23rd September 2019

Danish Butter Cookies

Light, crisp and delicate, my recipe for these classic Danish Butter cookies are absolute melt in your mouth deliciousness. Made using just 4 basic ingredients, this is a super easy bake.

If you like quick and easy bakes, then this is a great recipe for you. Using basic ingredients which you probably have in your kitchen right now makes these cookies the perfect any day treat.

If its your first time making these cookies, the visual guide and tips in the post will be helpful to you. Or else simply skip to the full recipe and video at the end of this post

Ingredients needed

Butter at room temperature. Take the butter out of the refrigerator at least an hour before baking. It should be soft to the touch, but not melted.

Powdered/Icing sugar. This type of sugar is used because it dissolves quickly when mixed with butter. It also is responsible for giving these cookies that amazing light, crisp, melt-in-your-mouth texture.

Vanilla extract

Cake Flour or all-purpose flour

Create the perfect Danish Butter Cookies

NOTE: Visual guide only - full recipe with ingredient amounts and instructions at the end of this post

Although this is a really easy recipe, the following helpful tips will ensure the perfect bake :

Cream the butter and sugar WELL. This means that it should be beaten for at least 5 to 8 minutes.

An electric handheld or stand bowl mixer is helpful to aid in the creaming process.

The creamed butter and sugar should be light in color and fluffy in texture. This will result in lighter cookies as opposed to a dense heavy batch of cookies.

Do not overfill the piping bag with the dough. Rather divide the dough in half, this will make the piping easier to manage.

Avoid overbaking the cookies. Bake until the edges turn a golden brown color.

Tips to prevent spreading:

Refrigerate the piped dough

This prevents the dough from spreading while baking ensuring that the cookies keep their beautiful piped shape.
The sugar in the dough becomes more pronounced as it chills creating a better-flavored bake. It also promotes light texture and golden brown color.

Use a silicone baking mat or parchment paper on your baking sheet.

Don't pipe the cookies directly on a greased pan.

Brushing your baking sheet with butter creates a greasy base, causing the cookies to spread.
A silicone baking mat is really the best because they hold onto the bottom of the piped cookie dough, preventing the cookies from spreading too much. And promote even browning too.

Measure the flour correctly.

These cookies contain a high amount of butter and spread because the butter in the cookie dough melts in the oven.

If there isn’t enough flour to hold that melted butter, the cookies will over-spread. Use a kitchen scale to weigh your flour for best results.

If your cookies are still spreading, add an extra 2 to 3 Tablespoons of flour to the cookie dough.

Bake one batch at a time

Bake one batch at a time on the middle rack of the oven.

Avoid overbaking the cookies. Bake until the edges turn a golden brown color.

Can I press out the dough instead of piping?

Absolutely. If you do not want to go through the process of piping out the dough, then simply roll out small portions of dough and press down using a fork.

Refrigerate the shaped dough for 30 minutes before baking.

Prepare and pipe cookies in advance

The best part of these cookies (besides the yummy taste 🙂 is that it can be prepared and piped in advance.

The piped or shaped dough can be frozen overnight or up to 1 month before baking. The cookies can be baked from frozen, but might just require an extra 5 minutes of baking time.

Making the Danish Butter cookies

Get the butter out of the refrigerator at least an hour before baking. It should be soft to the touch, but not melted.

Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla extract with a handheld or stand mixer for 5 to 8 minutes.

The creamed butter and sugar should be light in color and fluffy in texture.

Use a spatula to scrape the dough of the side of the bowl. Sift the flour, ⅓ cup ( 40g) at a time folding it gently into the creamed butter mixture, until you have used up all the flour.

Transfer the dough to a sheet of plastic wrap and roll it to form a log. Cut a hole in one end of the plastic wrap and place it into a piping bag fitted with a 1M open star piping tip

Pipe the dough onto a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat or parchment/baking paper.

If you feeling that the dough is too stiff or hard to pipe, then just add a tablespoon of warm milk to the dough. This will make the dough softer and easier for you to pipe

Place the baking sheet into the refrigerator for 30 minutes to firm up the piped cookies.

This prevents the dough from spreading while baking ensuring that the cookies keep their beautiful piped shape.

Bake in a preheated oven of 300°F/ 150°C for 15 minutes or until the edges begin to turn a golden color.

Remove from the oven and leave the cookies on the baking sheet to cool for 10 minutes before serving or store in an airtight container.

Equipment

Enjoy ♥

If you like this recipe, be sure to check out my other amazing cookie and slice recipes

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5 from 117 votes