These buttermilk Amish cookies are soft, dreamy, flecked with vanilla bean seeds, and covered in a sweet, creamy, decadent cherry juice and vanilla-infused icing. To create charmingly adorable and irresistible cakey sundae cookies no one can resist, simply sprinkle on a few sprinkles and top with half a maraschino cherry.
These soft-as-a-cloud buttermilk vanilla cookies were recently responsible for pointing out quite a few things to me. First, that leftover buttermilk does indeed have a use other than making pancakes. Y’all, I am so freaking tired of pouring buttermilk down the drain because it has expired. No longer. From now on, I’m using it to make cookies. Second, Target sells what I believe to be the best-tasting maraschino cherries I have ever tasted, and this is coming from someone who isn’t all that into maraschino cherries. So, if you get the chance, pick up a jar and start snacking. They’re pretty dang good. And last, but certainly not least, I really need to buy a jar or two of sprinkles. Normal sprinkles. Rainbow sprinkles. Sprinkles that don’t come packaged with edible glitter, metallic balls, or funky shapes thrown into the mix. Now, none of these listed things may seem all that important to you, however, these are the things that tend to keep me awake at night. So, expect to see more buttermilk cookie recipes in the near future. Possibly even a few recipes with rainbow sprinkles and maraschino cherries mixed in for good measure.
Ingredients:
Cookies:
- 1 Cup Granulated Sugar
- 1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter, Softened
- 1 Egg
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- Seeds from 1 Vanilla Bean
- 3/4 Cup Buttermilk
- 2 1/2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1/2 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
Decoration:
- 1 1/2 Cups Powdered Sugar
- 3 Tablespoons Heavy Whipping Cream
- 3 Tablespoons Maraschino Cherry Juice
- 2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- Sprinkles
- Maraschino Cherries, Cut in Half & Patted Dry with Paper Towels
Directions:
Cookies:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream the sugar and butter together for 2 minutes on medium speed.
- Add the egg, vanilla extract, and vanilla bean seeds; mix for 30 seconds on medium speed.
- Add the buttermilk; mix for 30 seconds on medium speed.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Add half of the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix on low speed until just incorporated. Repeat with the remaining flour.
- Allow the batter to rest for 5 minutes.
- Use a cookie scoop to scoop 12 cookies onto a Silpat or parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until puffed and cooked through. Repeat with the remaining dough.
- Allow the cookies to rest for 5 minutes before removing them to a baking rack to cool completely before decorating.
Decoration:
- In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, heavy whipping cream, cherry juice, and vanilla until smooth.
- Place a small spoonful of the icing on top of each cookie. Top with sprinkles, followed by a maraschino cherry half, cut side down.
- Allow the cookies to rest for approximately 2 hours before packaging them in a single layer in an airtight container or on a cookie sheet covered tightly with foil.
Suggestions:
- The vanilla bean seeds add so much flavor to these cookies, so I don’t suggest leaving them out. To remove the seeds from the vanilla bean, use a sharp knife to cut a slit down the vanilla bean lengthwise. Then, use the flat side of the knife to scrape out all of the seeds.
- When you are scooping out the cookies, try not to over-stir or mix the cookie dough. If you work the dough too much it will lose volume and your cookies will not be as puffy.
- The icing on these cookies will not become completely firm; it will be soft and creamy. I suggest storing these cookies in one layer instead of stacking them. Store them in an airtight container or on a cookie sheet covered tightly with foil.
- Since the icing on these cookies contains heavy whipping cream, I suggest storing them in a refrigerator if you don’t plan on eating them all within a day or two.
- I used 3/4 of a 12-oz. jar of maraschino cherries for this recipe. You will not use all of the cherry juice or cherries in the jar, so make sure to strain the juice out into a bowl when you strain the cherries. You can then place any unused cherries back into the jar and cover them with the remaining cherry juice.
- Pat the cherries dry with a few paper towels to absorb any excess moisture.
- This recipe will yield approximately 3 dozen cookies.
Improvements:
- Sprinkle a little bit of dried coconut on top of each cookie in lieu of sprinkles.
- Add 1/2 cup of miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips to the cookie dough.
- Top with finely chopped walnuts or pecans.
- CLICK HERE to see a full list of our past cookie recipes.
Ingredients:
- 1 Cup Granulated Sugar
- 1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter, Softened
- 1 Egg
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- Seeds from 1 Vanilla Bean
- 3/4 Cup Buttermilk
- 2 1/2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1/2 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1 1/2 Cups Powdered Sugar
- 3 Tablespoons Heavy Whipping Cream
- 3 Tablespoons Maraschino Cherry Juice
- 2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- Sprinkles
- Maraschino Cherries, Cut in Half & Patted Dry with Paper Towels
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream the sugar and butter together for 2 minutes on medium speed.
- Add the egg, vanilla extract, and vanilla bean seeds; mix for 30 seconds on medium speed.
- Add the buttermilk; mix for 30 seconds on medium speed.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Add half of the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix on low speed until just incorporated. Repeat with the remaining flour.
- Allow the batter to rest for 5 minutes.
- Use a cookie scoop to scoop 12 cookies onto a Silpat or parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until puffed and cooked through. Repeat with the remaining dough.
- Allow the cookies to rest for 5 minutes before removing them to a baking rack to cool completely before decorating.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, heavy whipping cream, cherry juice, and vanilla until smooth.
- Place a small spoonful of the icing on top of each cookie. Top with sprinkles, followed by a maraschino cherry half, cut side down.
- Allow the cookies to rest for approximately 2 hours before packaging them in a single layer in an airtight container or on a cookie sheet covered tightly with foil.
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