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Homemade Christmas Butter Cookies are a must-make for the holidays! Soft and tender with amazing buttery flavor, and a festive presentation.
Butter Cookies will be a huge hit on your Christmas tray this year, especially with Christmas sprinkles. Looking for other festive Christmas cookies? Add some variety to your cookie tray with my Red Velvet Cookie, Pinwheel Christmas Cookies, Candy Cane Cookies, and Ricotta Cookies.
These cookies are light and fluffy in texture, with a slightly crisp exterior. They are similar to the Danish Butter Cookies you can get in a tin around the holidays, but trust me – you won’t need those anymore after you try this homemade version.
Why We Love Butter Cookies
- Only 10-20 minutes of chill time needed.
- Easy to make and freeze to enjoy year round or give as gifts.
- Use sprinkles or melted chocolate to add variety and make them festive and fun for the holidays.
recipe walkthrough
Ingredients
- Butter – I prefer to use unsalted butter when baking so I can control the salt amount. NOTE – it’s very important to use high-quality, name-brand butter. I personally only use Challenge butter for baking.
- White Granulated Sugar – do not use powdered sugar.
- Egg – room temperature is best.
- Vanilla Extract – I recommend using pure vanilla extract if you have it, as it gives the best flavor.
- All-Purpose Flour – while you are free to try them, I have not tested this recipe with gluten free flours.
- Salt – just a pinch to balance the sweetness.
- Milk
- Sprinkles – optional, but are fun and make the butter cookies extra festive!
How to Make Butter Cookies
See the recipe card below for full, detailed instructions
These cookies are made from a simple one-bowl dough, just a few minutes of mixing, and only 10 minutes of baking!
Prep. Start by preheating the oven and lining a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Mix dough. Using a stand mixer, or a large bowl with an electric mixer, mix together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then add egg, vanilla, flour and salt. Be careful not to overmix. Add the milk, just a tablespoon at a time, to get the dough to be a piping consistency.
Pipe Cookies – Add the dough to piping bags and pipe into small circles on the lined baking sheet. I recommend sticking the sheet in the fridge to chill for 10-20 minutes to set the shape. For reference, I used a 1/2-inch star tip.
Bake – Bake for about 10 minutes or until the edges turn just golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool.
Frequently Asked Questions
To prevent your cookies from spreading, make sure you chill the cookies after piping and before baking. If they still spread after chilling, then the dough needs a little more flour (or less milk).
I recommend using unsalted butter for your cookies so you can control the amount of salt in the recipe. As far as brands go, I personally use Kirkland brand and buy it in bulk. I have found that it’s just a good as other, more expensive butters on the market.
How To Serve
Store and serve at room temperature. We love to make a tray with a variety of festive, holiday cookies. A cookie tray is great to not only serve to guests but you can also build a tray, cover with plastic or cellophane wrap, and give as gifts.
Storage Tips
How to Store Cookies
These cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature. They’ll keep fresh for about 5-7 days.
You can also freeze them for up to 6-8 months. Store in a plastic freezer bag or airtight container. Thaw at room temperature.
Expert Tips
- Dip in chocolate – For a fun spin, you can dip half of each cookie in melted chocolate and then top with sprinkles. Place the dipped cookies on wax paper to set.
- Chill the Dough – In order to keep the right shape, the cookie dough needs to be chilled before baking (after piping). This is key. So pipe the dough onto the baking sheet then pop in the fridge to chill
- Test a spoonful of dough in piping bag – To make sure your dough is the right consistency, you can add a small spoonful to the piping bag to test that it can be piped through before adding all of the dough.
More Cookie Recipes You’ll Love
- Jello Cookies with Any Flavor
- Red Velvet Cookies
- Oreo Stuffed Cookies
- Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
- Eggnog Cookies (Meltaways)
- Coconut Macaroons
Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup Unsalted butter softened (see notes – use high-quality, name brand butter)
- 1 cup Granulated sugar
- 1 Large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 cups All purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1-2 tablespoons Milk or more if needed; any kind
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare a baking sheet by lining with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large bowl or stand mixer, mix the butter and sugar on medium low speed until light and fluffy.
- Add the egg and vanilla and continue beating on medium low speed until smooth.
- Slowly add the flour and salt just until fully incorporated – do not overmix.
- Add the milk 1 tablespoon at a time, using the minimum amount possible to reach a piping consistency.
- Place the batter in a piping bag, and pipe small circles onto the prepared baking sheet. Add sprinkles if desired. Chill the baking sheets in the refrigerator for at least 20-30 minutes.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes or until the edges of the cookies begin to turn golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and cool completely before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer Kristin Maxwell of “Yellow Bliss Road” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. For accurate calorie counts and other nutritional values, we recommend running the ingredients through your preferred online nutritional calculator. Calories and other nutritional values can vary depending on which brands were used.
How many grams of flour, please? I think that’s the problem. A cup of flour can be suuuuuch a wide range of weight depending on how you scoop or spoon.
I so wanted to make these . I bought all the bags .. tips etc … I made two batches thinking it was me and the poor buggers spread both times
I made cookie bars out of them
I used great value butter mine came out perfect a little spreading but not bad
My too spread out… I added purple sugar on top so the swirl look of sugar were pretty. Tasted good just was hoping for the “look”. If I try again I will add more flour
This recipe is definitely one to tweak a bit. I had a few kinks but this is what I did that worked for me.
1) I used piping without a coupler by putting the tip the bag the placing another bag in that for the dough.. more pressure and easier to push out the cookie shape.
2) Since I have no parchment paper, I made my cookies on foil with the matte side up (shiny part facing down). Preventing them from getting too hot.
3) I always use PAM BAKING SPRAY. It works wonders on cakes and cookies.
4) When it was too hard to pipe out, I added about 1/4 cup of milk (one tablespoon at a time!) And then went back to add a little sprinkle of flour to keep the texture. It was like a magic sand consistency rather than playdo.
5) I forgot to chill them befor baking but maybe this helped… it’s a butter cookie. Butter can crytalize when cooled and can cause oily cakes, brownies and cookies when the ratio of flour and butter is off. Not saying this is the case here but butter makes things spread sometimes. Be aware.
6) I sifted my flour into the mix. And made sure not to over stir. Just blended the flour. It mixed fully when the milk was added in the last step.
7) Don’t stress. After the first batch they did spread a little but they looked like her photo for the most part. I’m definitely going to make them often and see what other things I can tweak to make these a family recipe to pass on to my kids.
Thank you for sharing your tips! These cookies can be tricky but they are so delicious!
Most difficult recipe I have ever made. Hard to pipe..chilled for about an hour and they spread out flat. Before I am told it’s the butter brand, I used Kerigold and my oven temp is spot on. I spent nearly 2 hours on this and wish I would have read the comments. I should have just spooned them to start with. The taste is good just don’t waste your time piping them.