Butter Cookies are simple, flavorful cookies loved for holidays and parties. Soft, delicious homemade cookies that are easily made and are always a classic favorite.

Butter Cookies Recipe | ©addapinch.com

The Best Butter Cookies are a classic cookie recipe that never goes out of style and works perfectly for any menu, celebration or just because! I have made them for years for everything from showers to birthdays to Christmas parties. Butter Cookies are perfectly delicious and appropriate for so many types of entertaining!

Butter Cookies Recipe | ©addapinch.com

Butter Cookies

If you have the image in your mind of those hard little round cookies from the grocery store, then you are in for a pleasant treat when you make these butter cookies. These are rich, buttery, delicious and somewhat addictive in the way that it’s hard to stop at just one!

While they are also delicious without the buttercream, they are just a bit more festive with a dollop of buttercream in colors and flavors to suit the occasion or the season. My fluffy white buttercream  is beautiful at Christmas or for a wedding shower. The strawberry buttercream, looks beautiful for baby showers, Mother’s Day, birthdays or Easter. And then there’s chocolate! Personally I think my chocolate buttercream is suited to any kind of party or celebration – or just because. It’s amazing!

These cookies are so easy to make too! Yet despite how simple they are to make, the little bit of frosting on top makes them so elegant.

My butter cookies recipe makes four dozen small cookies or two dozen larger sized cookies. This is so helpful so that you decide just what size you need for your event. And it’s also a perfect amount for having them to include on Christmas Cookie Trays or cookie gift boxes to share with friends.

Butter Cookies Recipe | ©addapinch.com

Now, I am far from a professional cake or cookie decorator and I have to remind myself not to be overly critical of my frosting swirls on top of these cookies. But as I walk in to any party with them in hand, no one else seems to care that the swirl isn’t exactly perfect on top. I love people like that! 🙂

Butter Cookies Recipe | ©addapinch.com

Here’s my butter cookie recipe. It seriously will become a favorite! Hope you love it!

Butter Cookies Recipe

4.93 from 14 votes
Butter Cookies make the perfect addition for easy, elegant entertaining. From showers, birthday parties, graduations, weddings, to family picnics, these butter cookies will become a favorite!
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 12 minutes
Total Time: 17 minutes
Servings: 36 cookies

Ingredients 

  • 2 cups (240 g) all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon (2 g) baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon (0.65 g) Kosher salt
  • 3/4 cup (170 g) butter, softened
  • 1 cup (198 g) sugar
  • 1 large (50 g) egg
  • 1 teaspoon (5 g) vanilla extract

Instructions 

  • Preheat oven to 350º F.
  • Add flour, baking powder, and salt to a medium bowl. Whisk to combine. Set aside.
  • Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg until well-combined. Slowly spoon in flour mixture mixing on medium speed until well-combined, then add vanilla and mix just until combined.
  • Scoop cookie dough by the tablespoon onto a large baking sheet, leaving about 2-inches between each cookie. Press down on cookie dough ball lightly with the palm of your hand or the bottom of a glass until about 1/2-inch thick. Bake 10-13 minutes until lightly browned.
  • Cool completely.

Notes

For the roundest of cookies, you can roll them between your palms before dropping onto the baking sheet. Then, lightly press as directed before baking.

Nutrition

Calories: 83kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 15mg | Sodium: 52mg | Potassium: 16mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 125IU | Calcium: 5mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Enjoy!
Robyn xo

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About Robyn

Robyn Stone is a cookbook author, wife, mom, and passionate home cook. Her tested and trusted recipes give readers the confidence to cook recipes the whole family will love. Robyn has been featured on Food Network, People, Southern Living, and more.

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Recipe Review




77 Comments

    1. Hi Aparna,
      I wouldn’t recommend switching the type of sugar in this recipe. However, a similar cookie recipe that does use confectioner’s sugar is this key lime shortbread cookie recipe (https://addapinch.com/cooking/key-lime-shortbread-cookies-recipe/). You can omit the key lime zest from the recipe and add vanilla in place of the key lime juice. I hope that help!

  1. 5 stars
    Hello Robyn,

    Just made your cookies and they turned out great!! Only change I made was, instead of the chocolate buttercream, I used quince jam and also on some dulce de leche!!! (I’m from Argentina and we love this down there 😉 ) They did not last in the plate! I guess any jam would go with these cookies… Thank you for shearing!!!

  2. 5 stars
    Hi Ms. Robyn!

    I made these the other day and they are absolutely wondrous! I accidentally forgot the baking powder (I guess because I had a hard time finding it in my cabinet -), after looking high and low for it and finally finding it. The cookies still turned out perfectly without it.

    I have a lot of fresh globe basil in my garden now, and I got a wild idea to add some to the cookie batter before I added the dry ingredients. I suppose I added about 3 teaspoons of the fresh coarsely chopped basil to the recipe. A great little subtle surprise that goes well with the existing flavor of the cookie.

    I was going to make your chocolate buttercream, but decided to make thumbprints from your recipe with Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips: about a half bag or so. I melted them down slowly over low heat and added about half a stick of unsalted organic butter, along with some freshly chopped mint from my garden (approx. 7 large leaves). Then after dolloping the half-cooled chocolate mixture onto the centers of the thumbprints, my husband kept eating them…’will make a double recipe next time.

    Thanks a bunch! I’ll be making these again real soon, and probably with your buttercream recipe.
    Mel

  3. Hi Robyn , planning to do cut out cookies decorating with fondant, do you think putting your this dough in the fridge help? You have beautiful pictures!

  4. I don’t have any expresso powder nor can I find any within my local stores but I want to the make the icing today… Would the icing be terrible if I didn’t use the expresso powder this go around? Anything I can substitute the expresso powder for?

    1. You should be fine to omit it, Hope. It just enhances the chocolate flavor similar to how vanilla does so many other recipes.

  5. Since I love to use Danish Butter Cookies as crust for my cheesecakes, do you think this recipe could be used for such a purpose? How do you think it would need to be modified?