I've actually been meaning to figure out a recipe that tastes right to me for gluten-free vanilla wafer cookies, and after a push by my friend Liz, I actually did the experimentation to figure it out!  (Thanks Liz!)  These are nice and vanilla-filled.   If you let these rest a day after baking and cooling, then they really taste so similar to the store-bought ones from my childhood.  And they're easy, too!  Enjoy! 

Gluten-Free Vanilla Wafer Cookies Cooling

Gluten-Free Vanilla Wafer Cookies!

Makes ~24 (1 Tbsp sized cookies)

Preheat oven to 325 F.  Line one or two baking sheets with parchment paper. 

In a bowl, mix together: (It's important to mix the dry ingredients separately in GF baking)

1/4 cup white rice flour

1/4 cup cornstarch or fine-ground corn flour (or arrowroot starch)

1/4 cup potato starch

1/4 cup tapioca starch

1/4 tsp xanthan gum

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

In a mixer, beat until fluffy: 

6 Tbsp butter

1/4 cup white sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

Add and mix until nice and smooth: 

flour mixture, from above

1 egg white

1 Tbsp vanilla extract (OR 2 tsp vanilla extract + 1 tsp vanilla bean paste)

1 1/2 Tbsp milk (add an extra 1/2 - 1 Tbsp if you think your batter is too thick, but I find this amount works well)

Scoop small spoonfuls or use a small, 1 Tbsp sized cookie scoop to scoop batter onto parchment-lined pan.  I prefer to dip a couple fingers in water and gently flatten the top of each scoop.  This helps with even baking. 

Ready to bake!

Fresh from the oven!

Bake your cookies at 325 F for ~15-18 minutes, until nicely golden.  Too pale and they won't be nice and crispy.   Let them rest on the pan for 5-10 minutes before removing to a cooling rack.  Let them fully cool.  Store fully cooled cookies in a tupperware container on the counter.  These are good the day you make them, but we prefer to let them sit a day before eating for a real "vanilla wafer cookie" taste.  Enjoy!  

A couple more pictures:

I found if I was careful, I could fit the entire batch on one pan since they don't spread too much.  Here, you can see half flattened and half left un-flattened.

I prefer the more even baking of the flattened cookies, but the un-flattened work perfectly well, too. 

Gluten Free Vanilla Wafer Cookies by Successfully Gluten Free!