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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!
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.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients.
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
This recipe yields about 100 cookies. They last for two (2) weeks or longer if the cookies are stored in an air-tight container.
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.
This recipe is only 41 calories per cookie.
What To Serve With This Recipe
For a delightful afternoon tea party, I recommend the following recipes:
I hope you enjoy this post as much as I do. If you try my recipe, please leave a comment and consider giving it a 5-star rating. For more easy and delicious recipes, explore my Recipe Index, and stay updated by subscribing to my newsletter and following me on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram for new updates.
Other Recipes You Might Like
Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 10 oz. (280g) unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon Pam cooking spray, optional
- 3 oz. (90g) powdered sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons whole milk, full cream milk
- 11 oz. (311g) all-purpose flour
- 4 oz. (125g) 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. Use a spatula and your hands to mix the dough. At first, the dough will look crumbly.
- Continue mixing the dough until it becomes soft and no longer sticks to your hands, about 10 minutes. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (176°C) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll the dough to 1/4 inch (5mm) thick and cut into rounds or any desired shapes using cookie cutters. Assemble the scraps and roll them in with the remaining dough.
- Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheets and bake for 15 minutes, or until they turn very light brown in color and the inside is cooked through. Cool the cookies before eating. You may store the cookies in an airtight container for up to two weeks.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Just reading ‘butter cookie’ makes me mouth water a little. I”m so sure they’d melt in my mouth! Perfect cookie to gift, Bee!
The best butter cookies online! So pretty.
Thanks yes I agree these butter cookies are the best!
Are the dry ingredients measured using the volume cup system where 1 cup is 8 oz. ? Did you use a liquid measuring cup or did you buy measuring spoons with a 3 oz. measurement for example)?
I just used regular measuring cups and measuring spoons for baking, not volume cup. For the weight, I used a scale.
I would like to make this cookie. The recipe stated “Cream butter with Pam cooking spray (if using), sugar, egg yolk, salt and vanilla extract until fluffy. Add in milk and mix well.”
Do i need to beat butter with sugar until fluffy ( turn white) and then add it egg yolk, salf and vanila extract?
Please advise.
Thank you.
Yes, you can. :)
Did this today, followed the recipe to the letter. had to use a kitchen scale for the ingredients- too lazy to convert anything into cups, haha. I also had to knead the dough for some time before they became less sticky. It’s been a while since i kneaded anything…But the workout for the arms was worth it- the cookies turned out GREAT! P.S. i am in love with your cookie cutters!
Awesome, these are the best butter cookies ever! I am so glad the recipe works out for you. :)
I wish to know what’s Pam cooking spray, please. Thank you.
It’s a product of oil spray in the USA. You can skip if you don’t have it.
Hi Bee, thank you for your recipe. I never made butter cookies before until I read your recipe. I made them for my 2,5 yo girl and she loved it so much. My husband loved them too. But actually I was the one who ate the most, lol. I even let her to roll and cut them used her favorite shapes. I used stand mixer though to make it easier :p. I skipped the Pam spray, used less sugar. I had no problem with cutting them, maybe because I used mixer and made them in winter, the air was very dry, so the butter wouldn’t melt that easy. I used converter for the dry ingredients, just searched it using Google. It wasn’t hard at all.
Once again, thank you for your recipe. My little family loved it.
Awesome, I am happy that you all love my butter cookies recipe. Do try out more recipes on my site, they are all good!
So yummy and melts in the mouth. My son ate 3/4 of the first batch. I had to stop him. Mine could not be rolled and cut. So I made into balls, press them to desired thickness and made patterns with a fork.
That works!! Did you chill the dough. You can add a little bit of flour to help you roll, if the dough is too soft.
Some people just need to buy cookies from the store. It might be easier for you.
I only have self rising flour, will that work ? If so do I still use the salt?
I am not sure about self-rising flour. Please follow the recipe exactly. Thanks Donna.
I just made a batch today. I followed the recipe exactly using hand to mix and
it turned out perfect. Thanks for the easy cookie recipe.
Hi June thanks for trying my butter cookies recipes.