Danish Butter Cookies
Raise your hand if you have memories of that iconic blue tin of butter cookies always making an appearance around Christmas *hand raised*. Well, you’re going to love this recipe! These Danish Butter Cookies taste just like the ones in the Royal Dansk blue tin; this simple recipe makes the best piped butter cookies and will immediately give you all of the warm holiday feels.
Back in September (which seems like a million years ago at this point), I asked readers for holiday recipe requests, and Susan said she would love a recipe for the Danish butter cookies in the blue tin. There was always, always, always that blue tin of assorted butter cookies at my grandma’s during the holidays, and I had totally forgotten about it until she mentioned it.
I immediately put it on my list and started testing some recipes not very long after. I was positively elated when I landed on the perfect combination of butter, sugar, egg, and flour that produced a cookie that tastes exactly like those popular Danish butter cookies!
Ingredients in Danish Butter Cookies
These cookies have a super simple list of ingredients (only six ingredients, to be exact!), it’s all about combining them in the right quantities to give them that ultra-buttery, yet tender and slightly firm texture that we know and love so much. This is all you need:
- Butter, which is arguably the most important ingredient! These are butter cookies, so the butter flavor shines; I recommend using a nice quality butter (my favorite is Kerrygold).
- Sugar to sweeten things up. I experimented with both powdered sugar and granulated sugar, and much preferred the flavor and texture that regular granulated sugar provides. I also sprinkle a little on the top of the unbaked cookies for a little extra crunch.
- Egg to keep the cookies tender and act as a binder. I tried some recipes that did not use an egg, but found them to be too doughy tasting and the texture too crumbly.
- Flour to hold everything together and ensure the cookies keep their shape.
- Vanilla and salt for an extra punch of flavor and balance.
How to Make Danish Butter Cookies
This is an easy butter cookie recipe to mix together; the only extra step is piping the dough into circles, which gives them that characteristic swirl look. Let’s discuss!
Make the Cookie Dough – This dough follows the very familiar mixing steps of creaming together the butter and sugar, then adding the egg, vanilla and salt, then gradually adding the flour. The dough will be quite thick, which the consistency we’re going for.
Pipe the Cookies – This is where the magic happens for these cookies! In order to get that amazing swirl look, the dough MUST be piped. You will need to use a large open-star piping tip (my preferred tip is the Ateco #827, but you can also use the Wilton 1M), and pipe the cookies into 2-inch circles. If you don’t have piping tips, you can simply put the dough into a plastic baggie and snip off the end. It won’t have the same swirl effect, but you’ll get nice circles. Another alternative is using a cookie press to make different shaped cookies out of the dough.
Bake and Cool the Cookies – Before I put the cookies into the oven, I give them a little extra sprinkle of sugar for a bit of crunch that I love. You only want to bake the cookies until they are barely light brown, so as not to make them crisp; you want them to be nice and tender. Finally, allow the cookies to cool completely before you eat them; the cookies will continue to set as they cool, so it’s an important piece of achieving that wonderfully tender consistency!
Danish Butter Cookies Recipe Notes
A quick recap of all the important tidbits to making the best Danish butter cookies in your own kitchen!
- Use good-quality butter (my favorite is Kerrygold).
- You can substitute an equal amount of vanilla bean paste for the vanilla extract to give the cookies little flecks of vanilla.
- My preferred piping tip for these cookies is the Ateco #827, but you can also use the Wilton 1M.
- You can also use a cookie press to make different shaped cookies out the dough.
- Allow the cookies to cool completely before eating or storing them.
- The cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week, or frozen for up to 3 months.
I LOVE receiving recipe requests from readers because they often spark a forgotten memory and allow me to recreate something that I otherwise may never have attempted.
I hope everyone enjoys these wonderfully tender butter cookies this holiday season. Those beautiful buttery swirls will add a little extra pop to your Christmas cookie platters!
If You Like These Danish Butter Cookies, Try These Recipes:
- The Best Snickerdoodle Recipe
- Chocolate Chip Tea Cookies
- Snowball Cookies
- Soft and Chewy Sugar Cookies
- Chocolate-Dipped Shortbread Cookies
One year ago: 2017 Holiday Gift Guide: Cookbooks
Four years ago: Turtle Candies
Five years ago: Panettone (Italian Christmas Bread)
Six years ago: Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
Danish Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- Âź teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons (1.5 teaspoons) vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 2 cups (284 g) all-purpose flour
- Granulated sugar, for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheeting with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until combined and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the salt, vanilla and egg, and beat until combined, about 1 minutes. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the flour until mostly combined. Give a final few stirs with a rubber spatula to ensure the flour is totally incorporated (the dough will be thick).
- Transfer the dough to a decorating bag fitted with a large open star tip. Pipe the dough into 2-inch circles on the parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Sprinkle with sugar.
- Bake, one pan at a time, until light golden brown, 15 to 17 minutes. Allow to cool completely before storing or serving.
Notes
- Use good-quality butter (my favorite is Kerrygold).
- You can substitute an equal amount of vanilla bean paste for the vanilla extract to give the cookies little flecks of vanilla.
- My preferred piping tip for these cookies is the Ateco #827, but you can also use the Wilton 1M.
- You can also use a cookie press to portion out the dough.
- Allow the cookies to cool completely before eating or storing them.
- The cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week, or frozen for up to 3 months.
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
[photos by Ari of Well Seasoned]
Just finished making these. I didn’t have a piping bag so I just rolled they out into little balls and flattened them, worked great. I think these taste better than the ones in the tin.
Could I possibly substitute the Vanilla with Almond Extract??? Or would it taste off
I personally don’t care for the flavor of almond extract in cookies, but I know many people do! I would start with doing a mix of the two and see what you think and then adjust from there. Enjoy!
The cookies were not buttery and sweet enough. Also they were very hard to pipe, I had to add 4 tsps of milk.
Thanks for sharing. Please can I substitute margarine for butter in the recipe?
The thing about butter cookies as well as shortbread is the butter is what makes them good. Margarine doesn’t have enough of the correct fat to to achieve the results you want. Margarine also has water in it. In other words, they are called “butter” cookies for a reason.
Use real butter for butter cookies. Also, margarine is horrible for you. I would not use it in anything. I do not even consider it real “food”.
Taste delicious but my batter wasnât thick. Â I should have measured my flour on a scale. Â I did the spoon and level after sifting flour. Â Cookies didnât hold the shape. Â I will make againÂ
I weighed my flour and it was not enough. I will add a tablespoon or two more next time.
I made these and they were delicious but instead of vanilla l used a local spice called Uziza. Its like peppercorns…
I made these, they were delish but I’ve gotta say you must be superwoman to squeeze these out of a piping bag. There was no way that was gonna happen so I used a tsp and flattened them a bit.
How about those little bakery cookies with the sprinkles and some have a little chocolate in betweenÂ
Have tried to make them but a killer to put through a pastry bag and did not taste good. I need a new recipeÂ
Thank you,
So glad everything worked ouat the hospitalÂ
Can I substitute the half a cup of granulated sugar for confectioner sugar?
 This recipe rocks! Thank you for sharing! PointÂ
These look amazing! Can’t wait to try making them!
https://betteroffwickless.blogspot.com/
butter cookie
Michelle, do you spoon and level the flour when you make these or dip and sweep? Can’t wait to try them!
Michelle, do you dip and sweep the flour for these or spoon and level? Â Canât wait to try them!
Why my cookies take almost 1 hour to cook well.please help me. Thanks
I absolutely LOVE all of your recipes!! Every recipe that I try comes out perfect!!! You are definitely my “go-to” recipe site. Please continue posting all of your wonderful recipes!!!
I made these today and I was having problem getting the dough out of the pastry bag . I used Wilson 1m. Did I make the dough to stiff some how.? Puushing it out I broke the plastic pastry bag twice. I want to try this again.. any suggestions.
I made these following your directions exactly, but the dough was so difficult to pipe because it was too firm. Â I had to take it out of my piping bag and add some cream to thin it so that I could pipe it at all. Â Have you experienced that? Â Thanks!
I had that same problem… Mine also didn’t come out pretty, little circles…. tasted delicious though!!!
Made these tonight, while delicious, the dough was so stiff it did not like until I let the bag sit in the preheating oven for 10 minutes. Â
Did not get 36 cookies and mine were crackled at the edges, it seems like there is too much flour in this recipe.Â
Iâll keep trying, they are pretty and delicious!
I made the Danish butter cookies and they tasted amazing. I followed the recipe exactly even drew a 2â circle on parchment paper and piped the dough. However they didnât puff up and there was a large center hole. What did I do wrong. My husband loved them but I was a little disappointed with how they looked. Thank you for your help in advance.
Thank you for sharing the recipe with us, but your recipe results in this ratio for a serving (34g):
14.3 g flour, 13.7 g butter, and 6 g sugar, not counting the egg. The nutrition facts on the tin can suggest this ratio: 13 g flour, 11 g butter, 10 g sugar. While your flour to butter ratio is about the same, your sugar is on the low side.
I made these today. They are delicious, tender, and easy to make. Thank you for another keeper. Your recipes are always dependable and easy to follow.
Danish butter cookies are such a favorite! Excited to try theseđÂ
Something Iâve noticed just in the past few posts is that the text for the ingredients is lacking spaces between the words…I donât know if itâs just me or if this shows up in the same way for other readers.Â
I was wondering about the lack of space as well…
No offense, but…. Same here! There is no space in between some of the words on the ingredient list! Though of course, these are such beautiful cookies!
What a wonderful recipe!! Â I made these delicious cookies yesterday & followed your instructions to the letter. Â Rave reviews from my family. Â Thank you!!!
Wondering…could you put a candied cherry in the center of these before baking? Either way, adding to my list for this year’s cookie tins. Do you think they’d ship okay? I generally ship a few tins of mixed cookies – wouldn’t mind adding these.
Of course you can put in half of a candied cherry. I use gummy bears cut in half, or 1/3″ slices of gummy worm. Then, if cookies get too soft during storage, they can be heated for about 5 sec. per cookie in microwave.
I made these today and they taste just like the Danish Butter Cookies in the blue can. Loved them.
I absolutely love Danish butter cookies and am excited to make my own!
These look amazing. I love butter cookies. Do you think you could do these as bars? If so, how long for bake time? Thank you for the recipe.
I’m not sure about bars, as I didn’t try it that way. If you experiment, let us know how they turn out!
Do you think this recipe could be used with a cookie press?Â
I wonder too!Â
Hi Jan, Yes, you can! :)
Hi Christine, Yes, definitely! I just updated the notes to reflect that :)
Perfect! Thank you! I get tired of fooling with the cookie press sometimes when it doesnât cooperate so piping would give me a frustration free way of finishing off the dough!Â
I made round balls and pressed with a glass with sugar on it…they were soo good. thanks for recipe
You’re welcome, Katie! Love that you already made a batch, and thank you for the tip on making the dough into balls and using a sugared glass. So many options!
Any chance you’ve experimented with Gluten free flours with this recipe? These are my favorite cookies, and I haven’t been able to eat them since being diagnosed with Celiac’s 2 years ago. You’ve given me hope.
Ooooooh….who doesn’t love a good butter cookie. I may be finally get a piping bag lol..I’ve never used one. We have such similar likes in foods…and animals đ thanks for your lovely blog..
Thank you so much for the recipe! Â These are beautiful and I canât wait to try them.Â
These cookies look perfect!