French Vanilla Cookies (Free Gift Tags)

These melt-in-the-mouth French vanilla cookies are rich and buttery and burst with intense vanilla flavor. They are great for your morning tea, make a perfect bite during the day, and are a tasty holiday season gift. What's more? No cookie dough chilling is required!

Baking cookies is easy, but making them look unique and delicious can sometimes be challenging.

Do you love baking homemade cookies (otherwise, why are you here?), but you hate that they hardly come out looking as good as the store-bought ones?

Jump to:

• Vanilla cookie recipe
• Ingredients
• How to make vanilla cookies
• Expert Tips
• Recipe variations
• Storing and freezing
• Cookie gift tags
• Recipe FAQ
• Love cookies? Try these next!
• Recipe card
• Comments

You probably look for an easy and soft cookie recipe with a few basic ingredients to make them an adorable holiday food gift. Right?

This recipe for soft vanilla cookies will change everything. It is one of those vanilla bean recipes that highlight vanilla flavor at a high level.

These are the best vanilla cookies. Their great flavor is beautifully intensified by using real vanilla bean, vanilla sugar, and vanilla bean powder.

Accompany them with a cup of French vanilla coffee or hot chocolate, and you will be in heaven.

Vanilla cookie recipe

• These classic vanilla cookies are full of flavors and tastes. Their sophisticated sweetness has that indulgent essence that is enough to make them a perfect treat at any time of the day.

• They combine European flair, a minimalist look, effortless making, perfect texture, and chewy edges.

• This vanilla cookie recipe is a one-bowl recipe: no need for an electric mixer, stand mixer, or even a hand whisk.

• The cookie dough does not require chilling, saving you time compared to recipes that do require a chill time.

• The dough is extremely forgiving and easy to work with: you can roll and re-roll it out a few times.

• Cut-out cookies are the right and easy choice to make during Christmas and any time of the year.

• Finally, these are the best cookies just sprinkled with sugar and vanilla bean powder mix. Forget a pastry bag filled with royal icing and fancy decorating skills.

Ingredients

For ingredients and detailed instructions, refer to the recipe card below.

Make sure to choose the best quality ingredients to make this recipe.

• Flour: The recipe calls for wheat flour - unbleached all-purpose flour, also known as plain flour, sifted after being measured.

• Baking powder as a leavening agent, the baking powder adds a lightness to cookies.

• Icing sugar: Make it home with a coffee grinder or use store-bought icing sugar.

• Vanilla sugar intensifies the vanilla flavor of cookies.

• Vanilla bean: The real vanilla bean is the star of these cookies. I would not suggest replacing it, but if you have difficulty finding it, substitute it for 3 to 4 drops of pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste.

• Vanilla bean powder is another star of this cookie recipe. Please don't confuse it with vanilla powder. Vanilla bean powder brings the natural flavor, and its tiny specks resemble vanilla seeds on top of cookies. Look for it in a grocery store or purchase on Amazon.

• Eggs: Use a large egg at room temperature to make the cookie dough and one egg yolk for gilding (read about the gilding in the FAQ section).

• Butter: The recipe calls for unsalted butter. Bring the cold butter to the counter 1 to 2 hours before starting. Use high-fat European-style butter for the best results in making vanilla bean butter cookies.

• Milk: Use whole milk to make the egg wash.

• Brown sugar is used to sprinkle the cookies; replace it with white or cane sugar if desired.

How to make vanilla cookies

Step 1. Heat oven to 355°F (180°C). Line cookie sheets (or a baking tray) with parchment paper.

Step 2. To extract the seeds from a vanilla bean, cut it half lengthwise. Run a knife across the inside of the bean as you go and scrape the seed pulp on the edge of the blade.

Step 3. Mix flour with baking powder in a large mixing bowl and sift the flour mixture using a flour sifter.

Step 4. Dig a well in the dry ingredients and place granulated sugar, vanilla sugar, scraped vanilla bean seeds, and the whole egg in the center. Mix with a rubber spatula (photo 1).

Step 5. Add the softened butter cut into pieces, and mix the cookie dough with your hands (photo 2). Shape a ball of dough.

Step 6. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough between two sheets of parchment paper to ¼-5/16" (0.6-0.8 cm) thick.

Step 7. Dip your favorite cookie cutters (for example, a flower cookie cutter) into flour and cut out shapes. Place cookies on the prepared baking sheets. 

Pro tip: Collect the scraps, re-roll the cookie dough, and continue cutting cookies until you have used up all the dough.

Step 8. Combine the egg yolk with milk in a small bowl and whisk with a fork. Brush each cookie with the egg mixture.

Step 9. Sift brown sugar and vanilla bean powder in a separate bowl and sprinkle cookies evenly (photo 3).

Step 10. Bake cookies for 10 minutes. They will remain pale or slightly golden brown. Let the baked cookies cool on the sheets for at least 8-10 minutes (photo 4); then, transfer them to a wire rack.

Expert Tips

1. Use a stand mixer with a paddle attachment to make the cookie dough if desired.
2. Experimenting with different cookie cutters, ensure your cookies are of the same shape and size. It is essential for even baking.
3. Don't discard the empty vanilla bean pod. Instead, add it to a container with granulated sugar, cover it, and store it at room temperature. Enjoy your vanilla-infused sugar in yogurt or tea.

Recipe variations

Here is a classic French vanilla cookie recipe to make cookies without vanilla extract.

But you can play with vanilla bean ingredients by replacing the scraped vanilla seeds with vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste if desired.

Vanilla bean powder is the recipe's star, but if you can't find it, sprinkle the cookies with brown sugar to give them an additional texture.

Can you sandwich these cookies? Yes, absolutely. Make a mascarpone frosting, add some to the cookie, then top it with another cookie to make a sandwich.

Storing and freezing

Store vanilla butter cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days at room temperature.

To freeze the baked cookies, place them in a plastic or glass container and freeze them for three months. Bring the cookies to the counter for about 1 to 2 hours to thaw.

To freeze the cookie dough, cover it with plastic wrap and freeze for up to 2 months. To defrost, bring to room temperature until soft. Roll dough, cut out, and bake as desired.

Cookie gift tags

These easy vanilla cookies made with Christmas cookie cutters become a perfect holiday gift for your family and friends. Just add a bit of festive packaging, and voilà!

Place your cookies in a glass jar tied with ribbon, a metal cookie tin, or a cookie box, or use a treat bag with a plastic window.

Download the "Baked with love" printable tags PDF below, print on 8.5 x 11 kraft cardstock (for a more rustic look), cut, make a hole with a paper punch, and attach a baker's twine to your gifts.

Download The Printable Cookie Gift Tags >>

More FREE printables are part of the Baking Like a Chef Club. 

Recipe FAQ

Love cookies? Try these next!

Also, don't forget to check out other Christmas cookies so you can get inspired to make one or two.

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Recipe card

The nutritional information has been calculated using an online recipe nutrition calculator such as Verywellfit.com and is intended for informational purposes only. These figures should be used as a general guideline and not be construed as a guarantee.