These Danish butter cookies are piped into swirls featuring rich buttery flavor with a soft texture and light crunch.
Why this recipe works
Danish butter cookies are quite similar to Spritz cookies, but the dough is a bit tougher and we use a piping tip to give them shape. They’re soft, delicate, buttery, and melt right in your mouth. These cookies are perfect for those who don’t enjoy overly-sweet treats.
Ingredients you will need
Get all measurements, ingredients, and instructions in the printable version at the end of this post.
Ingredient Info and Substitution Suggestions
FLOUR – As with all cookie recipes, please make sure you properly measure your flour. To do so, aerate the flour with a spoon, then lightly scoop the flour with a spoon into a measuring cup. Level the measuring cup with the flat end of a knife. Do not pack the measuring cup or tap it on the counter, you will end up with more flour than needed, and much denser, drier cookies. We used all-purpose flour as well as almond flour here. Almond flour adds a touch of sweetness and gentle flavor to the cookies. Feel free to omit the almond flour and substitute it with regular flour if desired.
SUGAR – Powdered sugar is what gives these cookies that melt in your mouth experience. It absorbs moisture in the dough making them deliciously soft and tender.
BUTTER – We are using room temperature unsalted butter. If you only have salted butter on hand, omit the 1/2 tsp of salt called for in the recipe card below. Allow your butter to come to room temperature for around 35-45 minutes so it’s softened before beginning.
How to Make Danish Butter Cookies
These step by step photos and instructions are here to help you visualize how to make this recipe. You can Jump to Recipe to get the printable version of this recipe, complete with measurements and instructions at the bottom.
- Preheat oven to 325F.
- In a large bowl whisk together the flours. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add the egg and extract, scraping down the sides as needed. Mix until combined.
- Add the flours to the stand mixer and mix thoroughly.
- Working in batches, add dough to the piping bag fitted with a large star tip. Create 1-inch squared circles on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake for 22 minutes until edges start to brown and cookies are set. Remove and allow to cool on cooling racks.
- Dust with optional confectioner’s sugar before packaging as the perfect homemade holiday gift.
Frequently Asked Questions & Expert Tips
Yes, you can easily freeze these cookies. To do so, prepare and pipe the dough onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in the freezer to flash freeze the cookies. Once frozen, remove from the baking sheet and place in an air-tight container or large ziptop bag and store in the freezer for up to 2 months. These are great for making in advance and popping into the oven whenever you feel like it.
Serving Suggestions
Optionally dust the top of your Danish butter cookies with powdered sugar. Though this type of cookie doesn’t typically have any icing added to it, you can certainly dip or drizzle them with white or regular chocolate and top with sprinkles like we did in our butter cookies recipe.
More Cookie Recipes
- Hot Cocoa Cookies
- Stained Glass Cookies
- Peanut Butter Cookies
- Shortbread Cookies
- Cornflake Christmas Cookies
- Reeses Pieces Cookies
- Paintbrush Cookies
- Cherry Wink Cookies
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Danish Butter Cookies
IMPORTANT – There are often Frequently Asked Questions within the blog post that you may find helpful. Simply scroll back up to read them!
Print It Rate ItIngredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup almond flour ground and unblanched
- 1 cup confectioners sugar aka powdered sugar or icing sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- ½ tsp salt
- powdered sugar for garnish, optional
Things You’ll Need
Before You Begin
- The dough will be thick and a bit tough to pipe, this is normal.
- If you only have salted butter on hand, omit the 1/2 tsp of salt called for in the recipe card below. Allow your butter to come to room temperature for around 35-45 minutes so it’s softened before beginning.
- Depending on the size of piping tip you use, you may get more or less cookies than stated.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325F.
- In a large bowl whisk together the flours. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer using a paddle attachment, combine the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add the egg and extract, scraping down the sides as needed. Mix until combined.
- Add the flours to the stand mixer and mix thoroughly.
- Working in batches, add dough to the piping bag fitted with a large star tip. Create 1-inch squared circles on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.*
- Bake for 22 minutes until edges start to brown and cookies are set. Remove and allow to cool on cooling racks. Dust with optional confectioner’s sugar before packaging as the perfect homemade holiday gift.
Nutrition
Amanda Davis
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Mary Beth Christie says
Its a very good recipe. I made them exactly like the recipe said and they came out nicely. For my taste though, the next batch I made I used 2 tablespoons of Vanilla instead of the 1 stated in the recipe. I also, added 1 tablespoon to 1 1/2 tablespoons of heavy whipping cream. It made pipping the cookies so much easier and they did hold their shape while baking.
Pamela Sebastian says
These had no flavor at all. We didn’t like them so on to the next recipe with hopefully more flavor.
Mary says
Can you make these from a spritz machine as well.
Gloria says
Thanks for sharing 💗
mary and fred broussard says
can they be like short bread cookies would like a recfor short bread
Kristen Formaro says
Hi Mary, these are similar to shortbread cookies, however we do have a shortbread cookie recipe you can find here https://amandascookin.com/shortbread-cookies/ . Hope that helps!
Aya says
This is my mom favorite cookies…thanks for sharing.. ❤❤❤