Sourdough Vanilla Wafers

These easy and crispy Sourdough Vanilla Wafers taste just like boxed ‘Nilla Wafers and are perfect to make banana pudding with or to dip in milk.

The tender and thin vanilla cookies are buttery, but lighter than shortbread cookies. Plus, they’re made with sourdough discard, which adds a subtle tang, and the acidity helps keep the wafers crisp.

Follow my detailed instructions with photos and tips below for the best sourdough vanilla wafers.

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👍 Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Simple and quick way to use sourdough discard.
• Taste just like boxed ‘Nilla Wafers, so they’re perfect for making banana pudding or other desserts with.
• Assertive and aromatic vanilla flavor
• Crispy, yet sturdy and light.

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🔍 Tips for Making Sourdough Vanilla Wafers

• Only use about 1 ½ tsp of batter to shape these small cookies.
• If the batter is sticky or wet when shaping, chill it for 30 minutes.
• To make ahead, you can store the dough in the refrigerator overnight.
• Use slightly dampened fingers to press down on the cookies before baking so they spread and are thin.
• Since the vanilla flavor is dominant, use real or homemade vanilla extract or vanilla paste in this recipe.
• Cream the butter and sugar well and beat until pale and fluffy. This incorporates air into the batter so they bake up light.

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🛠 Tools Needed

You only need a few basic tools to make these homemade sourdough vanilla wafers.

• Baking scale
  • Flour and sourdough starter can weigh differently from person to person, so weighing your ingredients is the best option! Measuring your ingredients by weight will make your baking more consistent and accurate.
• Sheet Pan or Cookie Sheet
  • Line the pans with parchment or a silicone baking mat to prevent sticking.
• Spatula
  • For scraping the sides of the mixing bowl.
• Stand mixer or hand mixer, recommended
  • For creaming the butter and mixing the batter.

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🛒 Ingredients Needed

See below for my ingredient recommendations and possible substitutions.

• All-purpose flour
  • You could use a gluten-free flour like cup-for-cup in this recipe with a gluten-free starter to make them gluten-free.
• Salt
• Baking Powder
  • The baking powder helps keep the wafers light and tender. When I used baking soda in testing, they spread too much.
• Unsalted butter, room temperature
  • It’s important that the butter is softened in order to cream it with sugar and incorporate air into the batter. This is what makes a light and crispy cookie.
  • Other recipes using this creaming method include my Lemon Blueberry Sourdough Pound Cake, Sourdough Linzer Cookies, and Sourdough Gingerbread Cake with Cranberries.
• Vanilla Extract
  • Use real vanilla extract or vanilla paste, not imitation.
• Granulated sugar
  • Adds structure and sweetness to the cookies. Superfine or caster sugar will incorporate easier.
• Egg
  • The egg helps bind the ingredients together and so the yolk adds a bit of yellow color and tenderizes the cookies.
• Sourdough Discard
  • If you don’t have an active sourdough starter, learn how to make one in a week following my how-to guide. See my top sourdough starter tips and other sourdough discard recipes.

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👨‍🍳 How to Make Sourdough Vanilla Wafers

Follow this detailed recipe guide as you make the best sourdough ‘nilla wafers.

1. Cream the Butter and Sugar

Beat the softened butter and granulated sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium speed for a few minutes until pale, light, and fluffy.

Scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula if needed.

2. Mix the Wet Ingredients

Add the egg, vanilla extract, and sourdough discard and mix until combined. The mixture may separate, which is okay.

3. Mix in the Dry Ingredients

In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Then, pour the dry ingredients into the stand mixer bowl, pulse a few times so the flour doesn’t spill, and mix just until combined.

The sourdough vanilla wafer batter is thick and buttery like a stiff cake batter.

4. Bake

Preheat the oven to 350ºF (177ºC) and line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

Vanilla wafers are quite small, so to shape them, only use about 1 ½ tsp of cookie dough. The batter will make about 45 cookies.

Use a small spoon or measuring spoon to scoop a small amount of dough and roll it into a sphere in the palm of your hands. If the dough is sticky or wet, chill it for 15-30 minutes.

Place the shaped cookies a couple of inches apart on a sheet pan. Then, to help them spread, dampen your fingertips in a small bowl of water and gently press them down into thin disks.

Bake for 13-15 minutes or until the edges brown and the bottoms are dark brown. The wafers will harden some as they cool. Bake for less time if you want a cakier cookie and longer if you want a crispier cookie like boxed ‘Nilla Wafers.

Let cool on a wire rack and repeat with the remaining cookie dough.

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How to Store and Serve

You can store sourdough vanilla wafers at room temperature.

Before storing, always let your cookies cool down completely.

Store vanilla wafers in a metal tin or airtight container for 4-5 days. They will get less crisp over time.

Refrigeration can introduce moisture, so I don’t recommend refrigerating the cookies. If you freeze, freeze them in a single layer in an airtight container or bag and let thaw.

Vanilla wafers are a blank canvas to serve as a small, light cookie or use in many different desserts.

They’re most commonly used to make southern-style banana pudding. You may need to double this recipe to make the equivalent of a box of wafers.

You can use the sourdough vanilla wafers as a pie crust alternative like graham crackers, as a crumble, in icebox cakes, dipped in milk or crumbled over yogurt, or even used as a ladyfinger replacement in tiramisu.

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❓ Frequently Asked Questions

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