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Overhead view of a butter cookies on a oval shaped serving dish.
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Butter Cookies Recipe

This recipe for Butter Cookies uses basic pantry staples to create a nostalgic, buttery, and melt-in-your-mouth-treat. A holiday classic!
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Chill Time10 minutes
Total Time45 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Danish
Keyword: butter cookies, butter cookies recipe
Servings: 36 cookies

Equipment

Ingredients

  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 & 1/4 cups unsalted butter , room temperature (10 ounces)
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 & 1/2 cups flour , divided
  • 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons whole milk
  • 1/4 cup sanding sugar or additional granulated sugar , optional topping

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350. Combine 1 cup sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1 & 1/4 cups (10 ounces) of room temperature butter in a mixing bowl and cream together with a hand mixer on medium-low speed.
    Creamed butter and sugar in a glass mixing bowl.
  • In a separate bowl, beat 3 egg yolks and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract together.
    Eggs and vanilla mixed together in a pot with a whisk.
  • Add vanilla egg mixture to creamed sugar and butter and mix until combined.
    Butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla mixed together in a glass mixing bowl.
  • Add 2 & 1/2 cups flour (a 1/4 cup at a time) to the wet mixture until a sticky, thick dough forms.
    Butter cookie dough with flour added in a glass mixing bowl.
  • Then, add 1/4 cup of milk and mix on medium-low speed until combined.
    Milk added to wet ingredients for butter cookies in a glass mixing bowl
  • Add a teaspoon at a time of additional milk until your dough mixture is the consistency of Play-Doh. (I used 2 tablespoons of additional milk total.)
    Butter cookie dough in a glass mixing bowl.
  • Line your cookie sheets with parchment paper and test your cookie dough. Test your cookie dough consistency by adding only 1/4 cup of dough to your piping bag at first. If it’s still too thick to pipe, put the dough back in the bowl and add another teaspoon of milk, mix, and try again.
    Butter cookie dough in a piping bag.
  • Chill the piped/shaped cookies for 5-10 minutes in the refrigerator before baking to ensure they hold their shape.
    Swirls of butter cookie dough on a parchment lined baking sheet.
  • Bake the chilled cookies for 15 minutes or until the edges are just beginning to turn golden. This is a dense cookie, so I don’t recommend underbaking or going for the soft center you’d want with a chewy cookie.
    Freshly baked butter cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet.
  • While your cookies are fresh out of the oven, sprinkle 1/4 cup sanding sugar or additional granulated sugar on top to give it a sparkly, festive look and added texture.

Video

Notes

*If your cookie dough is too thick, you'll be unable to pipe it. You'll need to add more milk. The amount in this recipe worked perfectly for me, but you may want to have some extra on hand. If your piping tip is less than ½ inch, you may not be able to pipe it, so hit the store and grab an appropriate piping tip before you start baking!
If you're not going for the textured piping bag look, just use less milk.

Nutrition

Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 121kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 33mg | Sodium: 35mg | Potassium: 17mg | Fiber: 0.2g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 222IU | Calcium: 8mg | Iron: 0.4mg