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.
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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
- ¼ 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]
Excellent recipe. I made ONE modification. Kjeldsens (my favourites) put “yolk” as an ingredient instead of “egg”, so I subbed 60 g yolk for egg. I’ve made a few batches. They all turned out improved. I made according to your recipe first batch.
My son subbed 1.5 tsp salt by mistake when he tried. The next batch he added 620 g flour instead of 520 g flour for a double batch. He’s no longer trusted to measure. -_-
However. We all love the recipe and will be keeping it.
Thanks For Sharing this amazing recipe. My family loved it. I will be sharing this recipe with my friends. Hope the will like it.
This is a very good buttery cookie. You can’t just eat one. I baked a batch this morning and the aroma in my house was so good. I even pipe them. The texture was super soft to be able to pipe them. Thanks for such a great recipe. I will bake them again and again.
These are good, but to be like the Royal Dansk cookies, you need coconut.
What kind of coconut
does royal dansk put in
Their cookie dough?
If you look on the Royal Dansk tin, I believe the ingredients list coconut oil. I dislike that flavor which is why I was excited to try this recipe. It’s delish!!!!
Found the mix to be too thick to pipe. Ended up spooning it on the baking sheet. Any tips to make it easier next time? Still baking, will let you know about the taste in a bit :)
Reduce the flour. You may have made a mistake. My son’s batch came out like you described — about 10-20 % too much flour. They’ll be more solid and more dense and more filling. We’ve eaten them.
hello i’m 14 and made this it was very simple to make and understand and had one complication (my piping bag burst not the fault of you of course ) but it tasted delicious and fun to make
Really good! I added a little milk like the others and they came out GREAT
This recipe didn’t work for me, the batter was extremely greasy and cookies spread paper thin.
The cookies tasted great will make them again!
But they did not hold there shape! Don’t know what
I did wrong!
Hi. When we baked the cookies, which heat function was used to baked it? Lower heat only? Or upper lower?
They should be baked at 350 degrees F.
I was looking for a new recipe for pressed cookies when I saw this recipe. Delicious! And it worked great with the press. These cookies will definitely be in the Christmas line up going forward.
These cookies are delicious. I found them hard to pipe as well. I’m making a second batch today, I will add a little more milk as other commenters suggest. I made these for Christmas, I used green sugar & sprinkles & they turned out so cute!
I was about to write a scathing review of this recipe because of how truly impossible it proved to pipe. (Yes, I used the Wilton 1m.) I squeezed until my hand muscles burned and the silicone bag tie broke. Then I asked my [martial artist] husband to squeeze. He squeezed and strained and grunted until the bag split down the side, but no cookie dough came through the tip.
I put the dough into the oven the soften and got out another bag. Same process.
THEN I READ THE REVIEW that mentioned ADDING MILK.
I added a 1/6 cup whole milk. My hands still burned as I strained, but now the slowest, jagged little mass of dough began to poke out. I returned the dough to the bowl and added another 1/6 cup milk.
Now we’re talking. Still a total workout to squeeze out–but possible.
With the 1/3 cup milk the cookies brown faster (I cut the bake time to 14 minutes), but they do taste good!
I’m totally mystified why every other reviewer hasn’t had this issue (maybe everyone else is using DUCK eggs? I mean, that would be very Danish…), but I’m happy for the milk-wise reviewer who pointed me in the right direction!
I made these once a few years ago and also had the damndest time piping them! Gonna try adding milk as well!
I recommend creaming the butter longer if it’s that hard to pipe without adding liquid, maybe even with a whisk attachment. The butter being super fluffy (like a super fluffy buttercream) will help offset the amount of flour you’ll be adding. I tend to go for double in size with butter, it will make the batter super soft and easy to pipe. I also recommend folding in the flour, rather than doing that with the hand/standmixer, because overmixing the dough will also make it tougher
I have made these several times. They are great Christmas presents. Everyone loved them!
I love this butter cookie recipe. They are so easy to make and taste better than the ones in the blue tin. Good buttery flavor, very tender cookie. Good as is, or with sprinkles or even dipped in chocolate .
These are so tasty! I was looking for a way to use up some butter on the counter. My arms did get quite the work-out but so worth it after eating a few too many of these! Warmer hands did make the cookies pipe a little easier.
Once again…it’s a hit.
Making these for the first time, and I look like a pro thanks to your videos and tips.
This year I’m doing 12 days of baking to give away (I’ve currently lost 90 lbs but I didn’t lose my love of baking!)
Very nice
I beat the butter and sugar for at least 8-10 minutes before adding egg and vanilla, then gradually flour. Used the largest tip I have for my pastry bag. They piped like a dream. Beautiful tall ridges. Thank you for this recipe!! Can’t wait to dip halfway in chocolate then sugar sprinkles after they’re baked!
These were great but the dough was too thick to pipe with a 1M. Any suggestions to thin it out a little?
milk
THANK YOU.
In Denmark we call these cookies Vaniljekranse. The danish recipe for vaniljekranse uses the same ingredients although we also add almond flour or finely chopped almonds, whole vanilla pods and never sprinkle sugar on top of the cookies ;-) but incorporate it in the dough. The dough can be tough to pipe, so in Denmark we often use a meatgrinder with a star attachment.
https://www.dk-kogebogen.dk/opskrifter/182/vaniljekranse-ca-150-stk
Hi!! I’m definitely going to try these out! Would love to try Ginger bread cookies for Christmas 🎄.
Sorry Michelle got it
Hi how many eggs to be added…it isn’t mentioned below the Ingredients…
It states 1 egg
It was perfect. I’m so happy I’ve found this recipe now. Thank you so so so so much. I absolutely love it.
Yummy taste ! I gained arm muscles from pipping it 😂 it was almost impossible to pipe so I had to add a little bit of warm milk…what did I do wrong?🤔 butter was definitely at room temperature
Made these with the kids! Perfect buttery biscuit. Thanks!
If I don’t have the correct piping tip is it okay to use a different one, such as the Wilton 6B?
Great flavor and a pretty easy recipe until
You get to the piping. I struggled like many others. I ended up using my cookie scoop then sprinkled them with sugar. Sending them to my dad for Father’s Day. I will try again but really would love to be able to pipe them. I eat with my eyes first and the pipes ones look so pretty!
Hey there! This dough was too soft for my cookie cutters or cookie press (I didn’t want to change the texture of the dough) so I rolled them into balls and pressed them with a fork – they were DELICIOUS!!! Buttery and perfect! Thanks for the recipe, I will be using it again!
If you have any tips on making the dough stiffer for a cookie cutter or cookie press, please let me know!