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You can easily make butter cookies at home with just a few common ingredients. They taste heavenly crumbly, tender and delicious. Unlike those from the supermarket, they don’t contain too much sugar or additives. You can find a detailed butter cookies recipe with the exact quantities and step-by-step instructions below.
Homemade butter cookies instead of store-bought
Homemade butter cookies, just like the palmier cookies or the egg biscuits, taste much better than those from the supermarket. They contain less sugar and you can adjust the amount to your taste. You also know which ingredients you are using for the recipe and can avoid unwanted additives.
It is also quite easy to make butter cookies. The recipe only requires a few common ingredients that you probably already have at home.
Prepare the ingredients and dough
Butter
You need room warm butter for the butter cookie dough. However, it must not be too soft. It is best to cut cold butter into small pieces and leave it at room temperature for no longer than 30 minutes before using.
Powdered sugar
I have used powdered sugar in the recipe so that it dissolves quickly when beating. Alternatively, you can use fine sugar and then beat the butter mixture a little longer if necessary.
You can adjust the amount of powdered sugar to taste. With the amount specified in the recipe, the butter cookies taste moderately sweet.
Vanilla
Instead of ground vanilla bean, you can use vanilla sugar or vanilla pulp from a vanilla pod. You can also flavor the butter cookies with fresh lemon or orange zest, just like the vegan pryaniki or the Burgenland cookies.
Flour
You may need a little more or less flour than is specified in the recipe. Add it to the butter mixture in portions until you have a very soft dough.
Shortcrust dough without baking powder
The dough for my butter cookies, just like the dough for the Baku Kurabiye and the Suvorov cookies, does not require baking powder. Nevertheless, they are light and tender in taste. They get this consistency by thoroughly beating the butter sugar mixture and then the butter egg mixture.
Knead the dough briefly
After you have added flour to the butter mixture, mix it as quickly as possible and only very briefly to form a barely homogeneous shortcrust dough, similar to the chocolate vanilla cookies or the orange roll cookies. If you knead it for too long, butter will melt from the heat of your hands and the dough will absorb more and more flour. This could make the cookies taste tough and not crumbly.
Chill the dough
Place the finished shortcrust dough in an airtight container in the fridge for at least 40 minutes or 1 hour. Chilling makes it firmer and easier to roll out and shape into cookies.
Butter cookies in any shape
I made my butter cookies rectangular, similar to the speculoos. They are about 6 cm x 4 cm in size. To do this, I rolled out the dough into a large rectangle and then cut it into small cookies with a knife.
Instead, you can give your butter cookies any shape you like. Just make them round, like the crumb cookies or the honey cookies. Or use different cookie cutters, such as Christmas cookie cutters.
Recipes with butter cookies
You can not only snack on homemade butter cookies on their own and serve them with tea, alongside the orange cookies and the coconut cookies. They are perfect for many delicious recipes.
For example, you can use them for the quick no-bake version of the hedgehog cake and the cake “Muraveynik”. They also make delicious the chocolate sausage and the kartoshka made from cookies.
These cookies are
- buttery,
- crumbly,
- tender,
- moderately sweet,
- incredibly tasty,
- much better than store-bought,
- easy to make with common ingredients,
- ideal for snacking between meals or for a tea time.
How to make butter cookies: tips and tricks
- The butter for the shortcrust dough should be room warm, but not too soft. Cut cold butter into small pieces and leave to warm at room temperature for no longer than 30 minutes before processing.
- Beat butter with powdered sugar and then beat the butter mixture with egg thoroughly. This gives the butter cookies a fluffy and tender consistency, even without baking powder.
- The amount of flour specified in the recipe may vary. Add as much flour to the butter mixture until you have a very soft dough that is no longer mushy.
- Do not knead the dough for too long, but only very briefly until it is just homogeneous. The longer you knead it, the softer the butter becomes and the more flour the dough absorbs. This could make the cookies taste dry and not crumbly.
- I used a dough scraper with teeth to draw a dot pattern on the edges of the butter cookies. However, this is not a must and has no effect on the taste.
- Instead of vanilla, you can refine the dough with lemon or orange zest.
- Don’t bake the cookies for too long. They should have a fairly light color after baking.
Did you make the butter cookies at home using this recipe? I look forward to your results, your star rating and your comment below on how they turned out and how they tasted.
Try out these other delicious cookie recipes:
- Glagoliki – recipe for famous Soviet mini cookies
- Lemon crinkle cookies – recipe for sugary temptation
- Anzac Biscuits – Australian oatmeal coconut cookies
Butter cookies
Ingredients
- 150 g butter room warm
- 80 g powdered sugar
- 1 egg
- approx. 300 g flour
- 1 pinch of ground vanilla bean
- 1 pinch of salt
- flour for the work surface
Instructions
- Beat softened butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and salt for approx. 5 minutes until light and creamy.
- Add egg and beat for a further 2 minutes until the mixture is fluffy and homogeneous.
- Add flour in portions and knead briefly to form a very soft, barely homogeneous shortcrust dough.
- Wrap the dough in cling film, flatten it slightly and place it in the fridge for 1 hour.
- Roll out the dough on a floured work surface to a large rectangle approx. 4 - 5 mm thick and cut it into small rectangular cookies (6 cm x 4 cm in my case). Use a dough scraper with teeth to make dots around the edges of each cookie.
- Spread the butter cookies slightly apart on a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake in a preheated oven at 356 °F (180 °C) for approx. 12 minutes.
Notes
- The butter for the shortcrust dough should be room warm, but not too soft. Cut cold butter into small pieces and leave to warm at room temperature for no longer than 30 minutes before processing.
- Beat butter with powdered sugar and then beat the butter mixture with egg thoroughly. This gives the butter cookies a fluffy and tender consistency, even without baking powder.
- The amount of flour specified may vary. Add as much flour to the butter mixture until you have a very soft dough that is no longer mushy.
- Do not knead the dough for too long, but only very briefly until it is just homogeneous. The longer you knead it, the softer the butter becomes and the more flour the dough absorbs. This could make the cookies taste dry and not crumbly.
- I used a dough scraper with teeth to draw a dot pattern on the edges of the butter cookies. However, this is not a must and has no effect on the taste.
- Don't bake the cookies for too long. They should have a fairly light color after baking.
- Take note of the detailed tips and tricks for making the butter cookies at the top of the article.
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