Sweet Tooth Friday: Nonna Katherine's Wafer Cookies

There are some recipes that are so special, preserving them, is simply mandatory.  When I saw an old friend of mine Lauren posting these little cookies on Facebook last year, I knew I needed to get the back-story. 

Lauren’s grandmother Katherine made these delicious cookies for her entire adult life.  They were not only the family favorite, her friends and neighbors loved them too.  So much that she would have to ration them on the counter.  She would scurry back and forth to her bedroom, where she hid them, to refill the dish.  Otherwise, not everyone would get his fair share.

As Lauren lovingly recalls, Katherine was the quintessential Italian American Nonna.  As a young bride, she ran a bakery with her husband and lived above the shop.  Once the kids began to come (FIVE!) she gave up the baker’s life to be home with her brood.  However, baking was her passion so she continued to bake every day for her loved ones.  Her confections were well known and there was always someone stopping by to see what she had made.

Lauren makes these cookies every Christmas because they remind her of her grandmother.  She knows they will never be as perfect as Nonna Katherine’s but by making them, she gets to spend a little time in the kitchen with her grandmother and what could be better than that?
 

Katherine Toscano's Wafer Cookies

Makes

Serves
Prep time :        Total time: 

1 cup butter
1/3 cup heavy cream
2 cups flour
Granulated sugar for dusting
1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup confectionary sugar
1 tsp vanilla

  1. Mix the first 3 ingredients & chill for at least one hour.  Best to mix the ingredients with your hands and chill overnight.
  2. Take 1/4 of the dough (leaving the rest in the frig) roll very thin & cut with a small round cutter (about 2 inches round) then lightly dip in sugar, both sides. 
  3. Prick each cookie with the tip of a fork. 
  4. Bake at 350 for 7-10 minutes on ungreased baking sheet. Watch them closely as they burn easily.
  5. Cool completely & fill with the filling. 
  6. To make the filling, mix softened butter, confectionary sugar and vanilla with a beater. 

Buon Appetito!

Wafer Cookies, Step by Step

Anna Gass