Nilla Wafers? Or Just Mini Cookies?

Name: Keto Vanilla Wafer Cookies
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 9 min
Total time: 1 h 19 min
Yield: 16
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 cup Super Fine Almond Flour; 1/4 cup Powdered Swerve or favorite no-calorie sweetener; 1 tsp Baking Powder; 1 pinch Sea Salt; 1 tbsp Vanilla Extract; 3 tbsp Unsalted Butter, softened but not warm, see notes

And does it even matter???

Spoiler, it matters. Because if I were you and I was reading this blog fully intending to find a cookie that acts like a keto and eats like a Nabisco—I would be pretty upset to find out it’s just a miniature version of a plain old cookie. Ya dig?

Of course you do! We are cookie-eating kindred spirits on a mission to never feel deprived again. No longer will we wallow in despair, pining for crispy cookie wafers. Hungry for banana pudding dessert.

Wanting!

Waiting!

Salivating…

Crunch Time

So the super sad thing about gluten-free keto cookies is that they can be a little soft. Call me old fashion but I like my Nilla’s to be hard. So how do we make a keto cookie that can get hard and stay that way???

Butter

We find the right ratio of butter-to-flour to get that crispy texture! Too much butter will make them oily and not enough will have them falling apart.

Then you have to make sure your butter COOL but not that cold. If that doesn’t make sense, it’s ok. Just take it out of the fridge while you are gathering ingredients and then drink one cocktail (if it’s 5 pm) and you’ll be good.

The other super important thing about making these pseudo shortbread rounds of heaven is to never take our eyes off of the oven. NEVER. Ever. Burned cookies are not desirable.

Sweeteners

Lastly, you have to use erythritol and you have got to be ready to wait for it. Other sweeteners don’t crisp up quite as much and even though Swerve can get you to crunch town, it’s going to take a hard hour (or more) before they are crisp.

Sorry for all of the times I’ve said hard in the blog post. Let’s make cookies.

Keto Vanilla Wafers!

Aka the gateway cookie because it leads to harder things…like banana pudding and this weird (but awesome) chocolate pie my mom used to make.

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So the running theme and word of the day in this cookie blog recipe post is HARD.
THAT’S because I am sick of saying crispy and my mind is a gutter.

As you can see, these cookies are also VERY cute.
To make them look this cute, you have to shape them with the edges thin and a lump in the middle.
The dough won’t spread so however you shape them on the pan, that’s how they’ll be post-baking.

How do they taste? Like crispy vanilla almond rounds of delight!

If you are a Nilla Wafer purest you may just want to eat these with milk, but I’d like to offer a suggestion! Smear them in peanut butter.

It’s creamy, crunchy, buttery, sweet, and all other descriptive food terms that are slightly erotic.
Oh, and let’s not forget sandwich’d. Wink wink.

*Unrelated* Sometimes, for fun, I like to picture googly eyes on foods and other inanimate objects.
These cookies are no exception.

Look at the attitude on this cookie sandwich!
Encourageable! It knows how delicious it is, probably.

Keto Vanilla Wafer Cookies

Yield: 16 cookies

Prep Time: 40 minutes

Cook Time: 9 minutes

Additional Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 19 minutes

Copycat Keto Vanilla Wafers are a MUST for late night snacking or making a classic banana pudding dessert!

Ingredients

1 cup Super Fine Almond Flour
1/4 cup Powdered Swerve or favorite no-calorie sweetener
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 pinch Sea Salt
1 tbsp Vanilla Extract
3 tbsp Unsalted Butter, softened but not warm, see notes

Instructions

In a large bowl, whisk together the Almond Flour, Baking Powder, Sweetener, and Salt. Pour in the Vanilla Extract and stir. There will be some clumps but they will diffuse as we mix!
Chop the butter into 4-5 chunks and add to the flour. Using your hands, begin to work the butter into the flour mixture until a dough forms. Work quickly to keep the heat from your hands from melting the butter! Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 min.
Heat oven to 350°f and line a large baking sheet with parchment or a silicone baking mat.
To bake: scoop about 1.5 tsp of dough and form into a ball. Place between the palms of your hands and press into a saucer shape. To get THE LOOK of a nilla wafer the edges should be flatter than the center; they won't spread.
Place on the baking sheet and bake for 9 minutes, watching until the edges are brown. They make bake up to 12 minutes depending on how long you chill your dough.
Transfer the baked cookies to a cooling rack; they will be delicate when hot. Let the cookies cool completely for maximum crispness!!! After about 1 hour they will firm up and continue to get crispy.

Notes

I find that it is easiest to take my butter out of the refrigerator about 10 minutes prior to making these cookies. It's easier to work with but not too soft, which can affect the texture. Just like pie crust!!

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