(Paleo) Nilla Wafers

April 11, 2014

(Paleo) Nilla Wafers


As you might have noticed, I have an innate desire to take awesome things and figure out how to make them even more awesome.
Do you know what’s awesome (besides me, cauliflower crust, and basically everything else that I’ve previously declared as such)? Banana pudding.
And do you know what you need to make banana pudding? Nilla Wafers.
And do you know how much crap there is those vanilla cookies that have been around for years? Too much — including stuff like partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil (a trans fat, one of the real villains of nutrition.)

(Paleo) Nilla Wafers


But notwithstanding the shady ingredients, Nilla wafers are still pretty cool, so cool somebody even wrote a song about them, here’s the YouTube video “Nilla wafers top hat time, it’s best time in the history of mankind”. BEST.LYRICS.EVER.
Anywayssss...since my craving for banana pudding is non-negotiable + to make banana pudding you need Nilla wafers, I have but one solution: to make Nilla wafers from scratch.
And as me likes me food to be paleo-friendly too, here I present you with my very own Paleo Nilla Wafers.

(Paleo) Nilla Wafers


This recipe is a snap.
One bowl, a couple of ingredients and you’re pretty much good to go.
These almond flour “wafers” are close relative of shortbread, have a nice bite to them, and are not overly sweet (which I enjoy).
They do resemble quite a bit to the original Nilla wafers, but they definitely taste more almondy.
OK, enough talking now.
I need to make me some banana pudding with these wafers (which you’ll hear all about in due time!)
(Paleo) Nilla Wafers
(Paleo) Nilla Wafers                                                                                                Print this recipe!
Adapted from The Roasted Root

Ingredients
 
Makes about 20 wafers

2 egg yolks
¼ cup / 4 tablespoons virgin coconut oil, melted (or olive oil)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups / 6 oz / 170 gr almond flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill)
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
½ cup / 3 oz / 85 gr raw organic honey (or maple syrup)

Directions

In a bowl combine almond flour, coconut oil, egg yolks, vanilla, baking powder, salt and honey.
Mix until a dough comes together. It should be moist and slightly sticky.
Place the dough in a large piece of parchment paper and form into a cylinder (it should be about 9 inches / 22 cm long).
Wrap tightly and place in the freezer for at least 30 minutes or in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
Remove the dough from the freezer/fridge and with a sharp knife cut into ¼-inch rounds.
Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. If the wafers aren't round after slicing, you can reshape them on the baking sheet using your fingertips.
Bake for 12 minutes, until the tops are slightly golden.
Let wafers cool on the baking sheet (without touching) for 15 minutes, then with the help of a spatula place cookies onto a rack and let cool completely.

Nutrition facts

One wafer yields 121 calories, 9 grams of fat, 9 grams of carbs and 3 grams of protein.

25 comments:

  1. I used to love Nilla Wafers but I never bothered to look at the ingredients. Good grief, they're full of junk, from now on I'll be baking them with your recipe. Thanks for sharing!

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    1. I know Corinne, once you take a peek at the ingredient list it does get scary!

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  2. When I saw the title of your post 'Nilla Wafers' I thought that will be perfect for banana pudding (great minds think alike and all)! So, I'll be expecting to see something along those lines soon! I'm soo... excited about these, the texture looks soft, like a combo of cookie and shortbread!

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    1. Great minds think alike Kari, no doubt about that! ;)

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  3. Yum. I am definitely going to share this with my youngest. She loves Nilla wafers, but as you know is GF. She cannot have egg whites nor honey, so yolks and maple syrup will work!!! She loves to bake!!!

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    1. That is so awesome Lauren, let me know how she likes them!

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  4. Love love love the almond flavor so I think I'd enjoy these! They look x1000 times better than the stoprebought crap, and the ingredient list is flawless. You're so good healthifying everything I'm in awe!
    Enjoy your weekend!

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  5. Really like the way these look Mike, can't wait for your banana pudding recipe! Happy eek-end!

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  6. Mike, I think I need you to make me a batch of these cookies. Banana pudding is one of my all-time favorite summer desserts...but I've never made it with homemade Nilla Wafers. This needs to be fixed soon!

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  7. Dude! You know what else you can make with these nilla wafers?!?! Have you ever been to Big Gay Ice Cream in the West or East Village? They have something called the "Bea Arthur" there... soft serve with dulce de leche and nilla wafers. I expect to see "The Iron You" version by next week. Make it happen Alpha. Hahaha, or I'll take some banana pudding :)

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    1. I need to check that place out, sound devilish though...

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  8. These look amazing, so I had to try making them! Unfortunately mine didn't look like yours at all... Mine looked like a pressed wallboard, and were just as dry as one... ;-) Well, I am not giving up, I have to try it again. Here in Norway, the almond flour is fat reduced, with 11% fat, do you think that's the reason? Thank you for sharing your delicious, healthy recipes! :-)

    Best regards Cathrine

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    1. Hey Cathrine,
      I've honestly never heard of reduced-fat almond flour before and I think that's why yours were dry. Why don't you buy some was blanched almonds and ground them yourself in a food processor. I do it all the time and it works perfectly.
      Because seriously. these paleo nilla wafers are anything but dry; quite the opposite, they're super moist.

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    2. Thank you for answering, I'll try that :-)

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  9. Wow. These are sooo impressively good! I've tried many Paleo cookies, and these are my favorite by far! I am also in love with your cauliflower crust white pizza. Thank you!

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  10. Do you think coconut flour would work? My son's daycare is nut-free and I want to send grain free alternative version of the Nilla Wafers they serve, insisting they are "not cookies" >:|

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    1. I'm not sure about using coconut flour. Maybe you could try using half almond and half coconut. I think a little bit of trial-and-error might be needed.
      If you try it, please report back, I'm curious!

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  11. One wafer yields 121 calories, 9 grams of fat, 9 grams of carbs and 3 grams of protein? That does not add up.

    Your recipe hypothetically yields 36 cookies (a 9 inch roll, cut in to 1/4" rounds). That means the entire recipe is 4356 calories, 324 grams of fat, 324 grams of carbs and 108 grams of protein. How is that possible?

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    1. Hey C.C.,

      The recipe yields 20 wafers (it says it right under "Ingredients").
      This means the entire recipe is 2416 calories, 180 grams of fat, 185 grams of carbs, and 53 grams of protein.
      Divided by 20, the result is 121 calories, 9 grams of fat, 9 grams of carbs, and 3 grams of protein per wafer.

      Hope this helps!
      :)

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  12. Do you think I could use Pamela's Bread Mix in place of the almond flour?

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  13. I made these wafers last night as an experiment as to whether I could make them just before Christmas and refresh them on the day. Yes, the mixture was sticky and I was unsure as to whether it would work, but I persevered and the end result was fantastic. They were delicious last night; went a little soft overnight but I refreshed them for a few minutes in the oven today and they were even better than yesterday. They are a 'definite' on my list for serving with a dessert at Christmas.

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  14. The wafers are delicious, but I wonder if I missed something somewhere--they spread out a LOT, so the sheets were just one big cookie that had to be cut after it cooled. We used it with a super basic banana-coconut-chia pudding, crumbling in the cookies trifle-style. The kids I was baking for ate and liked it, though, so it's a win. Thank you!

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  15. could you possible use oat flour instead of Almond

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