These butter cookies are simple and yet, so delicious! With a tender bite and buttery flavor they're perfect on their own or to dress up a little!
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A simple little recipe for a simple little cookie, from me: a simple-minded lass. This cookie, though simple is so delicious and buttery. It's perfect to enjoy alongside a hot cup of coffee or tea. Or better yet some chocolaty hot cocoa!
It is also a great cookie to take up a notch: you can dip it in chocolate, and add a sprinkle of chopped nuts or citrus zest. Or use them as a sandwich for tempting fillings and flavors.
I used these Simple Butter Cookies as the base for recipes like Toffee & Chocolate Bark with Toasted Almonds, Halloween Ghost Cookies With Chocolate Chips, and Cranberry Nutella Sandwich Cookies. And they're great for Sweet Lemon Strawberry Sandwich Cookies!
Why you'll love these butter cookies
You will love that these Butter Cookies are delicious all on their own - the pure flavors of butter and vanilla shine through and make them very satisfying! And should you decide to add chopped dried fruit, nuts, zest, or spices, they'll be all the better for having begun with such a delicious base.
Included in the recipe below are two variations on the basic butter cookies: one for Pistachio Butter Cookies and one for Lemon Butter Cookies.
The cookies are sturdy enough to give as gifts or to ship. Make them for holiday cookie exchanges or to cheer family and friends living far away.
🔪 How to make the cookies
Step 1: Make the dough
Cream together the butter and sugar, and then add the vanilla. Whisk together the flour and salt, and add them to the butter mixture. If you are adding in any nuts, zest, extracts, juices or dried fruits, this is the time to do it.
Step 2: Chill the dough
Squeeze the dough together with your hands a few times, then wrap it in plastic wrap. Chill the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Step 3: Roll and cut the dough
Roll out the chilled dough to a ¼-inch thickness. You can dust the dough with flour to keep it from sticking or roll it between layers of parchment paper. Cut out your desired shapes using cookie cutters and place them on a lined baking sheet.
Step 4: Chill and then bake the cookies
Chill the cut cookies on the baking sheet for 15 minutes. Then pop them into a preheated oven to bake for about 18-20 minutes.
Notes:
- Use the best quality butter you can afford here. The butter flavor really shines in these cookies, and it's worth using the good stuff.
- This recipe has two chilling times: the first one helps the dough firm up to make it easier to roll out and cut. The second chill helps to keep the cookies from spreading too much while baking. These chills are important so be sure to include them!
- The yields listed in the recipe below is based on a cookie cutter that's about 2-inches. Using smaller or larger cutters will change the number of cookies you get.
Before you fancy them up I hope you'll give these Simple Butter Cookies a try all on their own. They are quite satisfying in their own, unassuming little way.
The recipe is below, and here are some recipes where you can use this Butter Cookies Recipe:
💬 Have you tried these Butter Cookies? Leave a comment below.
📖 Recipe
Simple Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened (2 sticks)
- 1 cup confectioner's sugar
- 3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, unbleached
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Cream together the butter and confectioner's sugar for 3 minutes on medium speed. Scrape the bowl a couple of times during the mixing, it should be smooth. Add in the vanilla extract and beat the mixture on low to incorporate it.
- In a separate large bowl whisk together the flour and salt. Add this into the butter mixture and mix together on low speed, scraping down the bowl often, until the dough has come together.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured area. Squeeze the dough together just a couple of times so that it is smooth.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill the dough for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 325° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. The cut cookies will need to chill before baking so be sure the baking sheet can fit in your fridge.
- Unwrap the chilled dough and use a knife to cut it in half. Rewrap one of the halves and hold it in the fridge. Place the other half on a large piece of parchment paper.
- Move the dough to one side of the parchment and fold the other half of the parchment over the top of the dough. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough inside the parchment to a ¼-inch thickness.
- (Tip: on a toothpick, measure up from the tip ¼-inch and mark it with a Sharpie. To see if your dough is at ¼-inch thickness, poke the toothpick into the dough and check it against the mark.) If you don't want to use parchment paper you can just lightly flour the work surface and rolling pin.
- Use a 2-inch cookie cutter (square, circle, your choice) and cut cookies from the dough. Place the cookies onto the parchment lined baking sheet, leaving about 1 inch between them.
- Roll scraps together and continue cutting cookies to fill the baking sheet. Prick the top of each cookie three times with the tines of a fork.
- Place the baking sheet into the refrigerator for 15 minutes. If you have unused dough, wrap this in plastic and refrigerate it also, until you're ready to roll and cut the next batch.
- After chilling, put the cookies in the oven and bake them for about 18-20 minutes: check them after 18 minutes; bake the cookies only until the edges and tops have very lightly browned.
- Remove the cookies from the oven and transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely. Finish rolling, cutting and baking any additional dough you have left.
- The cooled cookies can be stacked and sealed in an airtight container for up to 5 days. This recipe makes about 38 2-inch cookies.
Variation: Pistachio Butter Cookies
- After mixing the dry ingredients in with the butter-sugar mixture, mix in ⅓ cup of chopped, salted pistachios.
Variation: Lemon Butter Cookies
- Reduce the vanilla extract to 1 teaspoon and add to this 2 teaspoons of lemon juice. After mixing the dry ingredients in with the butter-sugar mixture, mix in 1 ½ tablespoons of lemon zest.
Notes
- Use the best quality butter you can afford here. The butter flavor really shines in these cookies, and it's worth using the good stuff.
- This recipe has two chilling times: the first one helps the dough firm up to make it easier to roll out and cut. The second chill helps to keep the cookies from spreading too much while baking. These chills are important so be sure to include them!
- The yields listed in the recipe below is based on a cookie cutter that's about 2-inches. Using smaller or larger cutters will change the number of cookies you get.
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