air fresheners.Vanillaroma, the nostalgic scent of the newfound freedom that comes with turning 16 and venturing out into the world in a car twice your age with half the horsepower of an miniature horse. Maybe it started with a screwdriver instead of a key, or didn't have reverse. Maybe it smelled of stale cigarettes, aging vinyl upholstery, spilled Taco Bell or a rotting squirrel carcass (don't ask), but Vanillaroma was always the answer.
The masking musk of the Vanillaroma tree air freshener was so overwhelming that there was an unspoken rule that came with the privilege of car ownership. Never, under any circumstance, was it ok the fully remove the entire wrapper of a Vanillaroma tree immediately. The exposure of a little yellow tree was a delicate process that had to be slowly unveiled, inch by inch over time. Otherwise, someone was bound to OD on the noxiously sweet fumes of imposter vanilla. Every few days, you'd peel back just a ½" of the plastic wrap
, infusing the interior of your old beater with the unnatural, yet comforting fragrance.
For me, the scent of Vanillaroma wafts up memories of riding in cars with boys which may or may not have led to a vanilla scented make out session. One whiff of Vanillaroma and I am instantly transported back to riding shotgun in the beat up, sunny yellow, '79 Corolla that belonged to my high school boyfriend. He drove that thing like some thugged-out Dale Earnhardt, leaned back as far as the drivers seat would recline, bumping Too $hort
while taking the corners of the river road faster than any Corolla was ever intended to go. Swoon. I can still see the pine meadow lined highway whizzing past the Corolla window whenever I catch wind of a Vanillaroma tree
.
These Vanillaroma Cookies are inspired by the original trees that are still as bright and vivid as the scent and color of the original little trees. But, unlike the air fresheners, these Vanillaroma Cookies are laced with the intoxicating aroma of real vanilla beans and pure vanilla extract. The buttery shortbread cookies are cut into that classic pine tree shape, layered with a smooth coat of royal icing in that bright, sunny, Vanillaroma yellow that defined the freedom that came with that first set of car keys and the open road. I hope these Vanillaroma Cookies are astrong scented sentimental memory, just as they do for me. Bake up a batch, crank some Too $hort and "If you ever see me rollin' in my drop top caddy, Throw a peace sign and say hey pimp daddy!"
Use a paring knife to plitting and scrape a whole vanilla bean, this infuses the shortbread cookies with deep vanilla flavor.
and store in the fridge for a couple of hours up to 1 week.
After the dough has chilled, roll it out with a simple rolling pin
.
to make little trees.
lined baking sheets
. 
to punch a hole in the top of each cookie just before baking.
Mix your royal icing and a natural yellow food coloring
, one drop at a time, until the desired yellow color is reached. Photo by @hmimagery
Whisk
up your royal icing until it runs smooth. Photo by @hmimagery.
Use a fine piping tip
and a piping bag
, outline the edges of the cookies and then flood them with icing.
Add a kitchen twine
string to the Vanillaroma Cookies to get the full little trees effect.
Recipe
Vanillaroma Cookies
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 12 cookies
Description
A fresh take on the classic Vanillaroma air freshener. These bright and sunny Vanillaroma Cookies are laced with real vanilla beans baked right into little tree shaped, buttery shortbread cookies.
Ingredients
VANILLAROMA SHORTBREAD COOKIES
- 2 ⅓ cups all purpose flour
- 1 teas fine sea salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter (at room temperature)
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- 1 whole vanilla bean (split & scraped)
- 1 teas pure vanilla extract
ROYAL ICING
- 1 egg white
- 1 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 1 teas pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups powdered sugar (sifted)
- 15-25 drops all natural yellow food coloring
- 6 feet natural kitchen twine
Instructions
VANILLAROMA SHORTBREAD COOKIES
- Whisk together the flour and salt in a mixing bowl.
- Split the vanilla bean down its length using the paring knife. One half at a time, hold the vanilla bean against a cutting board and scrape down the entire length of the vanilla bean with your knife to remove the beans from the pod. Set aside.
- With the paddle attachment of a stand mixer, mix the butter, sugar and vanilla beans together on medium-high speed until super light and fluffy, at least 5 minutes. Be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl down a few times.
- With the mixer on medium-low speed, blend in the vanilla extract.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl.
- Turn the dough out on a clean surface and gather into two dough balls, flatten into disks and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for at least an hour before rolling it out.
- Allow the dough disks to soften for a few minutes on the counter before rolling out. Then roll the dough disks to about ¼" thick.
- Use a 3(ish) inch cookie cutter to cut trees and punch a ¼" hole in the top of each with a straw. Transfer to a lined baking sheet to chill in the fridge or freezer. Gather the scraps and re-roll and cut again until you've used all of the dough. *I like to freeze my cookies so help retain the shape and sharp edges while they bake.
- Once the cookies have properly chilled, preheat the oven to 350°.
- Place cookies on lined baking sheets a least 1-2" apart and bake for 10-12 minutes (depending on the sizes of the cookies) until they just start to turn a golden brown around the edges and feel firm on the top.
- Allow to cool on sheets or transfer to cooling racks before icing.
ROYAL ICING
- In a medium mixing bowl or the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, lightly whisk the egg whites and lemon juice.
- Add 2 cups of the sifted powdered sugar and beat well until smooth and glossy. If the icing seems too thick, add more lemon juice 1 tablespoon at a time. If it's too thin, add more sifted powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time.
- Add the natural yellow food coloring, a few drops at a time until the desired color is reached.
- Before you fill a pastry bag, test icing again with a spoon; for detail work, it should pause slightly before it streams off the tip of a spoon. For covering the whole cookie, you’ll want it slightly thinner, which will cause it to stream off the spoon immediately. * I like to divide the icing into 2 separate bags, ¼ of the icing should be slightly thicker for detail work like lining the edges of the cookies and the remaining ¾ should be a slightly thinner for flooding the icing over the cookie surface.
- Outline the cookies with the thicker icing to create a barrier and prevent the icing from running down the sides of the cookies. Then flood the cookies with the thinner icing right away for a smooth, eggshell finish.
- Allow the icing to set for a few hours. Then loop a 6" strand of cooking twine through the hole punch in the top of each cookie for the full Vanillaroma effect.
Notes
Adapted from Grand Central Bakery Classic Buttery Shorbread and Royal Icing recipe.
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
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