Best 6 Gourmets Vanilla Bean Cookies Recipes

VANILLA-BEAN SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• In a bowl with an electric mixer beat together butter, shortening, and 3/4 cup sugar until light and fluffy. With a knife halve vanilla beans lengthwise. Scrape seeds into butter mixture and beat in egg and vanilla extract until combined well. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into mixture and beat until just combined.
• On a large sheet of wax paper form dough into a 10- by 2-inch log and roll up in wax paper. Chill dough until firm, at least 4 hours. Dough keeps up to 3 days wrapped in wax paper and foil.
• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Put remaining 1/4 cup sugar on a platter. Remove wax paper and roll log in sugar (not all sugar will adhere to log). Cut log crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices and dip cut sides of slices in sugar on platter. Arrange cookies 1/2 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets and bake in batches in middle of oven 10 to 12 minutes, or until edges are pale golden. With a metal spatula transfer cookies to a rack to cool. Cookies may be made 2 days ahead (see note, above) and kept between sheets of wax paper in an airtight container.

VANILLA-BEAN SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• In a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter with granulated sugar and salt on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg yolk and vanilla; beat to combine. Add flour and beat until a soft dough forms, about 30 seconds. Divide in half; place each half between two sheets of floured parchment and roll out to 1/4-inch thickness. Refrigerate 15 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 325°F. Using a cookie cutter, cut dough into 1 1/4-inch rounds. Gather scraps and reroll; refrigerate 15 minutes and cut more rounds. Refrigerate rounds 20 minutes. Brush edges of cookies with egg white; roll in sanding sugar to coat. Arrange on parchment-lined baking sheets, 1 inch apart. (If dough is softening, return to refrigerator 10 minutes.)
• Bake, rotating halfway through, until cookies are just golden on bottoms, 15 to 18 minutes. Let cool completely on pans on wire racks. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.

VANILLA BEAN CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C), and lightly butter a 10 inch springform pan.
• Place the sandwich cookies into a plastic bag, and crush with a rolling pin. Pour the crumbs into a bowl, and mix with the scraped seeds of 1 vanilla bean. Drizzle the crumbs with melted butter and stir to combine. Press the crumb mixture firmly into the bottom and up the sides of the springform pan, and set aside.
• Place the softened cream cheese and sugar into the work bowl of an electric mixer, and beat for about 3 minutes on Medium speed, until the mixture is smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, incorporating each egg before adding the next one. Add the scraped seeds of 2 vanilla beans, the vanilla extract, sour cream, and heavy cream, and beat on Medium-High speed for about 1 minute, until the mixture is blended and smooth.
• Pour the mixture into the cookie crumb crust, leaving about 2 inches of space from the top of the pan for the cake to expand as it bakes.
• Place a baking dish onto the bottom rack of the preheated oven, and fill it halfway with boiling water. Place the cheesecake onto the middle rack, above the pan of boiling water, and bake until a small knife inserted into the middle of the cheesecake comes out clean, about 1 hour and 20 minutes.
• Turn the oven off and let the cheesecake cool down inside the oven for 1 hour. Cover the cheesecake with plastic wrap, then aluminum foil, and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight before serving.

VANILLA BEAN SUGAR COOKIE CRINKLES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 325°F. In small bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside.
• In large bowl, beat granulated sugar, softened butter and seeds from 2 vanilla beans with electric mixer on medium speed about 1 minute or until fluffy; scrape side of bowl. Beat in eggs, one at a time, just until smooth. On low speed, beat flour mixture into sugar mixture until well blended. Cover and let dough stand at room temperature 10 minutes.
• Shape dough into 60 (1 1/4-inch) balls. In small bowl, place 1 cup powdered sugar. Roll each cookie in powdered sugar; shake off excess. Place on ungreased cookie sheets 2 inches apart.
• Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until edges are until light brown. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack. Cool completely, at least 15 minutes. Sprinkle with additional powdered sugar. Store in airtight container at room temperature.

VANILLA BEAN SPRITZ COOKIES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Using an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or a handheld electric mixer, beat butter and sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the egg, vanilla and the zest, spices or almond extract (if using), and mix until well combined and smooth.
• Reduce speed to low, and gradually add flour and salt until just incorporated.
• Load dough into a cookie press. Following the directions that came with your cookie press (models can vary), push the dough onto ungreased baking sheets, leaving about 1 inch between cookies. Sprinkle cookies with decorative sugar.
• Bake until firm to touch and golden brown at edges, about 12 to 17 minutes. Transfer cookies onto a wire rack to cool completely.

VANILLA BEAN THINS

Steps:

• Make vanilla sugar:
• Scrape vanilla seeds from pod with tip of a knife into confectioners sugar. Halve pods crosswise and bury in sugar. Cover tightly and let stand at least 24 hours and up to 1 month.
• Make cookies:
• Discard pods and transfer vanilla sugar to a food processor. Add flour, salt, and baking powder and pulse to combine. Add butter and pulse just until mixture is in pea-size lumps. Add yolk and pulse just until a dough forms. Gather dough into 2 balls, then flatten into 2 (5-inch) disks and chill, each disk wrapped well in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 325°F.
• Roll out 1 disk (keep the other chilled) to less than 1/8 inch thick on a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin. Cut out shapes with floured cookie cutter and chill scraps. Arrange cookies 1/2 inch apart on a buttered large baking sheet. Make more cookies with remaining dough, rerolling scraps (but only once).
• Bake cookies in batches in middle of oven until edges are pale golden, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool.