Nilla Wafers

By awright0511

I like to bake these at a relatively low temperature (325 degrees Fahrenheit) and for a slightly longer period of time to ensure that they brown and crisp evenly, without burning.
I have not tried these with any nondairy substitutions, but I would recommend not using margarine in place of butter. Instead, I would try non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening {I like Spectrum} because it doesn’t spread the way margarine does. Any nondairy milk would be fine.
*Instead of a pastry bag, a gallon sized Ziploc bag with the corner cut off works well, too.

Ingredients

• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour {I use Better Batter}
• 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum {omit if using Better Batter}
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• Dash (1/8 teaspoon) baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar (in a pinch, dark brown sugar will do)
• 1 extra-large egg (or the biggest large egg in the dozen), at room temperature
• 4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons milk

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Line rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper and set them aside.
In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, add the flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda and salt, and whisk to combine. Switch to the paddle attachment, and add the butter, sugar, egg, vanilla and milk, beating well after each addition. The batter should be thickened, but thin enough to be piped through a plain pastry piping tip.
Either scoop dough by the level tablespoonful, or pipe an equivalent amount through a pastry bag fitted with a plain piping tip* (for more consistent cookie sizing), onto the prepared baking sheets. The mounds of dough should be spaced about 1 inch apart. They will spread, but not a lot. If you have piped the dough, with wet fingers, gently flatten the top of each raw cookie if anything is sticking up.
Chill the raw cookies on the baking sheet in the freezer for a few minutes until firm.
Once they are firm, place the baking sheet in the center of your preheated oven and bake for between 15 and 20 minutes, or until the cookies are nice, uniform brown color — like they came right out of that brown wax paper bag in that Nabisco box.
Cool a few minutes on the baking sheets before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.