Best Butter Cookie Recipe

These easy-to-make beautiful Butter Cookies will be the hit of your Christmas cookie trays. Get ready for all the oohhs and aahhs from family and friends.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword all butter cookies, Christmas cookies, homemade butter cookies, how to make butter cookies

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 12

Servings cookies

Calories 138kcal

Author Beth Pierce

Ingredients

2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter softened
¾ cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg room temperature
2-3 teaspoons milk if needed
white chocolate chips optional
semi sweet chocolate chips optional
coconut oil optional
sprinkles

Instructions

Whisk together the flour and salt; set aside for a few minutes.
Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or a hand mixer on medium speed, beat butter and sugar for about 2 minutes. Add the vanilla extract and egg and beat for 1 minute. Add flour mixture and beat just until incorporated.
Evaluate the dough. Is it pipeable? If unsure, put a little bit into a piping bag fitted with a large open star tip like the Ateco 826 or 827. It should be stiff when piping. If it is too stiff, add 1 teaspoon of milk at a time to the dough until it is pipeable.
Pipe swirls about 2 1/2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Refrigerate uncovered for 30-40 minutes.
Bake in a 350-degree preheated oven for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes before transferring to cookie cooling racks. Completely cool cookies before decorating.
If desired, melt chocolate in the microwave according to package instructions. I use just about 1 teaspoon of coconut oil per cup of chips to thin out the chocolate, but it is not a must. Dust with assorted sprinkles.

Video

Notes

These cookies are best when the dough is made; the piped cookies are refrigerated and then baked consecutively. If the cookie dough is made and refrigerated before being piped, it becomes too stiff to pipe. If it is made and sits in the warm air, it becomes too loose, and the cookies spread too much. Plan the time when you can mix, pipe, refrigerate, and bake them consecutively.
Always preheat the oven and load the baking sheet on the middle rack in the center of the oven.
Prepare by making room in the refrigerator for the cookie trays to chill for 30 minutes.
To correctly measure flour, always spoon flour into the measuring cup and level off with a table knife.
Bring your egg to room temperature by taking it out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before starting the recipe. If you forget, place the egg in a bowl of warm water (not hot) for 5-10 minutes. Be sure to dry the egg well before cracking.
Pipe the cookies using a large piping tip right onto an ungreased baking sheet. I have found that parchment paper makes it more difficult to pipe the cookies and may increase the possibility of spreading. One simple piped swirl works best.
Through trial and error, Land O Lakes butter works best with cookies, and it is worth every penny. My cookies do not spread as much, and the flavor is phenomenal.
Store the cookies at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
To thin out the chocolate for dipping, I add about 1 teaspoon of coconut oil to 1 cup of chips before melting. It leaves a little bit of a coconut taste (which I love), but it is optional.

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