Vanilla Bean Sandwich Cookies, Gluten Free

Instructions

1. 1

   Whisk the dry ingredients

   In a medium bowl, whisk the gluten-free flour blend, xanthan gum, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt until completely uniform. Check your flour bag first: if the blend already lists xanthan gum or guar gum, leave the xanthan out here, because doubling up gives the cookies a gummy chew.

2. 2

   Cream the butter and sugars

   Beat the softened butter with both sugars on medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes, until pale and smooth. You want it creamy but not whipped full of air. Too much air makes the cookies puff and dome, and a sandwich cookie needs flat faces.

3. 3

   Add the egg and vanilla

   Beat in the egg and vanilla extract on medium speed until fully combined, about 30 seconds, then scrape the bowl all the way down to the bottom. Any unmixed butter hiding down there will show up as a greasy streak in the dough.

4. 4

   Mix in the flour and let it rest

   Add the dry ingredients in two additions on low speed, mixing only until the last dry streaks disappear. The dough will look noticeably crumblier and drier than a wheat dough at this stage. Press it together with your hands for 20 to 30 seconds, then cover the bowl and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. This rest lets the rice flour and starches absorb moisture, which is what turns a sandy, cracking dough into one that rolls smoothly.

5. 5

   Roll, then chill

   Divide the dough in half. Roll each half between two sheets of parchment to an even 1/8 inch thick, then slide the parchment-sandwiched slabs onto a baking sheet and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. If a crack opens at the edge as you roll, just press it closed with your fingers and keep going.

6. 6

   Cut the rounds

   Heat the oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with parchment. Peel the top parchment off one slab and cut rounds with a 2-inch cutter, spacing them 1 inch apart on the sheets. Work with one slab at a time and return the other to the fridge, since this dough gets fragile fast as it warms. Gather the scraps, re-roll between parchment, and chill 15 minutes before cutting again. Prick each round twice with a fork for a crisper wafer.

7. 7

   Bake

   Bake one sheet at a time for 11 to 13 minutes, rotating halfway. Gluten-free wafers brown a touch faster at the rim, so look for set edges with light golden color and a dry, matte center rather than overall browning. They will feel soft coming out of the oven and crisp up fully as they cool. Let them sit on the sheet for a full 8 minutes before moving them, because they are delicate while hot.

8. 8

   Make the filling

   Beat the butter alone for 1 minute until smooth, then add the powdered sugar in two additions on low speed. Add the vanilla bean paste, cream, and salt and beat on medium-high for 2 minutes. You want a stiff, pipeable buttercream that holds a peak. If it slumps, beat in a few more tablespoons of powdered sugar.

9. 9

   Fill and sandwich

   Sort the cooled wafers into matched pairs by size. Pipe or spoon about 2 teaspoons of filling onto the flat underside of half the cookies, leaving a 1/4-inch border. Top with the matching wafer and press straight down slowly until the filling just reaches the edge. Use a lighter hand than you would with wheat cookies, as these crack more easily. Let them set for 30 minutes before serving.

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Baker's Tips

• 1.

  Weigh your flour if you can. A heavy-handed cup of flour is the single most common reason rolled cookies turn out dry and crumbly instead of crisp.

• 2.

  Roll between parchment rather than on a floured counter. You keep the dough at an exact thickness, you add no extra flour, and you never have to lift a fragile raw round off the work surface.

• 3.

  Thickness consistency matters more than thinness. Two cookies of different thicknesses bake at different rates, and mismatched wafers make lopsided sandwiches. Rolling guides or 1/8-inch rolling pin rings are worth the small investment.

• 4.

  For chocolate sandwich cookies, swap 1/2 cup (120g) of the flour for 1/2 cup (43g) Dutch-process or black cocoa powder and add 1 extra tablespoon of cream to the filling.

• 5.

  Filled cookies soften over a day or two as moisture migrates from the buttercream into the wafer. If you prefer maximum snap, fill them the day you serve them; if you like the softer, bakery-style texture, fill them a day ahead.

• 6.

  Both the dough slabs and the baked unfilled wafers freeze beautifully, which makes this a genuinely easy recipe to stage across two days.