These Sourdough Vanilla Wafers are a great recipe for sourdough bakers. They are a small and sweet wafer cookie that go great with milk!
One of the things I love about sourdough baking is that it gives you a lot of confidence to not only bake your own bread but make your own homemade food too. These sourdough vanilla wafers are a great alternative to store bought cookies and taste so much better! They go great with a cold glass of milk or packed in lunchboxes.
If you need more Sourdough or Sourdough Discard Recipes then be sure to also check out this Sourdough Discard Coffee Cake, Sourdough Oatmeal Cookies, Sourdough Graham Crackers, and Sourdough Apple Crisp.
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❤️ Why you’ll love this recipe
- Easy: This is a very simple recipe with just a few ingredients. No chill time is needed either.
- Great use for active starter or discard: If you need an easy discard idea these are so easy to make. Active starter works great too. I have made this recipe with both.
- Taste great: These small cookies have such a great flavor. They aren’t as crispy as store bought (they are more like old fashioned vanilla wafers) and go great with a glass of milk. You could even use these in homemade banana pudding.
🥣 Ingredients needed
For this recipe, you will need:
- Unsalted butter: You will need four tablespoons (¼ cup of butter) softened to room temperature.
- Egg
- Cream of tartar
- All purpose flour
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Sugar
- Vanilla extract: For the best taste, it is very important to use pure vanilla extract and not imitation.
- Sourdough starter: You can use active starter or sourdough discard for this recipe. I have tested it both ways. With active starter, your wafers will be slightly puffier. With discard, you will have a little bit more of the sourdough tang in the cookies. If you are new to sourdough dough baking be sure to check out my guide on how to make sourdough starter with blueberries.
The complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
⏲️ Recipe instructions (step by step guide)
Preheat your oven to 400° degrees. Cream your sugar, softened butter, and vanilla extract together with a hand or stand mixer with a paddle attachment (image 1).
Add the other ingredients and mix until just combined (image 2).
Roll the dough into small balls (about 1 ½ to 2 teaspoons of dough). Place on a parchment lined (not wax paper) or well greased baking sheet with room to spread. Press them down slightly (image 3).
Bake 7 to 9 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Let rest for 5 minutes on the sheet before transferring to a cooling rack.
👩🏻🍳 Tips
- You can use sourdough discard or active starter for these cookies.
- These are homemade vanilla wafers. They are a little bit softer than the store bought ones you may be used to.
- Use a high quality vanilla extract for the best results.
- Try using these cookies in your next banana pudding recipe.
🥡 How to store leftovers
Store any leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature. The cookies will be fresh for up to four days after baking.
Other sourdough recipes:
If you tried these Sourdough Vanilla Wafers or any other recipe on my site, please leave a ⭐ rating and let me know how it goes in the 📝 comments below. I would love to hear from you!
Sourdough Vanilla Wafers
Equipment
- Large mixing bowl
- Hand or stand mixer
- Baking sheet
Ingredients
- ¼ cup unsalted butter (4 tablespoons)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 ¼ cup all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup sourdough starter active or discard
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400° degrees.¼ cup unsalted butter, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, ½ cup sugar
- Cream your sugar, softened butter, and vanilla extract together with a hand or stand mixer with a paddle attachment.1 large egg, ½ teaspoon cream of tartar, 1 ¼ cup all purpose flour, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ¼ teaspoon salt, ½ cup sourdough starter
- Add the other ingredients and mix until just combined.
- Roll the dough into small balls (about 1 ½ to 2 teaspoons of dough). Place on a parchment lined (not wax paper) or well greased baking sheet with room to spread. Press them down slightly.
- Bake 7 to 9 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Let rest for 5 minutes on the sheet before transferring to a cooling rack.
Tina says
Hi, so excited to try your recipe. can these cookies be stored in the freezer to use at a later time for a banana pudding recipe?
Audrey says
Hi Tina, I haven’t tried to freeze these but I don’t see why you couldn’t. If you freeze them, I’d recommend wrapping them in a double layer of aluminum foil. I hope you enjoy the recipe.