I bet the name alone just got your attention! 😀 Whenever I read vanilla bean, I am immediately interested in a recipe. Add on angel and pillow…well, forget about it. I had to make these immediately! I know I’ve said it before, but when I see those black vanilla bean specks it makes me so happy. Unfortunately, vanilla beans are expensive. But, they aren’t quite so bad if you buy them in bulk on Amazon. I get around 30 vanilla beans for less than $20. Still, I like to get all I can out of my beans, so I keep a big Tupperware container of sugar and throw all my used beans in there. That way I always have vanilla sugar for baking, sprinkling on fresh berries and sweetening beverages. So, I am glad I had some vanilla sugar on hand because I could never wait the 1 to 2 weeks to make homemade vanilla sugar for this recipe! 😀 The dough comes together easy enough with the dry ingredients, butter and a whole scraped vanilla bean mixed in the food processor. At first, I thought I had made a mistake because it looked really powdery for a long while. Then all of a sudden, it came together as a dough. The dough is then rolled into balls, baked and rolled in vanilla sugar while the cookies are still warm The cookie has a very delicate, crumbly buttery texture that just melts in your mouth as vanilla sugar coats your fingers and lips. I honestly can’t stop eating them. The problem is that they taste as good as their name implies.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a food processor, combine flour, powdered sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Cover and process until combined.
Using the tip of a sharp knife, scrape pulp from vanilla bean. Add vanilla pulp to the flour mixture; add butter. Cover and process with several on/off pulses until mixture starts to cling, stopping once to scrape down side of bowl. Gather mixture into a ball.
Shape dough into 1 1/4-inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. (I used parchment) They don’t spread much so you can bake them in 2 batches.
Bake in the preheated oven about 12 minutes or just until edges start to brown (Start checking at about 9 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack and cool for 5 minutes.
Place vanilla sugar in a small bowl. While still warm, roll cookies in vanilla sugar to coat. Cool completely on wire rack.
I think this dough would lend itself well to citrus flavors with the addition of lemon, lime, or orange zest instead of vanilla bean.
I recommend using parchment- I seem to get less browning on the bottoms.
Vanilla Bean caught my attention 🙂 Your cookies look so good, I wish I had one with my tea right now!
Ha, I knew it would! 😀 Thanks Abby. Oh, these would be so delicious with tea!