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Butter Cookies

These Butter Cookies taste like the European ones in the blue tin around the holidays but BETTER. Made with pure butter and vanilla extract, they are simple yet so addicting and satisfying with a tender crumb and melt-in-your-mouth texture,
Prep Time45 minutes
Cook Time14 minutes
Total Time59 minutes
Course: Cookies, Dessert
Cuisine: American, Dessert
Servings: 24 cookies

Ingredients

  • 1 cup (2 sticks) European-style butter, softened can use regular unsalted butter, but try to splurge for the European-style - it's amazing!
  • 3/4 cup granulated white sugar
  • 2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
  • tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt (omit if your European butter is salted)
  • 2-4 tsp milk
  • Chocolate melting wafers, for dipping if desired
  • Sprinkles for garnish, if desired

Instructions

  • In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy and creamy, about 2 minutes on medium-high speed. Add in the egg yolks and vanilla extract and mix well, stopping to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl as needed. Lastly, add in the salt and flour and mix together until dough is slightly crumbly. Add in 2 tsp of the milk until dough comes together and is spreadable and pipeable. The key is to add as little milk as possible to prevent spreading.
  • Fit a piping bag with a large open star or closed star tip. I used Atecco 849, but Wilton 8B or Atecco 826/827 can be used. Do not attempt with a smaller tip as it will be impossible to pipe. I recommend adding a little bit of dough to the piping bag first to test a cookie to pipe to make sure it's the proper consistency. If all is good, pipe into a swirl circular shape onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.
  • Refrigerate the baking sheet with piped cookies for at least 30-40 minutes or until chilled. Preheat oven to 350° degrees F. Line another pan with parchment paper.
  • Place 3 rows of 4 cookies each onto the parchment-lined baking sheet and bake one sheet at a time in the center rack of the oven for 12-16 minutes or until light golden brown around on the bottoms.. Cool completely on the baking sheets as the cookies are quite fragile. Bake remaining cookies off on another prepared sheet.
  • If decorating with chocolate and sprinkles, melt the chocolate wafers according to package directions or until smooth. Dip half of the cookie into the melted chocolate, allowing excess chocolate to drip off. Return to the baking sheet and immediately garnish with sprinkles. Allow the chocolate to set before serving or storing.

Notes

This recipe was tested with Clover European-style butter which came in a pack of 2 sticks. You can use any brand of European-style butter which is now very easy to find at most grocers. I recommend splurging for it as it adds great flavor thanks to its higher butterfat percentage compared to American-style butter (up to 85%). However, if you can't buy it, regular unsalted butter can be used. 
If you do use European-style butter that's pre-salted, omit the salt from the recipe.