Homemade Nilla Wafers
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These homemade nilla wafers are way easier to make than you might think, and even more delicious than the original!
Who doesn’t love a good nilla wafer? They were one of my favorite treats as a kid, and I still love them as an adult! They’re so simple and sweet and comforting, and remind me of happy childhood memories. As I’ve been gathering ideas for school lunches for my kids, I stumbled across a recipe for homemade nilla wafers, and knew that I need to make them immediately. They turned out even better than I was hoping. They have the same crunch and sweet vanilla flavor of the store-bought cookies, but they taste even better! A couple of these sweet little cookies would be the perfect addition to any lunchbox.
I scooped my cookies using a 1 tablespoon scoop, filled halfway, and I still feel like they were a little big. Next time I’ll use a teaspoon for my cookies so they’re the same size as the original nilla wafers. These cookies are pretty sturdy and will stay fresh for quite some time if stored in an airtight container, so you could easily make a big batch and portion them out over a few weeks for lunches or snacks. I will warn you that the recipe below is fairly small, so you may want to double or triple it if you love these cookies like I do!
Homemade Nilla Wafers
Print Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons butter softened
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 egg
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with a parchment or silicone liner and set aside. In a medium bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until smooth. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt, and mix until combined. Chill for 20-30 minutes, until firm. Using a teaspoon or a small cookie scoop, roll the dough into small balls. Flatten slightly and place on the prepared baking sheet. Bake 15-17 minutes, until golden brown.
Try adding pumpkin and black pepper with a hint of ginger. Best cookies ever.
I was torn between 3 and 4 stars, tbh. It’s a decent recipe… for sugar cookies. That’s all these are. Very small sugar cookies that are crispy because of the length of cook time. I actually had to lower my oven temp because 15 minutes at 350 was pushing the limit of the bottom of the cookie, and 17 would have burnt these to a crisp. I ended up baking at 325 for 17.
Like many people, I came here because I needed Nilla wafers for banana pudding but you can’t buy them where I’m at. As written, this is an “it’ll do” recipe, but the people calling these Nilla wafer dupes are delirious. They’re just sugar cookies, fam.
If you’re using them for banana pudding, then I’d definitely recommend lowering the temp and cooking for longer to get them crisp all the way through in order for them to hold up to the moisture of the custard and fruit. It took me 3 batches of fiddling with the temp to get it right. I doubled the recipe and used a 3/4Tbs measure to make my little scoops and then rolled them into balls between my palms, getting a total of 60 Nilla wafer-sized… sugar cookies :)
If i had to venture a guess, I’d say the missing element is the fact that NW likely use vanilla powder vs vanilla extract, 90% of which will bake out during cooking. Extract, while long-hailed the holy grail for baked goods, doesn’t actually hold up above maybe 250f. Vanilla paste, powder, or artificial vanilla might have been a better choice for this.
Thanks for the information. I’m going to try the vanilla paste. And my oven cooks weird so thanks for warning about baking time temp
Excellent information. I have had some
Generic Nilla wafers in the USA that were softer. But for your typical southern style banana puddin’ (wink) you need crispy wafers. I’m no longer living in the U.S. and I want to make a Nilla Wafer-ish cookie.
Thank you so much for this! I’m in the same situation and so glad you posted this comment. I need more people like you – thanks!
I couldn’t have said it better. These are good, but I really wanted a Vanilla Wafer copycat. I used Vanilla Bean paste. Still didn’t get the cookie I wanted.
Thank you for the tips! I used all vanilla paste and baked at 325 degrees F for 17 minutes. They came out absolutely perfect for banana pudding and I spent most of the afternoon swatting family members away from the cookies to save them for the pudding assembly.
I just made them now trying to finish ingredients in the house and seeing that they’re easy to make and easy to remember the recipe. They’ll be a weekly bake
Yay! Glad you liked them!
I made these because I totally forgot Nilla Wafers at the store when I bought everything to make homemade banana pudding. I really just didn’t want to go back to the store just for the cookies. My husband ate one and told me that my pudding wasn’t going to be what I’m used to, and just left it there. When I got worried, because I hadn’t tasted the cookies, and asked why, he said “because these are really good cookies, and Nilla wafers aren’t.” High praise from the hubby!! I seriously can’t wait to taste the banana pudding with these in it!
This comment totally made my day! Hope your pudding turned out fantastic.
What flour & butter is it please Alicia
Should be just unsalted butter and all purpose flour.
Made these cookies last night for something to munch on. Sooooo yummy!!! This recipe is a keeper! Thanks for sharing!
I make no -bake cheesecakes, it requires cookie crumbs for the
crust, they don’t sell Nilla cookies in Australia. I had to order them from online.
Thanks for sharing the recipe, I will use your recipe. Actually save money money doing home made cookies.
These came out great! Used the ingredients exactly, but didn’t chill the dough because … lazy, and a bit of a time crunch … Used a piping bag and started checking on them early. Worked out fine, but out of curiosity I’ll have to see if chilling the dough makes a difference next time. Used these in banana pudding. Definitely recommend!
Great recipe. Easy and it tastes even better than store bought. Made for banana pudding, no more trips to Magnolia Bakery. I use a piping bag and silicone mats with the macaron circles printed on it.
Salted or unsalted butter? Dying to make these. They seem so easy. Reason I looked up recipe is because my husband loves them and they are now $5 per box!!! Crazy!
Terry, that’s exactly what brought me here! Hope you love the recipe!
How long will they keep in the cupboard? I want to make these but no room in my freezer. Want to make mini cheesecakes but can’t find them in the store.
I too needed Vanilla Wafers for banana pudding. These came out perfect. Super easy and delicious. I’ll never buy boxed again!!
Approximately how many calories do these cookies contain in each one?
Is it salted or unsalted butter & what flour is it
I used salted butter and just regular all purpose flour. These are perfect@
Thank you for this recipe!!!! I hate the boxed version full of horrible ingredients and needed some Nilla wafers for a pie.
This looks perfect!!!
Should I use bleached or unbleached all purpose flour?
Thanks
I used unbleached but either should work great!
These are great! I made a few batches of similar recipes at the same time for our family to taste test, and your cookies were the winners. Nice and crisp at the 15-16 minute mark, and pleasant vanilla flavor. They freeze well too. Thank you!
I never knew it’d be so easy. This is a good recipe and the cookies taste great. I tried a level teaspoon per some of the comments and that’s a tad smaller than what you buy. I like it though where I eat less and they last a little longer. Not sure how much healthier these are, but with pure vanilla and my home grown organic eggs, I don’t believe it’d be any worse. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Do you use granulated or powdered sugar? I’ve seen recipes with powdered sugar.
I made a double batch. What a great copy cat recipe. Of course the home made are better because less ingredients than Mr. Christie’s cookies. I will make this again. It is labour intensive. Don’t be in a hurry. Thank you for sharing.
Yes price is crazy high and the size of the wafers are way smaller than they used to be, even a couple of years ago.
This is a pretty basic sugar cookie recipe. Maybe more vanilla would make them more like the store bought variety. They are ok but if you’re going for a Nilla Wafer copycat recipe, keep looking.
I made these every time I make banana pudding cake, which is my hubby’s favorite.
I’ll be making this recipe X6 this week as he’ll be bringing a bunch to share for a men’s game day.
Recipe is very easy.. and while it takes a long long time ( I don’t have a cookie scoop so that’s on me ) it’s worth it!!!!!
I add cinnamon
I make mini cheesecakes in mini muffin papers with these as the “crust”. Can’t buy them in Canada so was glad to see this recipe.
I made these today. I only buy unbleached flour and salted butter so I cut the salt back. They were perfect.
I love knowing I’ll not be buying Nill Wafers anymore.
These don’t taste similar to Nilla Wafers, they also don’t absorb milk the same way, and they don’t have the same snap. They taste and feel more like sugar cookies.
I’m a little miffed because I don’t have a lot of money and this is what I spent it on. I don’t really like sugar cookies, and now I have a box of them.