Vanilla Bean Cookies

Name: Vanilla Bean Cookies
Prep time: 12 min
Cook time: 8 min
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 1 cup butter, softened; 1½ cups granulated sugar; 1 egg; 1 egg yolk; 2 tsp vanilla extract; 2 vanilla beans; 2½ cups flour; 1½ tsp baking powder; 1 tsp baking soda; 1 tsp salt; ½ cup granulated sugar; ½ tsp vanilla extract

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These Vanilla Bean Cookies are made with vanilla extract, vanilla bean seeds, and vanilla sugar making them super intensely vanilla. They have an added egg yolk which makes them extra rich.

The cookie dough does not require any refrigeration or complicated steps. It can be made in one bowl, and the cookies are ready in 20 minutes.

Vanilla Bean Sugar cookies piled on a white plate on a white background, with some rolled in vanilla sugar and a couple of small white flowers.

These cookies are great any time of year, or anytime you can find vanilla beans on sale or in bulk (Costco). I also love these Strawberry Shortbread Cookies, which are also simple but with dehydrated strawberries in the dough, as well as Lemon Curd Cookies in the Spring or these Rice Krispie Treats dipped in chocolate that are good year-round.

Ingredients

Below are the ingredients used to make Vanilla Bean Cookies.

Vanilla Extract: I have found that the best place to buy vanilla extract is at Costco. You can get a large bottle for around $10 that will last you all year long if not more. It is way less expensive per volume than what you can get at a regular grocery store. Using 2 teaspoons worth of vanilla extract ensures a strong vanilla flavor.
Vanilla Beans: Vanilla beans are extremely expensive. But they are also an incredible ingredient, and they can sometimes be found at Costco in large quantities. My favorite dessert on earth is a simple (not too sweet) vanilla bean ice cream. Nothing beats it in my book. Adding vanilla bean to these cookies makes them super intense, flavorful, and dreamy. Almost like a creamy vanilla ice cream.
- If vanilla beans are in your budget, they are amazing. But not that's fine too. These cookies will still be great without it, especially with 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract in the cookie dough.
- Scraping Seeds: To remove the vanilla bean seeds from the vanilla bean, use a small paring knife to cut a slit lengthwise along the bean and gently open the bean and scrape out the seeds with the knife.
Vanilla Sugar: To make the vanilla sugar, combine the sugar and vanilla extract, stirring and mashing. Rolling the cookie dough in the sugar gives the cookie even MORE vanilla flavor and a nice crinkly slightly crunchy exterior. They’ll look sparkly and festive. If you’re short on time, however, feel free to skip this step.
Sugar: These cookies use only granulated sugar.
Baking Soda: Baking soda is necessary to ensure that these cookies have that nice crinkly look and texture. I've made this without the baking soda and the cookies are quite different. Without it, the cookies are poofy and look very different (though still taste great).
Baking Powder: For leavening.
Extra Egg Yolk: This recipe includes one whole egg and an extra egg yolk which gives that extra richness in flavor. I’ve made these with and without the extra egg yolk and you can taste the difference when the extra egg yolk is added.
Butter: Salted or unsalted will be fine.
Flour: Use all-purpose unbleached flour.
Salt: Brings out flavor.

How to Make Vanilla Bean Cookies

Below are the ingredients and step-by-step instructions with accompanying photos for how to make Vanilla Bean Cookies.

Note: Please see the full Recipe Card with the ingredient quantities and instructions further below.

Cookie dough combining butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla.

Step 1. Preheat the oven to 350℉.

In a large bowl combine the softened butter and granulated sugar. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract and stir to combine.

Cutting a vanilla bean and scraping the seeds.

Step 2. Cut the vanilla beans lengthwise. Use a small sharp knife, like a paring knife, to scrape out the seeds from inside the beans. Be sure not to scrape off the inside of the bean pod itself. Or if you do, pick that out before adding the seeds to the dough.

Cookie batter adding vanilla bean seeds, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Step 3. Add the vanilla seeds to the batter. Then add the baking powder, baking soda, and salt and combine.

Step 4. Add the flour and mix to combine.

Balls of cookie dough rolled in vanilla sugar.

Step 5 (optional). In a small bowl add ½ cup granulated sugar and ½ teaspoon vanilla extract. Stir and mash with a small spoon to combine.

Roll the dough into balls with 2 tbsps of dough each. Roll each ball of dough in the vanilla sugar.

This step is optional. Some alternatives are:

roll the cookies in vanilla sugar
roll them in plain granulated sugar
roll half of the cookies with sugar and half without
skip this step altogether

Cookie sheet with vanilla bean sugar cookies before and after being baked.

Step 6. Place each ball of dough on a baking sheet. Bake for 8-9 minutes.

Remove the cookies from the oven before they start to brown. They will still be quite soft in the middle but will firm up on the pan as they cool. These cookies should be nice and soft.

Tips & Tricks

To use only one bowl for easy cleanup, add all the wet ingredients to a large bowl and combine first. Then add the ingredients that need to be evenly dispersed such as the vanilla bean seeds, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Then add the flour last and combine.
To remove the cookies from the pan, allow them to cool for a few minutes first, then use a thin metal spatula. I love to use a metal cheese slicer because it is thin and narrow. That way you can remove one cookie at a time without bumping into the neighboring cookies.

Refrigerating the Dough

You can refrigerate the dough, but it is not necessary. Keep it simple and put the cookies straight into the oven.

If you do refrigerate the dough, the cookies will have a slightly thicker and chewier texture, and the flavors will meld together more. They can be refrigerated for 30 minutes or overnight. If you plan to refrigerate the dough, make the balls of dough and place them on a plate covered in plastic wrap in the fridge. Take them out of the fridge, place them on a baking sheet, and bake for 10-11 minutes (rather than 8-9) at 350℉.

Portioning the Dough

Portion out 2 tablespoon worth of dough for each cookie. This makes 26 cookies. You can either do this with your hands, or using two small spoons – one to scoop and the other to help shape into a round ball, or with a cookie/ice cream scoop.

Expert Tip: For perfectly round cookies, roll each portion of dough between the palms of your hands to make a round ball. Once they bake they will flatten and become perfectly round circles.

Close up photo of vanilla bean sugar cookies rolled in vanilla sugar.

Vanilla Bean Sugar Cookies FAQs:

When are the cookies done?

The cookies are done after 8-9 minutes. They will look slightly underdone in the middle. This is perfect, don’t wait until they look fully cooked to pull them out. They should still be a little soft and look a little underbaked in the middle. They will continue to cook and firm up on the pan when you take them out.

Can you freeze the cookie dough?

Yes, you can freeze this vanilla bean sugar cookie dough. Shape into balls and place in a Ziploc bag or Tupperware. To bake, either bring them to room temperature or if baking directly from frozen bake for an extra 2-3 minutes (10-12 minutes total).

Why are my cookies flat?

Cookies flatten because either they do not have enough flour, the butter is too soft or melted, there is not enough baking powder, or the proportion of sugar is too high compared with the rest of the ingredients.

Why are my cookies too poofy?

The biggest reason cookies become poofy is because there is too much flour. In small-batch recipes, it may be because you added egg white, instead of only egg yolk. Another reason is that the butter was too cold and not at room temperature. Not enough baking soda also leads to cookies that are too poofy. The baking soda helps the dough to spread out and gives it that crinkly cookie texture.

If you're looking for more cookie recipes, you may love these:

Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies: Thick chewy oversized chocolate chip cookies loaded with tons of chopped chocolate.

Small Batch Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies: Super crispy chocolate chip cookie recipe that makes only 12 cookies, for when a whole batch is just too much.

White Chocolate Chip Pretzel Cookies: Thick and bakery-style cookies loaded with white chocolate chips and crunchy salted pretzels, a great combo.

Chocolate Chip Cookies without Brown Sugar: If you're out of brown sugar but want to make chocolate chip cookies, this recipe gives you a few options.

If you tried this Vanilla Bean Cookie Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. I'd love to hear from you!

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