There are some major benefits to having a food blog. One is that I get to experiment with recipes in my own kitchen and shared the results with the world. Another is that I sometimes get free stuff. Yup, I said it. I like free stuff! Any blogger that tells you they don’t enjoy free stuff is probably lying. Who in this life doesn’t enjoy getting things for free once in a while?!? Well in this case, I received a surprise package of vanilla products from Bakto Flavors to review for KosherScoop.com and I was jumping for joy when I started opening the products and smelled that incredibly powerful vanilla scent.  Inside the package was 2 jars of ground vanilla beans, natural vanilla sugar, natural ginger sugar, a few gourmet Madagascar vanilla beans, a bottle of vanilla extract and a bottle of peppermint extract. Heaven! So I wanted to find a way to use all (well, almost all) of these ingredients in one recipe and that’s how these vanilla bean waffle cookies came to life.
Vanilla Bean Chocolate Chip Waffle Cookie
makes 8 sandwich cookies, adapted from passionateaboutbaking.comÂ
1/2 cup margarine, room temperature
1/2 cup vanilla sugar
1 vanilla bean, scraped
pinch of salt
2 eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
Vanilla Filling
¼ cup unsalted margarine, room temperature
¼ cup vegetable shortening
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups confectioner sugar
Vanilla Bean GlazeÂ
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1 Tbsp soy milk
1/4 tsp ground vanilla bean
pinch of salt
Before we get to the recipe, I would like to first discuss how to split and scrape a vanilla bean. If you already know how, just skip down to the next step. Start by laying  out a plump and flexible vanilla bean flat on a cutting board. Use a small sharp knife to make a long cut down the length of the vanilla bean. You can either cutting only halfway through the bean and scrape out the inside with the back of the knife or you can cut the entire bean in half and work with with half a bean at a time. The second option is great when you only need to use half the bean in your recipe.
I began with the cookies, which can be eaten as is or as a sandwich with the vanilla filling and glaze. In my stand mixer, I creamed together the margarine, scraped vanilla bean, salt and sugar at medium speed for three minutes, until light and fluffy.
I added the eggs and continued to beat on medium for another two minutes. Separately, I combined the flour and baking powder then added to the margarine mixture. I added the chocolate chips and stirred to combine. The dough had the consistency of a sticky cookie dough.
I heated my waffle iron to medium-high and spooned 1 teaspoon of batter into each of the four portions of the iron. I closed the top and baked for 2 minutes.
I carefully transferred the waffle cookies, which were very hot and still soft, to a cooling rack to cool and crisp up.
While the waffle cookies cooled, I made the vanilla filling and vanilla bean glaze. For the glaze, it’s as easy as whisking together the confectioners sugar, soy milk, ground vanilla bean and salt. For the vanilla filling, I combined the margarine, vegetable shortening and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl. I gradually added the confectioners sugar until the filling came together. I scooped 1-2 teaspoons of the filling on a cooled crunchy waffle cookie and topped with a second cookie.
I drizzled with the vanilla glaze and left it to set. Okay, so maybe I tried a waffle cookie while the glaze was still wet. Finger licking good!
These cookies are best fresh but you can store them in an airtight container on the counter for up to two days. They will soften up a bit but will still taste so good!
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