Description
Danish Butter Cookies are classic melt-in-your-mouth treats made with European salted butter, sugar, egg yolks, and a mix of all-purpose and cake flour. These crisp, buttery cookies are piped into pretty shapes, chilled, then baked to a light golden perfection. Perfect for holiday gifting or anytime indulgence!
Ingredients
Scale
Cookie Dough
- 1 cup (227 g) European salted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 teaspoons (10 g) vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon (15 g) whole milk or more to soften
- 2 cups (220 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (50 g) cake flour
For Decoration
- Coarse sugar for decorating
Instructions
- Prepare refrigerator and baking sheets: Make space in your refrigerator for a baking sheet to chill shaped cookies. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats and set aside.
- Cream butter, sugar, and salt: Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth. Slowly add sugar and salt while mixer runs on low, then increase to medium speed until light and fluffy.
- Add egg yolks, vanilla, and milk: Pour in egg yolks, vanilla extract, and milk while mixing on medium speed. Mix until fully combined, scraping down the bowl sides as needed.
- Incorporate dry ingredients: Whisk together all-purpose and cake flour in a separate bowl. Add flour mixture to mixer in two batches on low speed, mixing just until combined without flour streaks. If dough is too stiff to pipe, add another tablespoon of milk.
- Pipe the cookies: Place dough into a large piping bag fitted with a ½-inch open star tip. Pipe 2-inch cookies into shapes like rosettes, pretzels, circles, or squares on prepared baking sheets, spacing them 2 inches apart. Sprinkle with coarse sugar if desired. Chill in refrigerator for 20-30 minutes.
- Preheat oven: Set oven to 350°F and position the rack in the middle.
- Bake cookies: Bake chilled cookies for 15 minutes or until edges are just lightly golden. Allow to cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
Notes
- Use room temperature butter (about 67°F) to ensure easy mixing and smooth batter.
- Use room temperature eggs for even baking; warm cold eggs in slightly warm water for 5 minutes if needed.
- Do not overmix the batter to avoid tough cookies caused by gluten development.
- Keep an eye on cookies during baking as times vary with cookie size and shape.
- You can substitute all-purpose flour entirely (260 g) if cake flour is unavailable, although texture may differ slightly.
- Use a kitchen scale for accurate flour measurement. If unavailable, fluff flour, spoon lightly into measuring cup, and level with a knife.
- If using unsalted butter, add ¼ teaspoon kosher salt to dough.
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.
- Chill shaped cookies up to 2 days before baking; cover if chilling longer than 30 minutes.
- You can freeze unbaked shaped dough for 2-3 months; bake frozen dough directly, adding a few extra minutes to baking time.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 90 kcal
- Sugar: 5 g
- Sodium: 30 mg
- Fat: 6 g
- Saturated Fat: 3.5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 9 g
- Fiber: 0.3 g
- Protein: 1 g
- Cholesterol: 25 mg
