Butter Cookies
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Butter Cookies are a classic favorite holiday cookie but they’re also great all year around! Crisp, buttery cookies with melt-in-your-mouth interiors, these are super simple with just 6 ingredients and no chilling required!
These are one of my favorite Christmas cookies, simpler to make than decorated Sugar Cookies and amazing when dipped in dark chocolate (and decorated with sprinkles!).
Crisp on the Outside, Soft on the Inside, Buttery Butter Cookies
These butter cookies are one of the simplest cookies to ever grace the face of my blog and yet they are one of my all-time favorites. Maybe because they’re so easy?
But they’re not just one of my favorites… my mom helps me with my baking and recipe development (and dishes!) almost every day of the week. She and my little sister leave my house with tons and tons of spare desserts, and often dessert fails, too.
So you would think she might want a break from sugar and flour and butter and even cookies when she goes home, but no. The day we finally nailed this butter cookie recipe (and there days and days of fails beforehand), she went home and made herself (and my siblings) another batch of these cookies.
That’s how good these butter cookies are.
And I know that I mentioned they’re easy, but really, 6 basic ingredients (7 if you want to dip them in chocolate, which you do), no chilling, no frills… I think you’re going to love these.
How to Make Butter Cookies
- Cream together butter and sugar.
- Stir in egg, vanilla extract, and salt.
- Gradually stir in flour until completely combined.
- Place half of the dough into a piping bag fitted with a large tip and pipe in a circular design onto an ungreased cookie sheet (I don’t line my baking sheets with parchment paper).
- Bake until edges are just beginning to turn golden brown.
- Allow to cool, then dip in melted chocolate and decorate with sprinkles.
What is the Difference Between Sugar and Butter Cookies?
The biggest difference between sugar cookies and butter cookies is that sugar cookies are often rolled thin and cut out using cookie cutters. While butter cookies will hold their shape while baking, the dough is much softer and for best results should be piped onto a baking sheet and then baked. Butter cookies (probably unsurprisingly) also contain a higher percentage of butter while sugar cookies have a higher flour to butter/fat ratio. Here is my favorite recipe for sugar cookies (and it’s a good one, just check out all those 5 star ratings!).
Shortbread cookies are another similar cookie, they are more crumbly and tender than butter cookies and bake at a lower temperature.
How Long Do Butter Cookies Last?
Butter cookies will keep for up to 2-3 weeks. Be sure to store them in an airtight container at room temperature.
Tips for Making Butter Cookies
These cookies are simple, but here are a few little tips and tricks to help you on your way!
- Your butter should be softened, but not so soft that it’s melt-y or oily on the outside. I’ll usually set mine outside of the fridge about 45-60 minutes before I begin baking.
- “Regular” butter will work perfectly in this recipe, but I love splurging on European butter for an even better taste! This recipe has so few ingredients that using the best quality really makes a difference!
- Only place about half of your cookie dough in the piping bag at a time. It makes it easier to pipe and less likely that you’ll bust open your piping bag!
- I used the Ateco 827 tip and made these butter cookies into simple swirls. If you make your swirls smaller or larger the cookies will need to bake for less or more time, respectively. Keep an eye on them! Also, if you use a different tip your baking time will vary (and smaller tips will be much harder to squeeze the dough through).
- Dipping your cookies in melted chocolate is optional, but it adds a nice touch. I recommend adding a small bit of shortening to the chocolate to ensure that it’s thin enough so that it dips well and you can still see the details of the cookie. If you use a premium chocolate like Ghirardelli, you can probably get away without adding the shortening, but I’ve found some less expensive chocolate just stays much too thick.
- Placing your butter cookies in the fridge for about 10-15 minutes after dipping in chocolate will expedite the hardening of the chocolate! Don’t leave them in for too long, though, or they will start to dry out.
Enjoy!
More Classic Cookie Recipes:
Let’s bake together! Follow me on my YouTube channel where I’ve already uploaded over 200 recipe videos that you can watch for free! I’ve included a short version of the video in today’s post, but for the full-length Butter Cookie video please see my YouTube channel. 💜
Butter Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups + 2 Tablespoons (265 g) all-purpose flour¹, ("plain flour" in the UK)
For Chocolate (optional)
- 1 cup (170 g) dark chocolate chips
- 1/2 teaspoon vegetable shortening, I use Crisco
- Nonpareil sprinkles, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven 375F (190C)
- In a large bowl (or, preferably, in the bowl of a stand mixer), combine butter and sugar and beat together with an electric mixer until creamy and very well-combined (several minutes on high speed).1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, 3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- Add egg yolk, vanilla extract, and salt and beat well. Pause to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure that all ingredients are well incorporated.1 large egg yolk, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 1/4 teaspoon salt
- With mixer on low speed, gradually add flour until the flour is completely combined. Increase speed to high and continue to stir very well until dough is smooth (several minutes longer, if dough is not mixed enough it will not pipe easily for you). Again, make sure you pause occasionally to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.2 cups + 2 Tablespoons (265 g) all-purpose flour¹
- Fit a large piping bag with Ateco 827 piping tip and portion half of the cookie dough into the bag².
- Pipe cookies into swirl shapes on an unlined, ungreased cookie sheet. Transfer to 375F (190C) preheated oven and bake for 10-12 minutes or until edges of cookies are just beginning to turn golden brown.
- Allow cookies to cool for 10 minutes on cookie sheet before transferring to cooling rack to cool completely.
- Do not pipe cookie dough onto a hot or warm cookie sheet.
- Once cookies have cooled completely, dip in chocolate (if desired).
Chocolate
- Combine chocolate chips and shortening in a small bowl. Heat in the microwave in 20 second increments, stirring well in between, until chocolate is completely melted and smooth.1 cup (170 g) dark chocolate chips, 1/2 teaspoon vegetable shortening
- Dip cookies in chocolate and transfer to a wax paper lined cookie sheet. Decorate with nonpareils or other sprinkles, if desired.Nonpareil sprinkles
- Allow chocolate to harden before enjoying. You can speed up this process by placing the cookies in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes.
Notes
Help! I don't have the right piping tip OR My dough ended up too stiff to pipe
Don't have an Ateco 827? Don't kill your hand trying to use a smaller tip! You can instead drop the cookie dough by rounded 1 1/2 Tablespoon onto the baking sheet and use the tines of a fork to make a criss-cross pattern (like if you were making peanut butter cookies) and bake as directed. As mentioned above, the most likely reason for being unable to pipe the dough is if the flour was over-measured (see notes above), the ingredients weren't combined well enough (especially if the butter and sugar weren't well-creamed), or if you're trying to use a piping tip that is too small. Some people have reported success with adding a splash of milk to the dough (though keep in mind that because you have lowered the ratio of butter to other ingredients the cookies may not be as buttery/flavorful) or you can also try warming the dough in the piping bag between your hands by squeezing it before piping.How to Store
Butter Cookies will keep for up to 2-3 weeks in an airtight container at room temperature.Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
Phenomenal! I don’t have a cookie press, but wanted to make a pretty butter cookie. These are so delicious! The first piping bags I tried kept breaking, but I have another brand, and that one worked fine, so keep in mind it can be the piping bag that’s the problem. My swirls weren’t pretty, but I did little flowers which held their shape beautifully! Thank you for a wonderful recipe!
Hi Sam! I’ve made many of your recipes with great success! I usually bake cakes in that sort of thing, but this Christmas I decided to do cookies. For some reason, though I followed all the directions and measured out the ingredients by weight, and I even chilled the piped cookies prior to baking, they came out completely flat and really brown around the edges. The taste is great! Just how I would hope it would taste. But for some reason, they came out like little pancakes 🙁 Any idea what may have happened? I use a KitchenAid oven thermometer because my oven is notorious for not baking at the right , but the thermometer said the oven wasn’t the correct temperature.
Thank you!
Hi Megan! Sorry for missing this earlier. This is so strange, I don’t think this is an oven temperature issue based on what you described. Honestly, it sounds like one of the wet ingredients was accidentally mismeasured (the butter or sugar would seem most likely). Is this possible? Sometimes if the scale isn’t properly tared this could happen? I honestly can’t think of anything else but would love to help you get the right results!
Thank you for getting back to me! I hadn’t considered that the scale may be the issue; I’ll look into that! Thank you again and Merry Christmas!
Can I use a #828 or #829 size tip? none of my local stores have an Ateco #827
Hi Michele! An 828 will work here. 🙂
I made these last night, I used European Butter by President, i weighted the flour, i piped out the dough, FLAT as pancakes… so i put the second batch in the fridge for 45 mins.. .again FLAT? they taste delicious though.. what are your thoughts i might be doing wrong? im in Ontario Canada so no elevation issues
Hmm was your batter really thin? Was your butter too soft and melty?
These cookies were so delicious. After piping one bag, some cursing, major hand cramps, the bag springing a hole, and rethinking my life choices in general – I put the rest of the dough in my cookie press. So much better! When I make these for my holiday cookies I will 1000% be using my cookie press instead of a piping bag. The flavor of these cookies was amazing – thank you for sharing.
I didn’t find this dough to be pipable…unless you have some kind of super human hand strength. (I measured my flour precisely with a scale, and made sure all ingredients were well combined.) I gave up on trying to pipe it and instead got out a sturdy tablespoon measuring spoon and used that to roll some mini cookies. I ended up with about 44. The cookies are delicious and just taste like the holidays. The ones I half dipped in melted dark chocolate are heaven. These would be wonderful with a cup of hot cocoa.
I’m glad you ultimately enjoyed them, Lisa! They are difficult to pipe, but it can be done. You can see me do it in the video above the recipe. Did you make any substitutions or alterations? Are you using a large tip in your piping bag?
Hello about to make these lovely cookies, so am I able to use a cookie press ? & no chilling is required correct ! Thanks so much.
Hi Kaitlyn! There is no chilling required. If you want to use a cookie press my recommendation is to use my spritz cookies, but I just pipe these using a piping bag. You can watch me do it in the video just above the recipe. 🙂
How do I keep them pretty like they are when piped? I have refrigerated for up to two hours and am still coming out with flat cookies.
Hi Heather! Did you weigh your flour when you added it? If the cookies are flattening too much you may have needed more flour. Does your batter look anything like mine in the video?
Hi Sam, can I put them on parchment paper before baking?
Hi Annie! That should work just fine. It could potentially be a little trickier, but certainly doable. 🙂
Can I also brown the butter the night before I bake them?
I’m not sure how brown butter would work in these. It’s going to change things a bit and I haven’t tried it to say how to do it.
Great recipe!
Hello Sam, Your recipe looks great. However, I do not own a piping machine and when I did never had much success with it. Can I make these as drop cookies and if so how large a scoop should I use. If you can email ASAP as I need to make these on Saturday. Thank you.. Love all your videos and recipes.
Hi Barbara! These should work to make as a drop cookie. I would probably make them kind of the way I make my whipped shortbread cookies with a little criss cross pattern on top. 🙂
These are a winner. I made them by weighing the ingredients instead of measuring. I was worried about trouble with piping so I did add 2 tsp of milk but I don’t even think that was necessary. I have tried so many shortbread, butter, and sugar cookie recipes trying to replicate the shortbread mitten cookie (tulip in the spring) with lemon icing at Panera Bread and this is the closest I’ve come to recreating the taste and texture of that cookie. I may try rolling out the dough and making cutouts at Christmas. Will definitely make these again. Thanks for the recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Jackie! 🙂
I love these butter cookies. The recipe is easy except trying to pipe even with a 1 M tip is so difficult. I found that the dough needs more than a splash of milk to make it doable. so don’t give up until you add enough gradually and the dough will be perfect.
Yummy
Amazingly delicious! Simple recipe, and works perfectly in my OXO Good Grips cookie press, so I finally have a great cookie press recipe. Thanks so much…I love all your recipes💕
How many points are on the Ateco 827 piping tip? I have a Wilton 1M piping tip, but the opening of the tip is slightly curved? Would my tip work with this recipe, or do I need to buy a more open star tip?
Hi Teresa! It could work, but you won’t have quite the same ridges.