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]
Dough too thick to pipe with a 809 ateco. They are baking and look like they are frying
Normally, when I bake a batch of cookies, I freeze the dough; this time, I froze the extra cookies.
15 mins in the convection oven at 90ºC, and then an hour or so to cool.
Tasted AS good. I really LOVE these cookies.
These turned out beautifully; were fun to make and delicious! I followed the recipe exactly (using Land O’Lakes butter) and an Ateco 826 tip. No problems with piping. Thanks for a great recipe!
Mixture was way too thick to pipe effectively, going to try with much less flour another day and update.
I think this is the second or third recipe that I have tried. What I loved about this was the fact that it has about 1/3 less sugar (and twice the butter) than my last one.
I might try to dip some of them in chocolate for an additional kick.
These are going on my favorites list, for sure
To much flour!!!!!
If you want a good TASTING cookie THE ONE BELOW 👌 but IF IT JUST A COOKIE FOR SHOW THAN THE ONE ABOVE WILL DO.👌
Quick note stir or side to side much better for a Good Tasting and Good Looking Cookie with some special techniques!!!
Temperature 350 no more than 15mn depending on the size of the cookie
1 cup flour
1 stick butter
1 egg
1Cup sugar
1 teaspoon of flavor
Ewww – Well when you triple the sugar and all but eliminate the flour, you wind up with a gloppy super-sweet mess. TERRIBLE revision and totally over-sweet with no form.
Original cookie recipe is a WINNER!
Wow how rude!
Coming to someone’s website who has spent all this time and energy developing a recipe for you to use for free, then to comment with an alternative one.
That’s like walking into a restaurant with food from somewhere else.
Did you even try the recipe before you left a 2 star review?
Hi I tried this recipe and normally your recipes come out perfect but these cookies I felt were too doughy and not enough sugar. I used the gram measurements. What should I do to make them less doughy and should I add more sugar ? If so how much pls
Just whipped these up….love the taste of the batter…In the oven as I type. I used the Ateco 827 tip. At first I didn’t think anything would come out, but it did and then as I got used to where to apply the pressure for piping (closer to the tip, not at the top), the dough came out easier and easier in nice swirls…almost like wreaths. Next batch will be tighter like rosettes with sugar sprinkles on top. I’ll wait till they are out of the oven and cooled before finishing this comment.
I only baked the first batch for 13 minutes as someone else suggested. Very delicious!. Crispy on the edges, creamy on the inside. They spread/flattened out, however – but still held the design of the tip – and I see that the second batch, although more compact and tighter, have spread as well. I’ll cook those 2 minutes longer and see if the crisp goes all the way through and see which I like best.
Baked for 3 more minutes and that made a huge difference in texture. First one is nice, but the second batch is classic butter cookie. I think the sugar sprinkles added an extra kick of sweetness as well. Overall…great cookie. Would like it more if it didn’t spread/flatten. Maybe it is the egg…??
I’ll make again and recommend!!
I have not made this recipe but I am a professional baker.
It will spread due to egg (and butter) but it’s the only moisture in the recipe that allows it to be piped with ease.
Eliminate the egg/moisture component and it will be too crumbly and un-pipeable.
I made these cookies and I piped half and used a cookie press for the rest. I had no issues piping. I did put them in the fridge before baking. They were perfect and I used generic butter. Going to use the Kerrigold tonight. Have to make again as they are all gone. 1,000 out of 10 for sure!
I have to say this was not a good recipe for me. I guess you need a tip the size of the Titanic, and more strength in your hands than I do.
I wasn’t planning on making any cookies for Christmas this year but I think I’ll have to give these a try.
My grandaughter and I just made this cookies as a tryout for our up coming cookie exchange party and we can’t stop eating them. They are delicious. Thank you for these amazing easy to make cookies.💖
My grandaughter and I love this easy and amazing cookie recipe!!!!
Why do you add egg? No other butter cookie recipes of this type add egg?
I want to know how to order this. Am from Pakistan. My mother love these cookies soo much. Kindly guide me how to order it for my mum please
Dry but what do you expect 🤷
I was excited to try this recipe. The cookies came out incredible! They had a rich buttery taste with a soft melt-in-your-mouth texture. Just the right amount of sweetness in my opinion. Perfect for afternoon tea or well, any time really. Adds a delightfully sweet note to your day. Personally, I used kerrygold butter and measured in cups. Had no issues or complaints. The only tweak was bake time to 13mins. My oven baked them at a faster rate. 10/10 recommend.
Be advised: use the best quality ingredients available at your disposal for optimum results.
The taste was good. I added some orange zest to the batter.
The flour weight is off. 2 cups of flour weighs 256 grams .
The Wilton 1M tip did not work. I had to transfer the batter to a cookie press I order to get the round shape.
When I make these again I will increase the orange zest to 1 whole orange and pipe the ring smaller than 2 inches.
The taste was good, but the method was off.
I have made these a couple of times. This is the best batch yet. Took the advice of some of the other comments and used just a little less flour, made sure butter was a room temp as well as the egg. Mixed the flour in 1/4 cup at a time and used cookie press. Again best batch yet!!!! Highly recommend this recipe 💖
Love this recipe.
My very first time and it turns out yummy.
I made a little adjustment to the original recipe so I could pipe it well.
Here is what I did:
1. I used spatula just to mix the butter and sugar till fluffy.
2. I added flour little by little. I took out 2 tablespoons of flour every one cup and substitute with 1 tablespoon of full-cream milk powder.
3. I let the dough rest fr 15 mins at room temperature before piping.
The dough turns out soft and I could pipe it easily onto the tray.
I refrigerated the piped dough in the fridge for 15 mins as it helps to keep the form.
The cookies are yummy and melt in the mouth.
My son-in-law loves Danish butter cookies, so I was excited to find this recipe. I made them last night and can’t believe more people haven’t complained about how impossible they are to pipe. I even got the Ateco #827 tip. First browneyed baker recipe that hasn’t worked. Very disappointed.
Yes, it was impossible to pipe, especially if you weighed the flour. The weight was totally off. I had to put the batter in a cookie press with a big whole nozzle.
Hello😊 Can I sandwich the cookies together with strawberry jam??
Excellent! This will be added to my cookie rotation…so easy and delicious! I typically use Challenge brand butter but I may splurge for some Kerrygold and see if it makes a difference.
Yumbo GoodLickin’ Good!!!😎🤗
How many cookies does this recipe make?
The top of the recipe says 36.
My mother in law always made these danish butter cookies . She used food coloring to make have the dough red and the other green. She both in the piping bag one color on each side abs they red and green cookies looked so pretty and tasted delicious. This recipe brought back fond memories so I can’t wait to make them !
I got on this site for key lime cheese cake… I know, summer’s gone… found the Danish Butter Cookies! Everything looks s[o good I want to lick the screen on my pad!!!😋❣
Delicious recipe, better than factory for sure! You definitely need that large open star tip, ours was too small and the dough is too thick for a smaller tip… the bag burst, ha. If the dough warms up enough to go through the smaller tip it doesn’t hold shape in the oven and your efforts are wasted.
Mt daughter-in-law loves those cookies, but can’t have gluten. 😟 What would be the best sub for the wheat flour? Thanx
I have found buckwheat flour to work well or perhaps a combination of rice flour and buckwheat.
I use King Arthur Measure for Measure when I make gluten-free recipes. Works great.
I have not made your recipe yet but the ones I’ve tried don’t have the good taste just taste of flour. Any ideas?
I would try almond or coconut extract.
Just made these! They are spot in in taste and a little more delicate than the tinned ones. Perfect Danish cookie I’ve been searching for!
To avoid flattening out
Must use cane sugar. The package must say cane or it will be beet sugar.
To avoid too stiff dough
Different brand of flours are drier so best to weigh it rather than scoop.