugar cookie recipe was that the cookie dough came together so quickly, and it didn’t need to chill. GAME CHANGER. This means cookies in my mouth faster and less time in the kitchen.

Sorry, chilled cookie dough recipes. I still love you, but if I want cookies ASAP, I’m choosing a no-chill buddy to satisfy my craving or service my time crunch!

For these vanilla cookies, you will need:
• all-purpose flour
• baking powder
• baking soda
• salt
• butter
• powdered sugar
• egg
• vegetable oil
• vanilla paste
• granulated sugar

5. A quick bake of 8-9 minutes is perfect to set the edges, and that’s exactly where you want to stop the baking with these cookies. We’re not looking for any brown edges in order to get that super soft interior that is no joke just like eating a cloud.

Well, maybe not just like it. Because who has done that? We’re getting off track.

Back to the vanilla bean cookie recipe.

6. The end result after a bit of cooling is sincerely the best homemade sugar cookie I have ever had. It is reminiscent of what I remember in my high school cafeteria, but better, because those ones didn’t have a sugar-coated outside and that, my friends, is where it’s at in cookie land.

I am so glad I “met” Rebecca so that I could find her perfect sugar cookie recipe and turn it into my own fabulous vanilla bean sugar cookie recipe to share with you all in my beloved cookie recipe collection. The world works in mysterious ways, and sometimes those ways are so that we can get amazing cookie recipes into our reserve.

I hope that if you are a soft and pillowy sugar cookie lover like myself, you’ll try out these vanilla bean cookies for yourself. They are exactly what I’d been search for for quite some time and I’m thrilled to be able to help you enjoy them in your kitchen, too!

Tips for making the best Vanilla Bean Cookies

In order to create the perfect vanilla cookie, it’s important to follow a few rules of thumb.

First, it is imperative that you either fluff/spoon/level your flour or ideally, weigh it in grams. Two cups of all-purpose flour, which is what this recipe calls for, is 240g. Too much flour will result in a dense cookie, and that is the most common complaint I hear from readers when they’ve made this cookie. I always ask about how they measured their flour, and 9 times out of 10, it is a flour measuring issue.

Next, do not overbake these cookies. They will only need 8-9 minutes, and you just need the edges to be set. They will continue to bake on the baking sheet when they come out of the oven, and overbaking them can turn them crunchy.

Serving Ideas for Vanilla Sugar Cookies

These cookies are the perfect canvas for some frosting, if you want to level them up. See my frosted sugar cookies recipe if you want to turn these vanilla sugar cookies into something extra special.

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