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Stack of seven vanilla sable cookies tied up in red and white string. Around the cookies are various holiday wrapping items and nativity nesting dolls

Vanilla Sables

Course Cookies, Dessert
Yield 36 cookies

Ingredients

For the cookie dough

  • 16 tbsp (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 2 vanilla beans, split lengthwise* (see note below)
  • 2/3 cup vanilla sugar** (see note below)
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 2¼ cups all-purpose flour or gluten-free flour*** (see note below)
  • ½ tsp salt

For the dough roll edging:

  • 1 large egg white mixed with 1 tbsp water
  • 1/2 cup coarse turbinado sugar or sanding sugar for coating

Notes

*Vanilla and vanilla beans at the grocery store are so expensive. Costco has the best in-store price I've come across, though I recommend ordering vanilla beans online - you can get 10 for the price of 2 at the store. Just do a little research and read reviews first. Use Grade A when you use the seeds in a recipe, Grade B for making extracts. Also, I came across vanilla bean powder a few years ago when I did the Whole30. I use it in a pinch when something calls for vanilla beans and I don't have any on hand. It is less flavorful since it is the whole bean ground into a powder, not just the seeds.

** To make vanilla sugar, slice vanilla beans lengthwise and scrape out the seeds for later use. Add the empty pods to an airtight container with sugar for at least two days (or an indefinite period of time). If you're making these cookies right now and don't have a few days, regular sugar works just fine. This last time I baked these cookies, I forgot about the vanilla sugar. Guess what? They were still delicious.

***When baking with gluten-free all-purpose flour, I prefer to use Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 Baking Flour. I get much better results with that than King Arthur's GF flour or any others I have tried.

Source: Everyday Annie