These homemade Danish Butter Cookies are traditional Christmas Cookies recipe. Crispy outside and soft inside, they are dipped in chocolate and decorated with sprinkles for a classic festive look.
Danish Butter Cookies are one of my favorite treats during the holidays. They are perfectly crispy outside and soft inside. I love decorating them by dipping half of a cookie in melted chocolate and topping with some sprinkles for a classic festive look.
This recipe is very similar to my Almond Spritz Cookies. The only difference here is we need to add a couple of teaspoons of milk to make the dough more pipeable.
This recipe will be perfect for a yearly Christmas cookie exchange party, together with my other cookies, like Orange Cranberry Biscotti, Brownie Cookies, Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies, Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies, Snickerdoodle Cookies, Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies, Apricot Rugelach, Pistachio Cookies, Monster Cookies, and my Best Cup Out Sugar Cookies Recipe.
How to make it
Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or hand mixer, cream together 1 cup butter and ⅔ cup granulated sugar for a few minutes. The mixture should be light and airy.
Add 1 egg and 1 tsp vanilla extract. Mix it again until well combined.
Add 2 cups all-purpose flour and ¼ tsp salt and mix on low speed until just combined.
Add 2 teaspoons milk and mix. The dough should be a pipeable consistency but not runny. You can add more milk if needed, but try to use as little milk as possible.
NOTE: In this recipe, I use a large piping nose (Ateco 849) and use only 2 tsp milk to have the right consistency.
Transfer the dough to a piping bag with a large piping tip.
Pipe 2-inch swirls on a baking sheet (don’t use parchment paper!), 3 inches apart.
Place the baking sheet with piped cookies in the fridge for 15-20 minutes. This extra step will help them keep their shape while baking.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Bake the cookies at 350°F for about 15 minutes or until they are golden brown on the sides.
When done, remove from the oven and let them sit on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool off completely.
While they are cooling off, we can prepare the chocolate. You can melt it on a double boiler or in a microwave. Put the chopped chocolate in a medium heat-proof bowl and microwave in 20 seconds increments, stirring after each increment.
Dip ⅔ of the cookies into melted chocolate and place on a parchment paper. Decorate with sprinkles and let them dry off completely.
Tips for Best Results
- I prefer to use a wide piping tip, like Ateco 849 or Ateco 826. This way it will be easier to pipe thinker dough. Also, the thinker the dough, the better it will keep the shape while baking.
- If you don’t have a large piping nose, you can you a classic Wilton 1M. Although you will need to add more milk to the dough to thin it out. This is not the best option, as the cookies will spread more while baking.
- It’s easier to pipe out the dough directly on the baking sheet and not parchment paper, because it will stick better.
- If your dough is too thick and doesn’t pipe well, squeeze it back to the bowl and add 1-2 teaspoons of milk and mix. Then scoop it back to a piping bag and try to pipe out again.
- Always refrigerate the piped cookies before baking, which helps them keep their shape and prevent spreading.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can keep Danish Butter Cookies in an air-tight container on your kitchen counter for up to a week.
Yes. When the cookies are cooled off completely, transfer them to a zip-lock bag or an air-tight container and freeze for up to 3 months.
There could be two reasons why that happened. The first, you might added too much milk and the dough became too runny. The second reason is you didn’t refrigerate the piped out cookies before baking. This step is crucial as it helps to keep the shape and not spread too much.
Yes! You can use a cookie press for this recipe. The only thing is the size of the cookies will be smaller, which means that the baking time will be shorter.
Danish Butter Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons milk
- 3 oz semi-sweet or milk chocolate
- 3 tablespoons sprinkles
Instructions
- Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or hand mixer, cream together 1 cup butter and ⅔ cup granulated sugar for a few minutes. The mixture should be light and airy.
- Add 1 egg and 1 tsp vanilla extract. Mix it again until well combined.
- Add 2 cups all-purpose flour and ¼ tsp salt and mix on low speed until just combined.
- Add 2 teaspoons milk and mix. The dough should be a pipeable consistency but not runny. You can add more milk if needed, but try to use as little milk as possible.
- Transfer the dough to a piping bag with a large piping tip.
- Pipe 2-inch swirls on a baking sheet (don’t use parchment paper!), 3 inches apart.
- Place the baking sheet with piped cookies in the fridge for 15-20 minutes. This extra step will help them keep their shape while baking.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Bake the cookies for about 15 minutes or until they are golden brown on the sides.
- When done, remove from the oven and let them sit on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool off completely.
- While they are cooling off, we can prepare the chocolate. You can melt it on a double boiler or in a microwave. Put the chopped chocolate in a medium heat-proof bowl and microwave in 20 seconds increments, stirring after each increment.
- Dip ⅔ of the cookies into melted chocolate and place on a parchment paper. Decorate with sprinkles and let them dry off completely.
Video
Notes
- I prefer to use a wide piping tip, like Ateco 849 or Ateco 826. This way it will be easier to pipe thinker dough. Also, the thinker the dough, the better it will keep the shape while baking.
- If you don’t have a large piping nose, you can you a classic Wilton 1M. Although you will need to add more milk to the dough to thin it out. This is not the best option, as the cookies will spread more while baking.
- It’s easier to pipe out the dough directly on the baking sheet and not parchment paper, because it will stick better.
- If your dough is too thick and doesn’t pipe well, squeeze it back to the bowl and add 1-2 teaspoons of milk and mix. Then scoop it back to a piping bag and try to pipe out again.
- Always refrigerate the piped cookies before baking, which helps them keep their shape and prevent spreading.
Thanks for nice and quick receipt, it was very easy and fun to make it with kid.
Thank you so much, Irene!
Can you use a cookie press instead of piping these. It seems it might be easier.
Hi Mary Lou! Yes, you can use a cookie press, but you will need to add a bit less milk to the dough, so it doesn’t spread too much.
1. Why can I not use parchment paper .
2. Can I freeze these with chocolate
Hi Allison,
1. I always prefer to pipe out danish and spritz cookies right on the baking sheet (not parchment paper) because they will stick better. If you want to use parchment paper, you can, but it will be harder to create the shape of the cookies and let them stick.
2. It’s better to freeze them without chocolate.
Tip…..definetly don’t use a smaller tip than what is suggested. Let’s just say they didn’t turn out 🙂
Yes, if you use a narrow piping tip, you really have to put extra milk to make the dough pliable, which results in flat cookies. When you use a wide tip, you can keep the dough thicker, so the cookies will keep their shape.
Absolute love. These Danish butter cookies looks so festive, so fun to make and very delicious! My kids would love this any day. So perfect!
These cookies are just beautiful! They always remind me of Christmas! Nicoletta makes these every year and I am always in the cookie jar at midnight!
Thanks for sharing!
What a yummy and tasty looking take on this classic recipe. Definitely wanting to make these as a holiday treat for this year.
Oh, man. I live in Germany so don’t have the right flour or butter to make these but if I did, I’d be running to the kitchen! These bring back such awesome childhood memories.
Oooh, I haven’t had these since I was a kid and my parents bought the huge containers of them! I love all the tips for the piping part. I’ll definitely need them!
How long will they last?
You can keep them in an air-tight container on your kitchen counter for up to a week.
I can taste how perfectly crispy and crumbly these are just from the photos! Can’t wait to make these tomorrow!
Hmm yum! My family will surely love to have these danish butter cookies! The cookies are really delicious and satisfying in every bite.
These cookies are so good! Such a Christmas classic. Great recipe, thank you!
I love the fine lines on these Danish cookies. Your recipe is perfect, these are perfect Xmas gift that looks like those Danish cookies in the shops.
I have not started my holiday baking yet, but I would love to grab one of these off my computer screen. Perfect for the holiday treat tray. They would make a great food gift too.