Danish Butter Cookies

DANISH BUTTER COOKIES

12/3/2020

These homemade Danish Butter Cookies are not your regular butter cookies! Super buttery and soft, tender and irresistible, and filled with vanilla and almond flavor, these are the best ever! Easy as can be to make by piping the cookie dough, and extra-fancy when you dip in melted milk, dark or white chocolate and add some holiday sprinkles or sparkling sugar! You can always pack these in colorful holiday tins for gift-giving!

Danish Butter Cookies

My sweet Skipper used to love getting the Danish butter cookies that come packaged up in a tin - he was such a fan that family and friends gave them to him as gifts. (Truth be told, they worked REALLY GOOD for rewarding potty-training toddlers!)

But once he tried my homemade Danish Butter Cookies, he'll never go back to the others. Perfectly golden on the outside, and tender and so flavorful in the middle! My family likes these sprinkled with sparkling sugar, or dipped in melted chocolate and sprinkled with holiday sprinkles. They are also pretty darn wonderful warm from the oven!

One of the easiest cookie doughs ever - comes together in minutes. Once you have all of your ingredients and baking equipment in place, you'll be piping cookies in under 30 minutes, and have them chilling (or freezing) and ready to back before you know it!

Freezing the cookies after piping gives them time to set-up hard, and prevents them from spreading during baking. We don't want that! You can also have these piped and frozen ahead of time, and ready to bake up fresh when you're ready. Perfect for holiday baking!

Danish Butter Cookies

DANISH BUTTER COOKIES

Danish Butter Cookies

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup (2 sticks; 230g) unsalted butter (softened to room temperature)
2 large egg yolks (room temperature)
1-2 tablespoons milk (room temperature)
3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon pure almond extract
2 and 1/4 cups (281g) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

For Decorating:
one 4-ounce quality chocolate bar (milk, dark or white chocolate) bar (113g), finely chopped
sprinkles or sparkling sugar

SPECIAL EQUIPMENT
Piping Bags (I use 12” or 14”)
Ateco 849 tip for piping these cookies (you can also use an Ateco 826, Ateco 827 or Wilton 8B)

HOW I MAKE THESE:

Read through the recipe and recipe notes before beginning. Make room in your freezer for several baking sheets so the shaped cookies can chill for about an hour. Without freezing, the piped cookies may over-spread when baked and lose their piped detail. You also don’t want to chill the dough prior to piping, as it will be too stiff and cold to pipe – room temperature is best!

Remove butter, eggs and milk from refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature.
Line 2-3 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. For this recipe, I do not recommend baking directly on the pan, as the cookies spread too much.
In a large bowl, using a handheld mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and granulated sugar together on medium-high speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the egg yolks, vanilla extract and almond extract; beat on high speed until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl and beat again as needed to combine.
On low speed, add the salt and half of the flour. Turn up to medium speed and beat until just combined. Add remaining flour and beat on medium speed until well blended.
On medium speed, beat in one tablespoons of milk. You want a dough that’s creamy and pipe-able (but still thick). You may need to add an additional tablespoon of milk. The more milk you add, the more the cookies will spread so freezing after piping is imperative. I recommend keeping the amount of milk small and using a large enough piping tip, like the ones I suggested above.
Add your piping tip to the piping bag. Spoon a little bit of dough into the piping bag and pipe a 1-2 inch swirl or line on the prepared baking sheet. The reason I suggest only a little bit of dough to start is because the dough may still be too thick to pipe. If it’s too thick, transfer that dough back to the mixing bowl and add another 1/2 tablespoon of milk. If the dough is creamy enough to pipe, continue piping the dough in 1-2 inch swirls or lines, 3 inches apart on the baking sheet, pressing down the final edge gently with your finger.
Place the shaped cookies on the baking sheets in the freezer for 45 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350°F.
Bake the chilled cookies for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned on the sides. I typically bake each pan for about 15 minutes, then remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature on the baking pans. The cookies will spread slightly like all cookies do, but not as much if you freeze them for 45 minutes prior to baking. If the cookies are smaller, they will take closer to 12 minutes. Keep your eye on them closely! They’re done when the edges are lightly golden, and can go from lightly golden to too brown in just seconds.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet until cooled completely.
Optional Chocolate: Melt chocolate according to package directions. – using either the microwave or a double boiler over simmering water. If using the microwave: place the chopped chocolate in a medium heat-proof bowl. Melt in 30 second increments at half power (50%) in the microwave, stirring after each increment until completely melted and smooth. Dip the cookies in chocolate and top with sprinkles, if desired.
Allow the chocolate to set completely at room temperature for about 1 hour or in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
Plain cookies stay fresh in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 days or in the refrigerator for 1 week.

BAKING TIPS:

Best Piping Tips: I use an Ateco 849 tip for piping these cookies – you can also use an Ateco 826, Aateco 827 or Wilton 8B. This cookie dough is really thick, so it’s imperative to use a large piping tip with about a ½ inch opening. The smaller the size, the harder it will be to pipe.
No Piping Tip: If you don’t have a piping bag and tip, you can also use this recipe in a cookie press – simple delete the milk from the recipe.

Make Ahead Instructions: You can chill the shaped cookies on the baking sheet in the refrigerator for up to 2 days before baking. If chilling for longer than 30 minutes, cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Sometimes I pipe all the swirls close together on 1 baking sheet, then refrigerate for up to 2 days. (Since my refrigerator can’t fit 2-3 sheets at once.) After chilling, the shaped dough is cold, so you can use a flat spatula to pick up the cold shaped dough and arrange on 2-3 baking sheets. You can also freeze the un-baked shaped dough for up to 2-3 months. Bake the frozen shaped dough (no need to thaw) for an extra couple minutes. Baked cookies, with or without chocolate/sprinkles, freeze well for up to 3 months.
Almond Extract: Almond extract adds such a wonderful flavor and I don’t recommend skipping it. If desired, you can leave it out completely or add another 1/2 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract in its place.
Optional Chocolate: For the best results, use a 4 ounce “baking chocolate” bar found in the baking aisle - I prefer Ghirardelli. You can use semi-sweet, milk chocolate, or even white chocolate. Candy melts or almond bark work too. Do not use chocolate chips or white chocolate chips, as they contain stabilizers preventing them from melting into the proper consistency for dipping. After you melt it, if the chocolate is too thick for dipping, stir in 1 teaspoon of coconut oil to help thin it out.

YIELD: 30 cookies

Recipe inspired and adapted from Sallys Baking Addiction.

Originally posted December 2019; revised and reposted December 2020.

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