Vanilla Bean Cookies

Vanilla Bean Cookies

Whenever I’m searching for a great recipe, I mean one that’s just remarkable in every way, I usually check one of my favorite baking sites. There are four baking sites that I follow almost religiously. These women behind these blogs are simply so inspiring, all with different areas of expertise and abilities to make food look flawless.

In no particular order, my four favorite baking blogs are:

1.       http://www.sprinklebakes.com/

2.       http://iambaker.net/

3.       http://joythebaker.com/

4.       http://sweetapolita.com/

Today, I am going to focus on #3: Joy The Baker, as this is where this recipe originates. I have been following Joy’s blog for two years now and some of my personal staple recipes are from her. She’s my go-to blog when I want a recipe I could have never imagined. One day at work, I was scrolling through her site, drooling, when I realized her newest cookbook, “Homemade Decadence” had been released. So on my lunch break, I skipped to the Barnes and Noble and purchased it. When I returned from my break, I was back to drooling over all the photos and bookmarking all the recipes I wanted to try (aka the whole book had post-it in it).

One recipe that caught my attention were her “Vanilla Bean Confetti Cookies”. At the time, I had just returned from a trip in Kansas and purchased 3 vanilla beans. Fun fact, I had never used vanilla beans prior to this recipe. Shocking? What baker doesn’t use vanilla beans? Gilly…that’s who. Something always intimidated me about vanilla beans. I did not know what the seeds were supposed to look like, I have really bad knives, I was nervous! But I read the recipe, re-read it, and then once more to make sure I knew what to do, and watched 10 videos on how to split a vanilla bean.

The only aspect of my life where I’m a perfectionist is baking. I have a horrendously messy room, I could care less if dishes are piled in the sink, I don’t care if I get a lower grade on an assignment…I’m just not particular about certain things. But baking, that’s a different story. I hate if my flour is not spooned and leveled. I hate when one cake layer is a half inch higher than the other, I hate when my butter is not softened enough. I can become this person who I do not even recognize. The vanilla beans brought this out.

First, I recently broke my bamboo cutting board. How does that happen? I wish I knew. It split at the top making it all wobbly and instead of going to Target and buying a new one like a normal person, I keep putting it off. Well, being the efficient woman I am, using a broken bamboo cutting board, I went to split the beans and that went as well as expected. I ended up scraping half onto my counter and re-doing it. Needless to say, I got the seeds out and I moved on with my life, unafraid of vanilla beans.

Now, the cookies. These cookies were so good. So, Joy calls for the essential dry ingredients, and then cream of tartar. From my understanding, this makes the cookie extremely soft and melty on the inside. I sifted all the ingredients together in a medium bowl and then slightly whisked them. Then you beat the softened butter with the granulated sugar. Joy is so great on the timing of whipping things…this recipe calls for 3-4 minutes, which you should definitely follow. Under-mixing is a detriment to your creation.

Once the mixture is fluffy and light in color, you scrape in the beans. I did this using a rubber spatula. Add the eggs and the vanilla extract and beat for about 1 minute, a little more or less, until everything is combined. Using the same rubber spatula add half the sprinkles. Half. I bold this, because, yes, I missed that step and threw them all in and had a sprinkle party.

Once the sprinkles are added, roll them into their baking balls and roll them with the remaining sprinkles. They’ll look like vanilla-sprinkled donut holes and it’s hard not to pop 7 in your mouth. Place the balls on a plate and place in the fridge for the next step.

Here’s an important step. Chill the dough for 2 hours or more. You need to chill this dough. If you take anything away from this post, is shouldn’t be that I’m afraid of vanilla beans, but that you need to chill this dough. Please, just chill it!

While my dough was chilling, I cleaned my horrendous room and cooked some dinner. Then it was time for cookies. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line your baking sheets with parchment paper. Put the dough balls on the baking sheets and pop into the oven for about 9 minutes, or until the edges are beginning to brown. Let the cookies cool on the pan for 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.

I preferred these cookies on the warmer side, but they taste just as good when completely cooled. These cookies last for 4-days…if they make it that long. I stored mine in my cookie jar, but any airtight container will do.

Try these cookies out! They are so soft and delicious and they look adorable too!

Vanilla Bean Confetti Cookies 

Recipe by Joy the Baker

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 vanilla bean
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup sprinkles (I prefer jimmies over nonpareils)

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt.
   
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes. Split the vanilla bean and scrape the seeds into the bowl. Add the egg and vanilla extract, and beat until thoroughly combined.
   
3. Reduce the mixer speed to low, and slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. The dough will be thick (you may have to finish incorporating the mixture with a spatula). Fold in 1/4 cup of the sprinkles.
   
4. Place the remaining 1/4 cup sprinkles in a bowl. Scoop up 2 tablespoons of dough and roll into a ball. Dip the ball in the bowl of sprinkles to cover lightly. Put the balls on a plate. Repeat with the remaining sprinkles and dough. Chill the dough for at least 2 hours.
   
5. Place racks in the center and upper third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
   
6. Transfer the chilled dough balls to the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches of space in between each ball.
   
7. Bake until the cookies have spread and are just beginning to brown around the edges, but are mostly pale and soft, 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool on the cookie sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely. The cookies will keep in an airtight container for up to 4 days.