These homemade Danish butter cookies are festive Christmas cookies! Unlike the store-bought version you may be used to, these are soft in the center with irresistible buttery vanilla and almond flavors. Make lovely designs with a large piping tip and dip in chocolate and sprinkles for a festive touch!
Welcome to Sally’s Cookie Palooza, my annual Christmas cookie countdown tradition. Tuck away your pie crust recipe and break out all your cookie baking tools!
These Butter Cookies Are:
- Not your regular butter cookies
- Mega flavorful with almond and vanilla
- Super buttery and soft like snowball cookies
- Crisp on the edges
- Piped with a piping tip like meringue cookies
- Quick—only 30 minutes of chill time
- Extra festive with chocolate, cherries, and/or sprinkles
This butter cookie recipe is adapted from my spritz cookies and sugar cookies, both well-loved recipes on my website. You already know you’re in for something incredible!
Butter Cookies Video Tutorial
Let’s watch and learn how to make butter cookies. You’ll notice that this cookie dough comes together easily with only 8 ingredients. You need a mixer for the dough, plus a piping bag and large tip to pipe the cookie dough.
Aren’t they pretty?
Ingredients in Butter Cookies
This is a 1-bowl cookie recipe! There’s no leavening, so the texture is closer to a shortbread cookie. The dough is like my spritz cookies, but with a little milk to make it pipe-able.
- Butter: 1 cup of butter adds flavor, structure, and buttery goodness in each bite. Make sure it’s properly softened to room temperature before beginning.
- Sugar: Like many cookie recipes including these dreamy shortbread cookies, creamed butter and sugar is the base of today’s dough.
- Vanilla & Almond Extract: Flavor and more flavor! Almond extract is a welcome addition. If you’re not a fan of almond, see my recipe notes below.
- Egg: 1 egg adds structure, stability, and flavor.
- All-Purpose Flour: Add the flour directly to the wet ingredients. No need to mix it up in a separate bowl.
- Salt: By offsetting the sugar, salt adds flavor.
- Milk: I don’t usually add milk to cookies like this, but we need to thin out this cookie dough so it flows through the piping tip. You don’t need much, about 1–2 Tablespoons.
How to Pipe Butter Cookies
As you saw in this video tutorial above, this cookie dough is piped onto the baking sheet. That’s how the butter cookies get their lovely shape.
Line the cookie sheet? Some swear by using a PLAIN cookie sheet, but lining with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat is fine. (I use silicone baking mats for all my cookies and these are no different.) If you don’t line the pan, don’t grease it either.
2 Success Tips:
- Start Small: Place the cookie dough in the piping bag. Start with a little bit of dough so you can determine if it’s creamy enough to pipe. If it’s too thick, it’s impossible to pipe and you’ll have to put the dough back in the bowl and add a little more milk.
- Chill: I find it’s easiest to stick with simple designs like a swirl or even just a line. Whatever design you pipe, I highly recommend chilling the piped cookies on the baking sheet for at least 20–30 minutes before baking. Without this chill time, the cookies will likely lose their piped shape.
Best Piping Tips to Use
The cookie dough is thick, so it’s imperative to use a large piping tip with about a 1/2-inch opening. (That’s big!) The smaller the size, the harder it will be to pipe. I highly recommend an open star piping tip, but I actually use Ateco 849 which is a closed star tip. The opening is so large that it still works wonderfully!
Here are some options:
The popular Wilton 1M works too, but you may need to add more milk to the cookie dough to thin it out since the piping tip is smaller. Remember, the more milk you add, the longer you need to chill the shaped cookies or else they will over-spread in the oven.
Don’t forget your piping bags, too! (Disposable or Reusable)
By the way, these piping tips and a set of bags would be a great holiday gift for any baker. I always include them in my Holiday Baking Gift Guide!
3 Butter Cookie Varieties!
Make 3 varieties from 1 batch. 🙂
- Dip baked cookies into melted chocolate and add sprinkles.
- Stick a maraschino cherry in the center before baking.
- Add sprinkles or coarse sugar before baking.
If you love chocolate, don’t miss these chocolate butter cookies. And for even more flavors of butter cookie dough, you’ll love these mint chocolate checkerboard cookies, pinwheel cookies, and neapolitan cookies.
See Your Homemade Butter Cookies!
Many readers tried this recipe as part of a baking challenge! Feel free to share your recipe photos with us on social media. 🙂
PrintButter Cookies
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 14 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
- Yield: 30 cookies
- Category: Desserts
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Danish
Description
Using just 8 basic ingredients and a large piping tip, make these soft vanilla-almond-flavored butter cookies. There’s no leavening, so the texture is similar to shortbread cookies. I recommend chilling the piped cookies for at least 20–30 minutes before baking.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (16 Tbsp; 226g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 2 and 1/4 cups (281g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1–2 Tablespoons (15–30ml) milk
Optional Toppings
- 4 ounces (113) semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped*
- maraschino cherries
- sprinkles or coarse sugar
Instructions
- Read through the recipe and recipe Notes before beginning. Make room in your refrigerator for a baking sheet so the shaped cookies can chill for 20–30 minutes. Without chilling, the piped cookies will over-spread. If you chill the dough prior to shaping, the dough will be too cold/stiff to pipe.
- Line 2–3 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats, or leave unlined. If unlined, do not grease the pan.
- In a large bowl, using a handheld mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and granulated sugar together on medium-high speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract, and beat on high speed until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl and beat again as needed to combine.
- On low speed, beat in the flour and salt. Turn up to high speed and beat until completely combined. On medium speed, beat in 1.5 Tablespoons of milk. You want a dough that’s creamy and pipe-able (but still thick), so you may need up to 2–2.5 Tablespoons of milk. The more milk you add, the more the cookies will spread, so chilling in step 6 is imperative. I recommend keeping the amount of milk small and using a large enough piping tip, like the ones I suggest in the post above.
- Add your large piping tip to the piping bag. Spoon a little bit of dough into the piping bag and pipe a 1–2-inch swirl or line on the prepared baking sheet. The reason I suggest only a little bit of dough to start is because the dough may still be too thick to pipe. If it’s too thick, transfer that dough back to the mixing bowl and add another 1/2 Tablespoon of milk. If the dough is creamy enough to pipe, continue piping the dough in 1–2-inch swirls or lines, 3 inches apart on the baking sheet. See video for a visual if needed. If desired, place a maraschino cherry in the center of the swirl or sprinkle the dough with sprinkles and/or coarse sugar.
- Transfer the baking sheet to the refrigerator and chill the shaped cookies for 20–30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350°F (177°C).
- Bake the chilled cookies for 12–15 minutes or until lightly browned on the sides. The cookies will spread like all cookies do, but not completely lose their shape, especially if you chilled the shaped dough. If the cookies are smaller, they will take closer to 12 minutes. Keep your eye on them. They’re done when the edges lightly brown.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Optional Chocolate: You can melt the chocolate in a double boiler or the microwave. If using the microwave: place the chopped chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. Melt in 20-second increments in the microwave, stirring after each increment until completely melted and smooth. Dip the cookies in chocolate and top with sprinkles, if desired. Allow the chocolate to set completely at room temperature for about 1 hour or in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
- Plain cookies stay fresh in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. Cookies with chocolate or cherries stay fresh in an airtight container at room temperature for 4 days or in the refrigerator for 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: You can chill the shaped cookies on the baking sheet in the refrigerator for up to 2 days before baking. If chilling for longer than 30 minutes, cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Sometimes I pipe all the swirls close together on 1 baking sheet, then refrigerate for up to 2 days. (Since my refrigerator can’t fit 2-3 sheets at once.) After chilling, the shaped dough is cold, so you can use a flat spatula to pick up the cold shaped dough and arrange on 2-3 baking sheets. You can also freeze the un-baked shaped dough for up to 2-3 months. Bake the frozen shaped dough (no need to thaw) for an extra couple minutes. Baked cookies, with or without chocolate/cherries/sprinkles, freeze well for up to 3 months.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Piping Bag (Reusable or Disposable) | Large Piping Tip (such as Ateco 849 (pictured), Wilton 8B, Ateco 826, or Ateco 827) | Cooling Rack | Double Boiler (optional for melting chocolate)
- Almond Extract: Almond extract adds such a wonderful flavor and I don’t recommend skipping it. If desired, you can leave it out completely or add another 1/2 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract in its place. You can also substitute with 3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract, 1 teaspoon lemon extract, or another flavor extract you enjoy. (Some are more potent than others.) Adding 1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon is delicious too!
- No Piping Tip & Using a Cookie Press: This recipe is similar to my spritz cookies where I use a cookie press. If you don’t have a large piping tip and/or you want to use a cookie press, make the spritz cookies (they do not need the milk). If you don’t have a cookie press or large piping tip, snip a 1/2 inch corner off the end of a plastic bag and pipe lines/flat swirls.
- Optional Chocolate: For the best results, use a 4 ounce “baking chocolate” bar found in the baking aisle. I prefer Bakers or Ghirardelli brands. You can use semi-sweet, milk chocolate, or even white chocolate. Candy melts or almond bark work too. Do not use chocolate chips, as they contain stabilizers preventing them from melting into the proper consistency. After you melt it, if the chocolate is too thick for dipping, stir in 1 teaspoon of canola oil to help thin it out.
Sally, this recipe was a great addition to my holiday baking. Your detailed instructions made it seem like you were there every step of the way cheering me on! In preparation for baking these cookies I finally ordered my first Ateco decorating tip, the 849, loved using it. The cookies have a beautiful balanced flavor with the vanilla and almond extracts, and the shortbread like texture made them SO delicious! I can’t wait to share this recipe with a friend who loves the butter cookies out of the tin, she may never buy another tin at Christmas again. Thank you, Sally! Happy Holidays!!!
The cookies were fun to make and tasted wonderful. Gave them as gifts to a seniors group and they loved them!
Every one of your recipes I have made have been great. Thank you for sharing your recipes and tips. Looking forward to try new recipes next year.
Wishing you and your family Happy Hoildays and Happy New Year!
If you’re looking for the perfect Butter cookie your search is over. This tastes just like the ones in the blue tin only without any crazy ingredients or preservatives. These are perfectly tender & buttery with a slight crisp. One of my favorite cookie recipes ever!
Great challenge recipe to end the year.
I think these cookies should be featured next to Monica Geller’s holiday candy, they really are ‘little drops of heaven’. Oh so delicious Sally, thank you!
Buttery cookie deliciousness! Easy to make as well.
These cookies turned out great! They are such a fun and easy alternative to sugar cookies. I made them ahead of time and froze the shaped cookie dough. When it came time to make them, I just took them out of the freezer and put them directly in the oven. I only baked for a few extra minutes, and they turned out just as expected!
I just made these tonight for the first time! It was my first time with butter cookies too! I had a really fun time piping the cookies. My only sadness was when I baked them they pretty much lost their shape!! I chilled them for 25 to 30 minutes, but they still went flat.
Hi Abbey! Thanks for participating this month 🙂 Like all cookie dough does, the cookies spread in the oven since there’s so much butter in the dough. It’s normal! You can see mine spread quite a bit too. A lot of bakers are worried or disappointed but I don’t know why because they all look beautiful and are supposed to spread!
My cookies lost some of their shape in the oven but they still look pretty and festive. I used 1.5 tsp vanilla and no almond extract. I think I’ll use Mexican vanilla for a stronger flavor next time. Thanks Sally!
Delicious flavor but a bit finicky, I think. Made two batches, one with regular ShopRite (store brand) butter, and one with creamy 82% butter fat content butter.
The batch with store brand butter spread a ton and lost most of its shape. Although still delicious and soft!
The second batch with higher % of fat content turned out beautifully and retained its shape.
Both had the same exact grams of ingredients and milk added. Both were baked from frozen.
I would definitely recommend the cookies, but I would advise to use a higher fat content butter.
A little frustrating to get the consistency right but oh so worth it! Thanks for the tip of starting with a small amount to make sure it’s pipe-able. Not overly sweet, perfect almond flavor, and just a little crisp. This recipe has definitely earned a spot in my Christmas cookie rotation!
Oh my goodness!!! I’m making my 3rd batch of these today! They are a new favorite! The texture and flavor are delightful! And dipped in chocolate and covered in Christmas sprinkles as you showed yours makes them look oh-so-beautiful! Thank you for yet another awesome recipe!
These cookies turned out beautifully! The batter smelled wonderful, they were fun to pipe, and they look so professional dipped in chocolate! I make your recipes for nearly every family get-together, and my husband’s family said I should open my own bakery. You make me look good, Sally! Thank you!
Delicious! I couldn’t use the almond extract, but they tasted great with just the vanilla extract. I added cherries, chocolate, and sprinkles to the tops of some and I liked all variations.
I made a double batch of these cookies last night. They really do taste like the Danish cookies in the blue tin, but better! Brings back some nostalgic joys of childhood. My hands were so tired by the end. Mine didn’t spread and held their shape very well. Thanks for another fantastic recipe.
I included these in a large cookie tray for a work party and they were among the first to go! Thanks again for another delicious recipe, Sally!
I’m looking forward to sharing these at a holiday party. These are beautiful and a simple recipe. Perfect to go with a cup of hot chocolate. My hands definitely got a work out with the piping. Well worth it.
Great recipe! It was simple to follow. I love recipes with minimal ingredients as well. The hardest part was piping the cookies and my advice is don’t overload the piping bag! I had to refill mine a couple times. I chilled for a few hours and they lost a bit of their shape in the oven, but the flavor is awesome! They’re delicious and super nostalgic. ❤️
Definitely got my workout in piping these cookies! Based on some other bakers changes, I omitted the milk and used two egg yolks instead of a whole egg and they held their shape wonderfully
My cookies had little texture retained, this is due to smaller tip for piping… resulting all cookies being spread out. My daughter says it is very delicious so, four stars for taste so good
These were so easy and looked awesome! Although I chilled them for 50 minutes as I used 2T of milk, they still lost most of their shape in the oven. I also baked them for 15 minutes, but some were still too soft to dip in the chocolate. Nevertheless, I loved these, and I would definitely use this recipe again!!
I had fun baking these cookies this morning with my two year old. She obviously was on board when cookies and sprinkles were in the same sentence. These cookies looked easy at first, but following your recipe step by step helped alot! I used the largest tip I had, which wasn’t too big so piping them was the hardest part. The outcome is amazing and soooo yummy! Thanks for this challenge!
Delicate and delicious!
I am not a novice baker. Made these this morning for the Baking Challenge. They looked absolutely gorgeous when I piped them out. Having never piped anything, I was proud of myself. I had to order piping bags and the Ateco 849 tip from Amazon. Decorated, chilled for 30 minutes, and into the oven. They flattened out like pancakes, hardly held shape at all. Disappointed in that. I added only the 2 tablespoons of milk. Don’t know why they didn’t hold shape all that well. They taste good, but I won’t be dipping them in candy melts or chocolate, and I won’t send pictures to the Baking Challenge, either. I am glad that others had success with this recipe!
Hi Janet! I’m happy to help. Sorry these cookies spread for you– while spreading is inevitable with all cookies, they shouldn’t completely lose their shape. I wonder if they were simply piped too large. I like to keep the swirls on the smaller side. If you decide to try the recipe again– and I understand you are not a novice baker– you may want to reduce the milk to only 1 Tablespoon. Make sure the butter you are using is cool at room temperature and not overly soft. Bake only 1 sheet at a time and try freezing the piped/shaped cookies for 1 hour, then transferring them to a room temperature baking sheet.
Feel free to email me, too. The picture as well. We can troubleshoot more. sally@sallysbakingaddiction.com
I loved the taste and ease of piping this butter cookie batter!
Haha mine looked like mini turds because I forget to pick the right tip, but hey I went ahead and froze them anyway and baked them last night, They did lose their shape a little but still came out looking nice, I had fun with the chocolate and sprinkles. I will definitely be doing this one again with the correct tip. I have a challenge to conquer! Thanks Sally for your great recipe.
I was a little nervous about making these but they came out good! I used an 8b tip and a 16” Wilton disposable bag and didn’t have any problems piping with 1 Tbsp of milk. The first batch did spread more than I would have liked but the second batch was better (probably because it was in the freezer longer). I liked this challenge because it taught me a new technique for cookies that I wouldn’t have thought of and I really liked the subtle almond flavor from the extract, it just makes things taste more special
This is my first challenge and I thought it looked simple. But… I busted 3 pastry bags trying to pipe the cookies. Kept adding milk a little bit at a time. Finally used a bag, that was not a throw away one, and put just a little bit in and finally got it to go. Chilled them for 30 minutes and they kept their shape! I was very happy how they turned out. And they are yummy!
These were so good! Fun to make and they were light & delicate.
These are beyond delicious and I have to say although I am a seasoned baker and have used a cookie press, I have NEVER piped a cookie. So, thank you for that inspiration. Anyway, the recipe is simple and the cookies are beautiful, but mine are not as beautiful as the ones I have seen posted on your blog. They taste so good, I can’t just eat one. the flavors just melt together in the best and richest way. Addicting. Because they are just for me, I didn’t frost or do anything except use sparkling sugar. Thank you for inspiring me to make something I have never done. I also just successfully made your star bread…..but that is another review. Another first for me though. Thank you. Have a wonderful, safe holiday season.
These cookies were so easy and so delicious! Dipped them in chocolate and some festive sprinkles and they were perfect to give as a gift! Love it!