Description
Classic Danish Butter Cookies that are light, crisp, and delightfully melt-in-your-mouth. Made with just four simple ingredients, these tender cookies feature a delicate texture and buttery flavor, perfect for any occasion.
Ingredients
Scale
Basic Ingredients
- ½ cup butter (at room temperature)
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup cake flour OR all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Prepare Butter: Remove the butter from the refrigerator at least one hour before baking to soften. It should be soft to the touch but not melted, ensuring easier creaming and better texture in the dough.
- Cream Butter Mixture: Using a handheld or stand mixer, cream together the softened butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract for 5 to 8 minutes. Continue until the mixture is light in color and fluffy in texture to incorporate air and achieve the classic cookie crumb.
- Incorporate Flour: Sift the flour to avoid lumps. Gradually add ⅓ cup of flour at a time, folding gently into the creamed butter mixture with a spatula. Continue until all the flour is fully incorporated and the dough is smooth.
- Shape Dough: Transfer the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and roll it into a log. Cut a small hole at one end of the plastic wrap and place it into a piping bag fitted with a 1M open star piping tip for classic piping shapes.
- Pipe Cookies: Pipe the dough onto a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat or parchment paper. If the dough feels too stiff to pipe smoothly, add a tablespoon of warm milk to soften it before piping.
- Chill Piped Dough: Refrigerate the baking sheet with piped cookies for 30 minutes. This step firms up the dough, preventing spreading and helping the cookies hold their beautiful shape during baking.
- Add Sugar Topping (Optional): Before baking, optionally sprinkle granulated sugar on top of the piped cookies for added sweetness and a slight crunch.
- Bake Cookies: Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C / 148°C fan). Bake the cookies for about 15 minutes or until the edges turn a light golden color, revealing that the cookies are perfectly baked.
- Cool and Store: Remove the baking sheet from the oven and allow the cookies to cool on the sheet for 10 minutes. Once cooled, store the cookies in an airtight container to maintain their crispness.
Notes
- The use of cake flour results in a lighter and more tender cookie, but all-purpose flour works well as a substitute.
- Softened butter is crucial for creaming; avoid melted butter as it changes the dough texture.
- If dough is difficult to pipe, adding warm milk softens it without affecting the flavor.
- Refrigerating the piped dough helps cookies retain their shape and prevents spreading.
- Sprinkling granulated sugar on top before baking adds a pleasant texture contrast and subtle sweetness.
- Store cookies in an airtight container to maintain crispness for several days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 47 kcal
- Sugar: 3 g
- Sodium: 9 mg
- Fat: 1 g
- Saturated Fat: 1 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 0 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 9 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 0.5 g
- Cholesterol: 1 mg
