Butter Cookies - the BEST butter cookies recipe ever! These butter cookies are buttery, crumbly, melt in the mouth. Best cookies for Christmas and holidays.

Butter Cookies Recipe

This is the BEST butter cookies recipe you’ll find online! They are extremely buttery, crumbly and practically melt in the mouth.

They are similar to Danish butter cookies and perfect for any holidays: Christmas, New Year, Chinese New Year, Valentine’s Day, or any day of the year!

Other Christmas Cookies You Might Like

Ingredients for Butter Cookies

This is an easy recipe that calls for simple ingredients:

Unsalted butter.
Powdered sugar.
Egg yolk.
All-purpose flour.
Cornstarch.
Vanilla essence.

How Can I Make My Cookies Better?

How to make butter cookies? Here are my baking tips, tricks and secret techniques for the best cookies every time:

Use a good quality butter. I use Challenge brand butter for all my baking recipes. It’s the BEST butter to use for baking cookies.
Do not use granulated sugar as they don’t melt in the dough and result in a grainy texture.
To make the cookies better and more crumbly, add some Pam cooking spray to the dough. The cooking spray makes the cookies even better with melt-in-the-mouth texture. Trust me on this!
Chill the cookie dough for 30 minutes. This will ensure that it’s easier to roll out and cut into shapes.
Use cookie cutters instead of cookie press for the best results. I find cookie press a hit-or-miss, it all depends on the cookie press you use. Sometimes the dough is stuck on the cookie press and it’s very hard to form the beautiful shapes. With cookie cutters, you can control how the cookies look by cutting out the shape you desire.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Long Do Butter Cookies Last??

This recipe yields about 100 cookies. They last for two (2) weeks or longer if the cookies are stored in an air-tight container.

Can I Freeze or Refrigerate Cookies?

I don’t advice freezing or keeping the cookies in the refrigerator. It won’t help with the freshness or shelf life of these soft cookies.

Plus, they won’t taste good after freezing. You might have to heat them up in a toaster oven before eating.

The best way to store cookies is to leave them in an air-tight container at room temperature, in the pantry or inside your kitchen cabinet.

How Many Calories Per Serving?

This recipe is only 41 calories per cookie.

Yield: 100 Cookies

Butter Cookies Recipe

Name: Butter Cookies Recipe
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 100
Cuisine: baking
Ingredients: 10 oz. (2 1/2 sticks or 300 g) unsalted butter; 1 tablespoon Pam cooking spray, optional; 3 oz. (100 g or 3/4 cup + 1 tablespoon) powdered sugar; 1 egg yolk; 1/4 teaspoon salt; 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract; 2 tablespoons whole milk (full cream milk); 11 oz. (310 g or 2 cups + 3 tablespoons) all-purpose flour; 4 oz. (110 g or 1/2 cup + 1/3 cup) cornstarch

Butter Cookies - the BEST butter cookies recipe ever! These butter cookies are buttery, crumbly, melt-in-your-mouth delicious. They are the perfect cookies for Christmas, holidays and everyday!

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Ingredients

10 oz. (2 1/2 sticks or 300 g) unsalted butter
1 tablespoon Pam cooking spray, optional
3 oz. (100 g or 3/4 cup + 1 tablespoon) powdered sugar
1 egg yolk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons whole milk (full cream milk)
11 oz. (310 g or 2 cups + 3 tablespoons) all-purpose flour
4 oz. (110 g or 1/2 cup + 1/3 cup) cornstarch

Instructions

Cream butter with Pam cooking spray (if using), sugar, egg yolk, salt and vanilla extract until fluffy. Add in the milk and mix well.
Fold in the all-purpose flour and cornstarch. Using a spatula and your hands to mix the dough. At first, the dough would look crumbly as the picture below.
Continue to mix the dough until it becomes soft and not stick on hands, about 10 minutes. Cover the dough with a plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350°F (176°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll the dough to 1/4 inch thick. Cut into rounds or whatever shapes you wish using cookie cutters. Assemble the scrap and roll in with the remaining dough.
Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheets and bake for 15 minutes, or until cookies are turn very light brown in color and the inside is cooked through. Cool the cookies before eating. You may keep the cookies in an airtight container for up to two weeks.

Notes

Watch the cooking video on this page for step-by-step guide.

For the best results, please use the metric measurement.

I have converted the recipe to US measuring cups. 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon powdered sugar, 2 cups plus 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup plus 1/3 cup cornstarch.

Use cookie cutters for the best results. DO NOT use cookie press.

Nutrition Information

Serving Size

100 cookies
Amount Per Serving Calories 40Total Fat 2gSaturated Fat 1gCholesterol 8mgSodium 7mgCarbohydrates 4gFiber 1gSugar 1gProtein 1g

Comments

Jennifer

at

I’ve made these cookies several times exactly by your recipe, and they are always gone in seconds! They are fantastic and easy to make. Thank you so much for sharing!!

- Admin
  
  at
  
  Thanks.
  
Ruby

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These turned out perfect! The only thing I did differently was sift by dry ingredients. They were crumbly and melted in your mouth just like the recipe said.

Maria

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Can l replace milk for low-fat? Am l supposed to use 1/2 cup+1/3 cup of cornstarch for this recipe? Or is it a misprint?

- Rasa Malaysia
  
  at
  
  Yes all is correct. Low fat is fine.
  
Pat

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Can I use 1tbsp of canola oil in place of Pam?

- Rasa Malaysia
  
  at
  
  Just skip.
  
Soha

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Hi
The ingredients below lists a weight without the actual ingredient. Was it added in error or does it refer to a particular ingredient that is not mentioned ?.
Thanks

- Rasa Malaysia
  
  at
  
  The recipe card states the quantity of the ingredients clearly.
  
  - Dale
    
    at
    
    The third line is 3oz of something. What is it? I’ve tried the print option and watched the video a few times and can’t figure out the missing ingredient. What are some of the readers here seeing that I’m not, that you can bake this … what’s the 3rd ingredient on the list after the Pam spray? Thanks!
    
    - Rasa Malaysia
      
      at
      
      Powdered sugar.
      
    - michelle
      
      at
      
      Hi
      I want to make eggless butter cookies, would this recipe work by just omitting the egg?
      
Elaine

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Pam cooking spray which type. The butter spray or baking spray?

Adis surya

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Hi Bee,

Im in the middle of making this butter cookies, Ive put it in the fridge, but I had sudden emergency commitments , so the dough been in the fridge for 1 day instead of 30 minutes, when I was ready to bake it, it was hard as stone, I guess all the butter has hardened . So now what should I do? Should I just leave it in room temp for a while? Will it affect the texture or taste?

- Rasa Malaysia
  
  at
  
  Thaw to room temperature.
  
- Nicole
  
  at
  
  Hi, can I replace full cream milk with full cream milk powder? If yes, how much powder?
  
Susan Ford

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I love most all your recipes. Thanks for making my menu planning so easy.
Was wondering if substituting Cake Flour instead of all
purpose will ruin the Butter Cookie recipe or make it more cloud like.
Thank you again for being so creative.

- Rasa Malaysia
  
  at
  
  Hi Susan, cake flour will work. It will lighter in texture and maybe a tad crispier.
  
Deborah Rosenloev

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Absolutely love all your recipes because they are so delicious and I know I can rely on the quality of your recipes. You are my favorite chef. Thank you

Sue

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Hi, can I replace 1/3 of corn flour with almond meal. This means the cookie has 3 types of flour.

- Rasa Malaysia
  
  at
  
  I don’t think so please follow the recipe please.
  
  - Ying Sin
    
    at
    
    I can’t make it into a dough. Ended up pipping instead. Please advise me where I could have gone wrong. Thanks.
    
    - Lunia
      
      at
      
      My dough is sticky too..
      
  - Pat
    
    at
    
    Can I use canola oil instead of Pam spray? If so, how much?

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Butter Cookies

Butter Cookies Recipe

Other Christmas Cookies You Might Like

Ingredients for Butter Cookies

How Can I Make My Cookies Better?