Homemade Vegan Vanilla Wafers are the perfect vegan swap for Nilla wafers! Enjoy these crisp and buttery cookies on their own, or layer them in our Homemade Vegan Banana Pudding for a classic vegan dessert the whole family will love.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Vegan butter: Adds richness and moisture that keeps these cookies soft and buttery. Our favorite vegan butter is Country Crock, but many also like Earth Balance Buttery Sticks. For best results, we recommend using buttery sticks over buttery spreads – they are more stable.
- Sugar: These cookies are sweetened with granulated sugar. If you swap this sugar with coconut sugar or brown sugar, the cookies will be much darker in color. To ensure they are vegan, opt for organic sugar.
- Vanilla extract: Adds the essential vanilla flavor! We recommend pure vanilla extract over imitation vanilla extract for the best flavor.
- Flour: Simple all-purpose flour keeps these cookies light and fluffy on the inside, crisp on the edges. We have not tested alternate flours and can’t confirm they’ll work.
- Baking powder: This ingredient acts as the leavening agent in this baking recipe and helps the cookies rise just slightly.
- Salt: Balances the sweeter flavors and enhances the vanilla flavor.
- Non-dairy milk: You’ll need a couple tablespoons of any non-dairy milk of choice to help make the cookie dough smooth and moist. We recommend a plain milk.
How to Make Vegan Vanilla Wafers
- Cream the butter and sugar. Add the softened vegan butter and sugar to a large bowl. Beat together with an electric hand mixer until light and creamy, about 2 minutes.
- Add vanilla. Add vanilla extract to the bowl with the vegan butter and sugar. Beat again until smooth and well incorporated.
- Add dry ingredients. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat together on low until roughly combined. The mixture should be crumbly.
- Add non-dairy milk. Lastly, add 2 tablespoons of non-dairy milk and beat on low until a smooth dough forms.
- Scoop into 2-teaspoon-sized balls. Using a cookie scoop, scoop the dough into uniform cookie dough balls about 2 teaspoons in size. As you work, place the cookie dough balls 2 inches apart on a baking sheet.
- Lightly flatten. Using damp hands, lightly flatten each cookie dough ball into a thick disc.
- Bake. Place the cookie sheet in the preheated oven and bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown around the edges. You’ll likely need to bake in multiple batches.
- Cool on a wire rack. Allow the cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Enjoy! Serve the cookies as desired, or use to make our vegan pudding. Note: If using for vegan banana pudding, store in an airtight container and use the next day.
Find the full printable recipe here: Homemade Vegan Vanilla Wafers
