These cream wafer sandwich cookies are my favorite cookie recipe ever. Ever! Make this delicious Christmas sandwich cookie this holiday season for your next party—or to keep all to yourself.
I’m sharing my absolute favorite cookie—cream wafers. I will use any excuse to make this sandwich cookie, and I will pass up every other cookie if these are available. Sorry, chocolate chip.
It’s two light and flaky cookies sandwiched together with rich and sweet buttercream. These are a must-make Christmas cookie that you’re going to love at much as I do!
I originally shared this recipe with tree-shaped cream wafer cookies. However, when I make them for Christmas, I make a circle cookie with green and red filling.
As you will see throughout this post, there is a mix of tree-shaped cookies and round-shaped cookies. The recipe is exactly the same; I just used a different-shaped cookie cutter.
Why are these cookies so yummy? Well, they are basically sugar and butter with a little flour to hold them together. How bad can that be? Soft, flaky cookies sandwiched together with heavenly buttercream. Sometimes simple is best, and this recipe proves it!
I bake these cookies every year, but as I mentioned, I typically make them round. For a special occasion, or just to have fun, you can get creative with shapes as I did with the trees. I made them fairly small, too, for easy eating, of course. You can pop them whole, right into your mouth.
How do you get such intense colors?
One question I’m often asked is, “how do you get such intense filling color?” It’s all about the food coloring. THIS is the food coloring I used. I love it! Just add until you achieve the saturation of color you desire.
You may be surprised how short this ingredient list is for a sandwich cookie. The cookie alone is only four ingredients!
Sandwich cookie ingredients:
- Butter: Softened butter really comes through these cookies as the main flavor. I like Kerrygold.
- Heavy Cream: With a high-fat content, this makes the cookies extra rich and buttery.
- Flour: Each sandwich cookie ends up with a very flaky consistency, just like pastries.
- Sugar: The sugar in this recipe is only for dusting. Meaning there’s no sugar inside the cookie! Instead, you get the sweet flavor from the buttercream icing.
Filling ingredients:
- Butter: Because you can’t have buttercream without butter!
- Confectioner’s Sugar: Depending on the desired consistency, you can add more or less confectioner’s sugar.
- Vanilla: A hint of vanilla extract for flavor.
- Heavy Cream: A little bit of cream also amps up the richness of the filling as well as the cookie.
- Food Coloring: Color the frosting any way you like! I always go for a classic green and red for the holidays. THIS is my favorite food coloring.
These cream wafer sandwich cookies are my all-time favorite cookie recipe. And I don’t say that lightly! If I were to only eat one cookie for the rest of my life, it would probably be these.
Making this sandwich cookie recipe is simple, but it takes a little time and patience. You can find more detailed instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the end of this post.
Here are some of my top tips for making these sandwich cookies!
1. Chill the dough
Be sure to chill your dough before attempting to roll it out; it makes a huge difference. It can be tempting to skip this step or only let it chill for a few moments, but it helps to make the dough easier to roll, and the cookies will also hold their shape better.
When the dough has time to rest, it also relaxes the gluten. This means your sandwich cookie won’t shrink while baking.
After taking the dough out of the fridge, allow the dough to sit at room temperature for a few minutes to prevent it from cracking when you roll it out.
2. Poke cookies with a fork
Prior to putting the cookies in the oven, poke them a few times with a fork. This will prevent air bubbles and the cookies from puffing up too much due to their high butter content.
3. Use a piping bag
Since these have a somewhat intricate shape, I decided to use a piping bag to add the filling. Normally, when working with round cookies, I use a butter knife, but piping makes the process go faster. Plus, it cuts down on mess.
4. Change up the fillings
Now I like to stick to the original recipe with these cookies (don’t mess with perfection). But if you want to get creative with the fillings, I encourage you to give them a try.
You can substitute the vanilla extract in the icing for a slightly different flavor, such as lemon. Or you can fill the centers with something else entirely. Nutella, a cookie butter, and chocolate are all good additions.
Be sure to avoid any kind of jam since this can make your sandwich cookie soggy.
Cookie perfection. I hope you’ll try these sandwich cookies if you’ve never tasted or made them. They might become your new favorite. I almost feel a little protective over sharing my favorite cookie recipe! I promise you, they’ll be an instant classic in your household.
Ready to make them? Take a peek at the recipe below!
Looking for more Christmas cookie recipes? Try these:
- Whipped Shortbread Cookies
- Christmas Kitchen Sink Cookies
- Italian Sprinkle Christmas Cookies
- Gingerbread Cookie Bars
- Cherry Walnut Snowball Cookies
Love this Christmas cookie and want more?
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Cream Wafer Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter - softened
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar - for dusting
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter - softened
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2-4 tablespoons heavy cream
- Food coloring - optional
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter 3-5 minutes until it’s light and fluffy. With the mixer on low, slowly add the flour and then the cream. Mix until just combined. Cover and refrigerate the dough for at least two hours or overnight.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a 1/8-inch thickness. Cut with a small tree-shaped cookie cutter. (Alternatively, you can use any style of cookie cutter you prefer.)
- Add the sugar to a separate small bowl. Press the cut out trees into the sugar. Then, place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Prick with a toothpick or fork.
- Bake 7-9 minutes, removing the cookies from the oven just before they start to brown. Remove them from the cookie sheet to cool.
- In the meantime, make the filling. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or with a hand mixer), cream the butter and salt until light and fluffy (This will take 3-5 minutes.) With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons of heavy cream, and vanilla. Then add the food coloring. If the filling seems too thick, add more heavy cream until desired consistency is achieved.
- To easily frost the cookies, put the filling in a piping bag. Once the cookies are cool, pipe the filling on the back of one cookie. Top with another cookie and press to secure.
- Pack and store in an airtight container.
Do you use all purpose or self rising flour?
All purpose flour.
xo Michael
I LOVE these cookies! How do you get your circles to come out so perfectly? Mine sometimes get oblong or too thick. What am I doing wrong?
Also, how do you get that deep red coloring in your frosting? Mine is pink!
Sometimes mine come out oblong too. Maybe it’s how the fork is pierced on the top? Also be gentle with them when adding the sugar. If they are too thick, you’re not rolling them out thin enough. If you want a deep red color you just need to use more food coloring. That’s all. I like THIS gel food coloring for the best color.
xo Michael
Found this recipe a while ago, and am making them today. I have leftover pb buttercream and choc ganache from making reeses macarons yesterday. Going to fill w that, and do some w van buttercream as well. Cant wait to try these!
How do you press in the sugar without it losing the shape?
Just lightly. It sticks well.
xo Michael
Can I freeze the wafers? How long?
I wouldn’t freeze these. They are too delicate.
xo Michael
Yes, they can be frozen!!! I’ve made this cookies for years and they freeze beautifully!!!!
For those asking about using gluten free flour: Tried making these with Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten Free Baking Flour, and sadly, it was an epic fail. The dough felt and performed as if it was almost pure butter. Tried to salvage it by pressing out into the pan for a sheet cookie, and after baking, it still had a butter-like texture that was soft and held no shape.
These look so good! I just finished baking 8 double batches of shortbread cookies for friends and family. These look so delicious and a close cousin to my shortbreads. Thanks for sharing!
Made these for the first time last night and OMG were they good. I subbed almond extract for the vanilla in the frosting because my family & I love almond buttercream frosting. This recipe is definitely going to be one I make again and again!
Obsessed! Made a batch and shared with friends, we ate them in minutes! Making 12 dozen for a cookie exchange this weekend, it’ll be a hit for sure!
12 dozen!? You’re my hero!! That’s amazing!!
xo Michael
I”ve Made these cookies for years And they are really good.
I found this recipe last year and have never had better. Just wanted to say thanks again for sharing and I am glad I was able to find you again! I hope you are doing alright through all this.
Mine crumbled and fell apart! Maybe I didn’t cook them long enough?
Oh no! I’m so sorry to hear that. I’m not sure what happened?
xo Michael
Thanks for the great looking recipe! Can’t wait to give it a try…quick question, have you (or any other readers) ever tried making these with gluten free all purpose flour? I have a daughter with celiac and I make most recipes with the substitution, but wasn’t sure about these due to the delicate nature of them. I also don’t want to muck up the recipe-lol
Thanks in advance!
I haven’t personally, but maybe someone else will chime in.
xo Michael
I am trying to do my cookie making this year spread out (over 3 weeks) so it is not so much at once. I am trying to see which ones i can make ahead of time and store. Could these be made and stored for about 3 weeks before eating? Would you suggest freezing? Or could I just make the cookies and store them (freezer vs fridge), then fill right before eating?
Love these and have never seen the recipe posted before! My dad has been making since I was born. We call them pain-in-the-butts (seriously, I’ve never heard of them as cream wafers lol).
When my dad makes them he rolls the dough and then uses a modified round hair brush to get even holes throughout the dough before cutting the shapes – works like a charm!!
The directions don’t say when to add the vanilla? Also, do you use confectionary sugar or granulated to dip the dough in?
You use granulated sugar to dip the dough into. It really doesn’t matter when you add the vanilla. I typically do it with the heavy cream.
xo Michael