The Spiced Life

Musings & Recipes From My Kitchen

  • Home
  • About Me
  • FAQ
  • Dishes By Region
  • Archive and Index
  • Creative Cookie Exchange
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
You are here: Home / Holiday and Christmas Cookies / Vanilla Polka Dots: Pantry Baking

Vanilla Polka Dots: Pantry Baking

April 5, 2020 By Laura 4 Comments

Sharing is caring!

  • Facebook
  • Yummly
  • Twitter
  • Email
Vanilla Polka Dots

Vanilla Polka Dots are simple and elegant cookies, redolent of vanilla, that are equally at home in holiday tins or being whipped up from your pantry with a substitute sugar on the outside.

Vanilla Polka Dots

Do you like how I slipped in the substitute sugar comment? But it’s true–pandemic cooking and baking is not for the faint of heart when it comes to substitutions. Serve that stew without any cilantro or parsley–it will be just fine, I promise! And likewise, while we are all sitting around waiting for social distancing to end, pick baking recipes that can be made with what you have on hand, where a simple substitution, such as sparkling sugar, sanding sugar, turbinado sugar, heck even sprinkles!, can be used in place of the Swedish pearl sugar that you might not have in your pantry. The pearl sugar adds an elegant and fun twist to a holiday tin cookie, and a particular texture, it is true, but the flavor difference between pearl sugar and all those are forms of sugar will not be enough to make or break the cookie. And if you have kids I bet they prefer the sprinkles anyway. Personally, I think these cookies would make an outstanding Easter treat or just a coffee break pick-me-up to keep yourself sane during this coronavirus mess.

Vanilla Polka Dots

As I mentioned, yes I made these a while ago. People, this pandemic has my brain spinning. I have stopped sleeping (witness: I am typing right now at 3:09 AM), except when I say stopped sleeping, I only mean at night. So then all day I am a zombie who accomplishes nothing. So I continue to not be a great blogger, but hey at least my jaw is now closing and I can chew again! I think I prefer social distancing (outside of fear for others I mean) over not being able to close my jaw from TMJ. That was ridiculous. I got some good news regarding my thyroid cancer–we are on the right track with the medicine and just need to add still more of it. No biggie. So all things considered, life isn’t too bad. We are super super super lucky with John’s job, our roomy house, and our semi-rural location, which means walks outside are completely safe. I did have to learn how to order groceries online though, and I will be glad when that is done!

Vanilla Polka Dots

These cookies seem to be something you either love because you love the shortbread-ish texture and the unadulterated vanilla flavor (me! my brother in law, Jason!) or maybe you find them on the more boring side. Which I cannot understand, but to each their own, even if they are wrong. In fairness, “they” were also probably spoiled by the plethora of choices since the Vanilla Polka Dots were offered alongside all of the other Holiday cookies. Make sure to use good vanilla and good butter if you are baking under ideal circumstances, say for Christmas, but otherwise screw it, use what you have. Homemade is better than nothing and stress baking is real. And these Vanilla Polka Dots keep beautifully in a tin for weeks.

Vanilla Polka Dots

I found these Vanilla Polka Dots in the Holiday 2016 issue of Sift, it just took me a while to get to them (so many cookies and only so many people to eat them all December long!). I followed the recipe exactly, so I am going to send you over to King Arthur for the recipe. In the meantime, I hope to be sooner with my next post and I hope you are all staying safe INSIDE.

Looking for a collage to pin?

Vanilla Polka Dots

Filed Under: cookies, Holiday and Christmas Cookies, pantry cooking Tagged With: butter cookies, cookies, Holiday cookies, holiday tins, pantry baking, vanilla

« Izakaya Pork Tenderloin with Apple Ginger Sauce: Review of The Real Japanese Izakaya Cookbook
Shelled Wheat with Mushrooms and Feta: Cooking from the Pantry »

Comments

  1. Aunt Gina says

    April 5, 2020 at 4:53 pm

    I love vanilla Gonna give these a try. I hate social distancing and everything it has forced me to learn, like Google everything. We’ve already had that discussion. I do not want to shop online. Do they take as much care with choosing my fruits and veggies. 😂 I doubt it. I love you. Glad to hear the thyroid update is good!

    Reply
    • Laura says

      April 5, 2020 at 5:35 pm

      This made me laugh because I felt the exact same about shopping online for groceries. It really stressed me out.

      Reply
  2. Mom says

    April 6, 2020 at 10:18 am

    I stuck some of those Swedish pearls in my chocolate chip cookies. They made them crunchy, not chewy which I happen to like. Anyway, I think these cookies you made are delicious!

    Reply
    • Laura says

      April 6, 2020 at 7:52 pm

      Oh good! I could not remember who all loved them. I knew Jason and I did. And yes Swedish pearl sugar is great fun, just not a necessary requirement while social distancing. 🙂

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Hi! I’m Laura and I am a recovering history major who has re-channeled all of my passion for learning about the history of different countries to learning about their food culture. That doesn’t mean every dish on here is strictly authentic, but it does mean that even my adaptations are not undertaken lightly. My goal is to show you–by doing–that these dishes are possible in your kitchen. Including desserts because I have quite the sweet tooth! Read More…

Twitter Facebook Pinterest Instagram
Enter your email here and never miss a post!

Copyright © 2008–2025 The Spiced Life