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.
Is it possible to use amaretto instead of almond extras, or would that affect the dough and outcome?
I don’t recommend it. That minimal amount of amaretto wouldn’t be detected. (And adding more will thin out the dough too much.) Almond extract is much more potent.
Easy pretty and delicious!
I have received so many compliments on these cookies!! Thank you Sally for such a great recipe! This makes batch number 5 since you announced them as the December 2019 challenge. DEEE- LICIOUS!!
My hubby and I decided to do some Christmas Day baking ahead of our road trip and thoroughly enjoyed these on our drive back home. I actually enjoyed them even better the next day. We did struggle with it having the write tip and having never piped before found it quite challenging but all in all, enjoyed them. 🙂
These cookies are so tasty! They were fun to make! I used 1/4 tsp Cinnamon instead of Almond Extract as I didn’t have any. You could see tiny specks of Cinnamon through the cookies. Unfortunately I ran out of time so I didn’t get to dip them in chocolate but they really don’t even need it – they are delicious topped with Sprinkles. They are so pretty! Thank you, Sally!
This was a great recipe for a rookie piper! They were easy to make and the instructions for chilling etc were great. I love using the vanilla/almond combination. Had to use a Wilton 1M nozzle as that’s the biggest one I had. I used your spritz recipe for Christmas cookies this year as well. All of your recipes I’ve made so far have been fantastic – key lime macadamia crust pie, pumpkin swirl cheesecake and the salted caramel sauce. Especially loved the key lime! I’m going to be making your blueberry swirl cheesecake this weekend for a poker party. Can’t wait! Thank you!
These came out yummy. I dipped half in chocolate, and prefer them better that way. Thanks for a different take on a cookie recipe, I’ve never piped cookie dough before.
I made these cookies for a Christmas cookie exchange party and they were a hit! Not only was it fun to learn a new way of baking cookies (I would have never thought to pipe them out of a piping bag to get a nice design), but they were very tasty. They disappeared so fast that I had to make another batch.
I really enjoyed how fun and customizable these cookies were! The recipe was easy to follow, although I did have a little trouble with the cookies not holding their shape. I think it was because in order to get the dough to a pipeable consistency, I had to add more milk than the recipe called for. They were still delicious even if they weren’t picture perfect!
These were so good!! Loved the recipe and it was a fun addition to my Christmas cookie rotation!
The recipe was surprisingly easy to execute once I got all the supplies together. I love the buttery almond-vanilla flavor. I dipped half of the batch is dark chocolate. Both plain and chocolate-dipped cookies were delicious, but I would dip all of the cookies next time.
I chilled the shaped cookies for ~30 minutes before baking. They held the rosette shape well. The only issue I had was the batter split after I added the egg. I thought I recovered the batter, but the cookies held the “split” texture after I baked them off. They were still delicious. I’m guessing I didn’t let the egg reach room temperature.
I made these for family Christmas and we all loved them! I didn’t have the right tip so the shape didn’t hold up great but that didn’t matter. They were simple and tasted great dipped in chocolate! I did some plain ones as well and those were the best dipped in coffee. I am looking forward to trying these again with different extracts in place of almond to change the flavor slightly! Lemon maybe!?
Lemon extract, orange extract, coconut extract, or even maple extract would be incredible!
So easy, and so delicious! This recipe is definitely going into my rotation! They’re fabulous plain, but dipped just kicks it up a notch! They were the first ones to disappear at the family Christmas gatherings. Thank you!
This was my favorite new cookie recipe! I made them twice – for teacher gifts and a holiday party – and I didn’t want to given them away because they were so good. I went with 1T of milk and it worked out well. I dipped some in melted semi- sweet chocolate and used sparkle sugar and they were super festive!
These cookies tasted great! Couldn’t believe how easy they were to make at home:)
I read all the comments and adjusted the recipe so there was no milk, just egg yolks. Chilled for 45 minutes+ and they just spread into flat biscuits. I even chilled the dough mid piping to ensure it was stuff. The only redeeming feature was the taste. They were meant to be professional looking gifts but were just disappointing.
I loved these cookies. They were simple and came together easily, and were a nice break from all of the super rich flavors going on in so many other Christmas goodies.
My family loved these cookies plain and with chocolate! I’ve never piped before, but had great success by following the tips! This will become one of our go to Christmas recipes!
This was a delicious butter cookie recipe! I made it to bring to a family’s Christmas Eve dinner and everyone loved it!
I loved the taste, but both batches I made flattened out quite a bit. The second ones I froze for about 30 minutes and they sill spread. I added the suggested amount of milk. Maybe less milk and chilled for longer? It was such a shame cause they tasted great!
Hi Nicole! Make sure you’re using a piping tip suggested– they work the best with this dough. Do not pipe the cookies too large, either. Using less milk and freezing the shaped cookies for longer is guaranteed to help for next time as well. And for you butter, it should still be cool to the touch – see my post on what room temperature butter really means!
Delicious. Thanks Sally
I love this recipe! Delicious flavor and texture. I chilled the shaped cookies for 30 minutes and they flattened quite a bit. The next batch I chilled over night and they did better but still not as “shapely” as Sally’s. Next time I may try to freeze the shaped cookies before baking. The sprinkles look beautiful and the dipped chocolate is fabulous!
I just tried them out. They are soo good. I actually rolled the cookies into balls then put them in a container of sprinkles and shook the container until the cookie was covered in sprinkles before I baked them. They remind me of cookies you would get from a diner. Thank you for sharing your recipe!
I’ve always loved the classic Danish cookies in the blue tin but these are even better! They were easier to make than I thought they would be, definitely making these again
Absolutely wonderful recipe! Cookies turned out flavorful and with the perfect bite to them, a crisp with soft melt-in-your-mouth middle. This is my first time making butter cookies and it was a very simple easy to follow recipe. I ended up using the 1M piping tip and it was a bit difficult to squeeze out, so i’d definitely say using a larger tip would be a good idea. Going to be using this recipe again soon!
Definite keeper. So easy.
These cookies are so yummy and pretty! I asked my husband if he liked them and he said, “I need to try some more!”
I should’ve added the almond extract but still delicious with extra vanilla. Next time will have to do that. Thanks for sharing your insight and helpful notes for a successful recipe!
I could not believe how much these taste like the ones from the tin! Perfect recipe! Must get myself a bigger tip though—the Wilton 1M was a bit challenging.
Butter cookies were my dad’s favorite so making these were more to me than just the looks or the taste. The way they made me feel while I made them, and the memories they brought back were everything to me. Thank you Sally for giving me just a little more than just a recipe this time. ❤
I loved making this recipe!! I thought I had a big enough piping tip, but turned out I had I think a tip below what was required. They were still very pretty coming out of the oven even though they spread a bit. I felt I made them a touch thin, but I think it can be remedied with a bigger pipping tip! No worries, I’ll make this recipe again!!
Love this recipe! I think this is one of my favorite cookie recipes to pipe! I find piping the cookies the most satisfying and relaxing experience! My two year old daughter loved watching!