Butter cookies
These Danish-style butter cookies are piped from a pastry bag, so they have beautiful swirled ridges and a melt-in-your-mouth crunch full of buttery aroma. The recipe needs only a few familiar ingredients; the secret lies in creaming the butter just right and folding in the flour with a light hand.
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Prep
- 30 min
- Cook
- 16 min
- Total time
- 46 min
- Method
- Oven-baked
Ingredients
Instructions
Step 1
Take 200 g unsalted butter out of the fridge about an hour ahead and bring the eggs to room temperature at the same time. Only properly softened butter can hold air when creamed, and cold eggs will make the butter curdle. The butter is ready when your finger leaves an easy dent but it isn't greasy or melting.
Step 2
Put the butter in a bowl with 90 g powdered sugar and 2 g salt and beat with a mixer on medium speed for about four minutes. This step whips air into the butter, making the cookies light and the piped ridges crisp. The mixture is ready when it turns ivory white and is as fluffy and smooth as whipped cream.
Step 3
Beat 50 g eggs with 4 g vanilla extract, then add them to the butter in three additions, beating until blended before adding more. Adding the eggs gradually lets the butter and eggs emulsify instead of separating. You'll know it's fine when the mixture stays smooth and silky with no curdled, tofu-like specks.
Step 4
Sift 240 g all-purpose flour and 20 g cornstarch together into the bowl, then press and fold with a spatula until just combined. Cornstarch makes the cookies more tender and crumbly, and a light hand keeps them from turning hard. The dough is ready when it's soft and uniform with no white streaks of flour.
Step 5
Fit a piping bag with a large star tip, fill it about halfway with dough and pipe rings about 5 cm across onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing them about 3 cm apart. A half-filled bag makes it easier to squeeze with even pressure. Each cookie is ready when the star ridges are sharp and the start and end of the ring meet neatly.
Step 6
Put the whole sheet of cookies in the fridge for about 15 minutes while you preheat the oven to 170°C. Chilled butter keeps the ridges from melting and spreading in the heat. The cookies are ready when the surface feels firm and isn't sticky to the touch.
Step 7
Bake the cookies on the middle rack at 170°C for about 14 to 17 minutes, rotating the sheet once halfway through. Rotating keeps the cookies in the corners of the oven from browning sooner than the ones in the middle. The cookies are done when the edges and bottoms are light golden brown while the tips of the ridges are still pale.
Step 8
Leave the cookies on the sheet for about five minutes, then use a thin spatula to move them to a rack to cool completely. Straight out of the oven they're still soft and fragile, and they only turn fully crisp once cool. They're ready when one snaps crisply and the inside is evenly dry.
Equipment
- Oven
- Baking sheet
- Parchment paper
- Hand mixer
- Piping bag
- Spatula
- Sieve
- Kitchen scale
- Wire cooling rack
Tips
- If the dough is too stiff to pipe, hold the piping bag in your hands for a moment to soften the butter rather than adding milk to the dough.
- Press a candied cherry or sprinkle pearl sugar in the center of each cookie before baking for decoration.
- Use a heavy-duty piping bag, or two bags one inside the other, so it doesn't burst when you squeeze the stiff dough.
Storage
Once completely cool, store the cookies in a tin or tightly sealed glass jar in a dry place, and they'll stay crisp for about two weeks. If they soften, re-bake them at 150°C for five minutes and let them cool.
Common problems and how to fix them
- The cookies spread and lost their ridges in the oven.
- The butter was too soft or the cookies weren't chilled before baking. Use butter that's just softened and chill the sheet for the full 15 minutes.
- The cookies are hard instead of melt-in-your-mouth crisp.
- The butter wasn't creamed enough or the dough was overmixed. Next time, beat the butter until ivory white and mix in the flour only until just combined.
This recipe is based on the common ratios for this bake and is written entirely in our own words.
