Butter Cookie Recipe: How to Make Homemade Butter Cookies
Written by MasterClass
Last updated: Sep 14, 2024 • 2 min read
This easy butter cookie recipe is perfect for the holidays or afternoon tea.
Learn From the Best
What Are Butter Cookies?
Butter cookies, also known as spritz cookies, are Scandinavian-style cookies often served with coffee. These classic Christmas cookies are buttery in flavor and slightly grainy in texture.
Butter Cookies vs. Sugar Cookies vs. Shortbread Cookies: What’s the Difference?
Butter cookies, sugar cookies, and shortbread cookies are all light in color and buttery, but there are a few key differences:
- Eggs: Butter cookies and sugar cookies typically contain eggs, while shortbread cookies can be made with or without eggs. The egg makes the dough more pliable and less crumbly.
- Texture: Sugar cookies have a more moist texture than butter cookies, and shortbread is more crumbly than butter cookies.
- Shapes: Sugar cookies are often cut into shapes using cookie cutters and decorated with icing. You can shape butter cookies with cookie cutters, a cookie press, or make swirling shapes using a piping bag. Shortbread is usually baked in a tin and then sliced post-bake.
3 Tips for Making Butter Cookies
Follow these tips to make delicious butter cookies at home:
- 1. Chill the dough. Let the shaped dough chill in the fridge before baking. This will prevent the butter from melting and seeping out of the cookies before they are fully baked.
- 2. Use high-quality butter. These cookies get most of their flavor from butter, so use the best quality you can find.
- 3. Rotate the cookies. To get perfectly golden brown cookies, set your oven racks in the upper and lower positions and bake two sheets at a time. Halfway through baking, swap the sheets and rotate them from back to front. In most ovens, the back of the oven is hotter than the front, and the top rack is hotter than the bottom. This will ensure uniform cookies.
Simple Butter Cookie Recipe
makes
About 72 cookiesprep time
40 mintotal time
1 hrcook time
20 minIngredients
- 1
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and line three cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- 2
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter on medium-high speed until very light and fluffy, about 1–2 minutes.
- 3
Add the sugar and continue to mix until smooth, scraping down the sides with a rubber spatula as needed.
- 4
Add the egg yolks and vanilla and continue to mix until smooth, scraping down the sides as needed.
- 5
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- 6
Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add flour mixture on low speed until fully incorporated, scraping down the sides as needed.
- 7
Using a rubber spatula, scrape about a third of the batter into a piping bag fitted with a star tip.
- 8
Pipe a dot of cookie dough onto the four corners of the cookie sheets to adhere the parchment to the cookie sheets.
- 9
Pipe small swirls onto the prepared baking sheets, about ½ an inch apart. (Alternatively, use a cookie press or cut the cookies into rectangles.)
- 10
Refrigerate the shaped cookies until firm, at least 20 minutes.
- 11
Bake the cookies until golden brown and crispy, about 9 minutes, rotating the trays halfway through baking.
- 12
Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet until set, about 10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack and let cool to room temperature.
- 13
Repeat with remaining cookies and store in an airtight container.
Become a better chef with the MasterClass Annual Membership. Gain access to exclusive video lessons taught by the world’s best, including Dominique Ansel, Gabriela Cámara, Niki Nakayama, Chef Thomas Keller, Yotam Ottolenghi, Gordon Ramsay, Alice Waters, and more.