These butter cookies are made with real butter so they're rich, buttery & irresistible! An easy recipe for danish butter cookies that's ready in 20 minutes!
These rich butter cookies are seriously one of the easiest and tastiest cookies you can make! They're ready in under 20 minutes, require only six ingredients, and there's no need to chill the dough!
Butter cookies are known for their rich, creamy butter taste and elegant shapes made by piping the dough. The texture of these cookies are delicate but shouldn't crumble easily, and should have a nice snap to them when bitten into.
Why this recipe works
A few things make this butter cookie recipe different than the typical cookie.
- The recipe uses cake flour. Yep, cake flour isn't just for cakes, you can add them to cookies, muffins, pancakes, and more!
- The addition of cake flour makes these cookies have a uniform crumb with a more delicate, but still snappy texture. Cake flour has less gluten than regular all purpose flour, which prevents these cookies from getting chewy.
- Next, I recommend using European style butter for best results. That's because it has less water and higher dairy fat when compared to regular butter.
- The higher fat content adds richness to these butter cookies and less water means that less gluten gets activated while mixing the dough.
- Use a piping bag with a pastry tip and coupler to make the elegant shapes. The dough is sticky and needs to be piped to make their signature shapes. I linked the equipment I recommend in the recipe card at the end of this post.
Ingredients You'll Need
- Cake flour - cake flour gives these cookies a delicate texture and uniform crumb. All purpose flour can be substituted.
- Butter - for best results, use European butter with higher dairy fat and less water content. Regular butter can be substituted.
- Sugar
- Egg
- Vanilla extract
- Salt
How to Make Butter Cookies from Scratch
- First, soften the butter at room temperature. Or you can soften it in the microwave for a few seconds at a time. Make sure it doesn't melt but it's just softened.
- Next, cream together the butter, sugar, and salt. Make sure the sugar granules have dissolved completely. Then the egg and vanilla extract and mix to combine.
- Sift in the cake flour and slowly mix together until it's combined, being careful not to over mix the dough.
- Transfer the dough into a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip and fastened with a coupler. Pipe out different shapes onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
Be creative with the shapes you make. You can make circular swirls to resemble rosettes, pipe a straight line, or pipe an 'S' shape.
- Bake at 375 degree F for 10 minutes or until the edges turn a golden brown color.
- Serve the cookies as is or let them cool completely before dipping them into a chocolate ganache.
Expert Tips and Tricks
- Use cake flour for a softer, more uniform crumb. Cake flour has less gluten than all purpose flour, so these cookies come out delicate with a finer texture.
- Don't over mix the dough. They shouldn't be chewy at all, so the less gluten that gets created, the better. Butter cookies should be soft, yet have a subtle crisp when bitten into.
- European butter gives the best results because of its higher dairy fat and lower water content.
Frequently Asked Questions
Butter cookies are different from shortbread cookies and sugar cookies because of the different ratio of butter, sugar, and flour.
Shortbread cookies have the highest ratio of butter to flour ratio which makes them the most crumbly in texture and most brittle when compared to butter cookies and sugar cookies.
In comparison, butter cookies are sturdier and don't break apart as easily compared to shortbread cookies. This makes them perfect for packaging up as gifts! This recipe has a butter to flour ratio of 1 : 2.67. This mean for every 1 unit measurement of butter, there's 2.67 units of flour.
Sugar cookies have the lowest butter to flour ratio which also make them great for packing up as gifts. Sugar cookies are typically rolled flat and used with cookie cutter cut outs to make various shapes. They're great for decorating with icing for the holidays! This recipe for sugar cookies has a butter to flour ratio of 1 : 3.5. This means for every 1 unit measurement of butter, there's 3.5 units of flour.
They taste best up to a week when stored in an airtight container. Wait for them to cool completely before placing them in the container to avoid any trapped humidity.
Danish butter cookies are famous for being packed in metal blue tins. A popular brand is Royal Dansk, which I grew up eating. This recipe definitely reminds me of the ones in the blue tins but they're even better homemade!
I recommend European butter because it has less water and higher dairy fat compared to regular butter. The higher fat content adds richness to these butter cookies and less water means that less gluten gets activated while mixing the dough. This means your cookies will be delicate, yet have a bit of crunch when bitten into.
More dessert recipes to try
- Soft Cut Out Sugar Cookies – Perfect for Decorating
- 5 Minute Chocolate Ganache for Cakes, Glazes, Dips
- Giant Flourless Chocolate Cookies
- Bakery Swiss Roll Cake Recipe
- Chocolate Roll Cake – Swiss Roll
- Custard Bread Pudding with Vanilla Sauce
- Classic Vanilla Sauce Recipe | Bread Pudding Sauce
Recipe
Butter Cookies - Easy 6 Ingredient Recipe!
☑ Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 1 ⅔ cup cake flour - (200g)
- ½ cup white sugar - (100g)
- pinch of salt - (2g)
Wet Ingredients
- 10 Tablespoons unsalted butter - (140g) - ½ cup plus 2 Tablespoons, softened at room temperature
- 1 large egg - (60g)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract - (1g)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. In a large bowl, add the softened butter, sugar, and salt. Cream everything together until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is light yellow and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. You can use a hand mixer on high speed or use a whisk by hand.
- Next, add the egg and vanilla into the bowl and beat it together until it's fully incorporated. About 1 minute.
- Sift in the cake flour in three parts and mix together on medium speed until the flour is fully incorporated. The dough will be thick and sticky. Be careful not to over mix the dough as you want to minimize gluten development.
- Transfer the dough into a piping bag fitted with a large closed star tip. I use Ateco piping tips. I recommend Ateco 846 or Ateco 844. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Pipe rosettes, straight lines, or any other shape you want.
- Bake at 375 degrees F for 10 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown.
- Wait for them to cool completely on a wire rack and then dip them in ganache or add other decorations. Makes about 40 butter cookies.
✎ Recipe Notes
- Storage - wait for the cookies to cool completely then store them in an airtight container. They stay fresh for up to 7 days.
- Use cake flour for a softer, more uniform crumb. Cake flour has less gluten than all purpose flour, so these cookies come out delicate with a finer texture.
- Don't over mix the dough. They shouldn't be chewy at all, so the less gluten that gets created, the better. Butter cookies should be soft, yet have a subtle crisp when bitten into.
- European butter gives the best results because of its higher dairy fat and lower water content.
- Freeze - Let the cookies cool completely and then wrap them in parchment paper in a single layer. Store them in an airtight plastic bag or freezer safe container. They should be good for up to a month.
Nutrition
*Nutritional information is an estimate, calculated using online tools.
Brianna May
Yum!
Mama Maggie's Kitchen
This looks insanely, incredibly good. Sooo yummy!
Christine Kwong
It was truly the BEST butter cookie I ever baked and ate. With tender crumb, yet crisp. I couldn’t stop eating them ! Satisfied my craving for a butter cookie after watching BTS debut their new single ‘Butter’! Thank you so much from Singapore.
Lynne
Hi, i have 250g of butter and i would like to finish using it in one shot. So may i know how much cake flour to add if my butter is 250g? And the rest of the recipe measurements.. Thanks in advance..
Jamie
Hi Lynne! 250g of butter is 1.78 times the amount the recipe calls for so I would just increase the other ingredients by 1.78 times as well. That would give you the following:
356g cake flour
178g sugar
3.56g salt
107g eggs
1.78g vanilla
Hope that helps!
Hansika
This is a really good recipe.i doubled my recipe.those are light,buttery yummy cookies.my kids and husband loved them very much. Thanks for this great recipe.
Jamie
Thank you Hansika! I'm so glad you and your family enjoyed them! My niece loves these butter cookies too and we'll be making them again this weekend. 🙂
Mary
This recipe is so easy - and produces a perfect butter cookie every time. We love them half dipped in chocolate and although they do keep well in a container, they don't last for long around here 🙂 So delicious.
I will be baking with the grandkids over the next few weeks, and these will definitely be part of our rotation.
Sandhya Ramakrishnan
I love the idea of using cake flour for making these delicate butter cookies. The cookies are so flaky and delicious and the texture is just spot on.
Sherry
My mother in law loves butter cookies that are in those metal tins so I made these for her and they came out great! Makes a really nice edible gift! 🙂
Alex
These cookies are absolutely delicious - if you're like me, I suggest making a big batch. Otherwise, when the rest of the family come home... you might not have many left for them to enjoy 😉 Trust me- they're that good!
Jamie
Thanks Alex! I make a double batch so I can give some to my friends too. They're always a favorite! So happy you love these cookies!
Anita
We cannot get enough of these cookies, and they are a must to celebrate Chinese New Year too. 🙂
Jamie
Thanks Anita! Great idea serving these cookies for Chinese New Years!
Annissa
I love that these cookies are made with real butter! There just is no substitute for that true butter goodness. Thanks for the tip about European butter. I had no idea it had a higher fat content than the American product.
Jamie
Thanks Annissa! I'm so glad you found that information helpful. It's so important to use real butter in these butter cookies. Now is not the time to skimp! 🙂
Lili
I had never made cookies like this before, and was a little nervous about using a piping bag.. but it was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be. These tasted amazing - so much so, we have already made a second batch! I am pretty sure I will be baking these weekly 🙂
Mikayla
These cookies were just as you described, buttery with a snap, and they were really easy to make. I've always wanted to try making piped cookies and these were a great place to start, they looked great! Thanks!