Danish butter cookies are made with a few simple ingredients and are so buttery and delicious. If you like the cookies that come in tins, you'll love these!
You might also like our pumpkin-shaped shortbread cookies, our frosted fudge shortbread cookies, or our English toffee recipe!
It simply isn't the holidays without butter cookies. If you like the crisp, buttery cookies that come in tins, you'll love this version. If you like spritz cookies, you'll love these. If you like shortbread cookies you'll love these. And if you love the rosette-shaped Danish cookies (that come in a tin), you'll love these. Mine are BETTER.
Why I Like This Recipe
- Easy to customize. Add different extracts, dip in chocolate, or add sprinkles.
- Simple ingredients. You only need a few ingredients to make these buttery cookies.
- No chill recipe. You can chill the dough after shaping the cookies if you'd like, but I like mine to spread slightly, so I do not chill the dough.
- Cookies stay crispy for days. The cookies will crisp as they cool. You can enjoy them warm or cold — I prefer them cold because the flavors really shine through! They will stay crisp for a couple of days, then soften slightly.
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Tips and Tricks
We're not piping frosting, we're piping cookie dough, so the tip that you use matters. Here are a few options:
- Ateco 826: This is a large open star. Ideal for piping the cookie rosettes.
- Ateco 849: Large closed star. Gives a slightly different appearance, but is still large enough to pipe rosette cookie shapes.
- Wilton 2D: This tip will work in a pinch. Grab a set of small pliers and bend the prongs straight. This will open it up to be an open-star tip. I tried a 1M (which seems to be the same size as a 2D) and it was ridiculously hard to pipe through. For whatever reason, an opened-up 2D tip was easier to use.
- Wilton 8B: large open star. I used this tip for making my pumpkin shortbread cookies. The prongs are shorter so it won't give the same rosette appearance, but it's easy to pipe cookies using this tip in a different pattern.
Note: If you don't want to deal with tips and pastry bags, you can slice and bake these cookies or use a cookie press.
Ingredients
- Butter: 2 sticks of salted butter. You can use unsalted, but I always use salted butter in my baking recipes. Make sure that your butter is at room temperature. You don't want chilled butter for this recipe. If the dough is cold it will be harder to pipe the cookies.
- Powdered sugar: yes, powdered sugar, not granulated.
- Vanilla extract
- Almond extract: if you don't like almond extract you can omit it and double the vanilla extract.
- All-purpose flour
- Milk: I don't use milk in my shortbread cookies because they are rolled out and cut with cookie cutters. However, since these cookies are piped, you'll need a couple of tablespoons to soften the dough.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How To Make Piped Danish Cookies
Step 1: Combine butter, powdered sugar, and extracts in a large bowl using an electric mixer until completely mixed and fluffy. Add flour. Mix thoroughly. Add milk and mix. The dough might look crumbly, but it will come together just fine, just keep mixing.
Scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula and press the dough together.
Step 2: Fit a sturdy pastry bag (if using a disposable bag you can double it up for strength) with a large star frosting tip. Add a few spoonfuls of cookie dough.
Note: I prefer to fill the bag only about halfway. It takes less pressure to pipe the cookies vs. a loaded bag of cookie dough. Refill the bag as needed.
Step 3: With firm pressure, pipe cookies into a rosette shape on an ungreased baking sheet (or silpat-lined baking sheet). Space cookies 2" apart.
Step 4: Bake cookies for 15 minutes. Edges should be slightly golden. Allow cookies to cool for 5 minutes, then remove from the baking sheets and place onto a wire cooling rack.
Store cookies in an airtight container for up to 10 days. Cookies freeze well and can be stored in the freezer for up to 2 months.
This recipe makes 22-24 (2") cookies. The cookies will crisp as they cool. You can enjoy them warm or cold---I prefer them cold because the flavors really shine through! They will stay crisp for a couple of days then soften slightly. Store in an airtight container up to 1 week.
Danish Cookies FAQs
Danish butter cookies and shortbread cookies are very similar. Shortbread is made up of only butter, sugar, and flour. Danish cookies are lighter, crispier, and often include vanilla, milk, and an egg, although I do not use an egg in mine.
We're not piping frosting, we're piping cookie dough so the frosting tip that you use matters. Here are a few options:
Ateco 826: This is a large open star. Ideal for piping the cookie rosettes.
Ateco 849: Large closed star. Gives a slightly different appearance, but is still large enough to pipe rosette cookie shapes.
Wilton 2D: This tip will work in a pinch. Grab a set of small pliers and bend the prongs straight. This will open it up to be an open-star tip. I tried a 1M (which seems to be the same size as a 2D) and it was ridiculously hard to pipe through. For whatever reason, an opened-up 2D tip was easier to use.
Wilton 8B: large open star. I used this tip for making my pumpkin shortbread cookies. The prongs are shorter so it won't give the same rosette appearance, but it's easy to pipe cookies using this tip in a different pattern.
Note: If you don't want to deal with tips and pastry bags, you can slice and bake these cookies or use a cookie press.
Store cookies in an airtight container for up to 10 days. Cookies freeze well and can be stored in the freezer for up to 2 months.
More Shaped Cookies To Make
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Danish Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter room temperature
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 2 cups flour
- 2 Tbsp. milk
Supplies
- Large star tip (at least .5" wide)
- Frosting bag
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Combine butter, powdered sugar, and extracts in a large bowl using an electric mixer until completely mixed and fluffy.Note: make sure that the butter is room temperature, not chilled at all.
- Add flour. Mix thoroughly.
- Add milk and mix. The dough might look crumbly, but it will come together just fine.
- Scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula and press the dough together.
- Fit a sturdy pastry bag (if using a disposable bag you can double it up for strength) with a large star frosting tip. Add a few spoonfuls of cookie dough. Note: I prefer to fill the bag only about halfway. It takes less pressure to pipe the cookies vs. a loaded bag of cookie dough. Refill the bag as needed.
- Pipe cookies into a rosette shape on an ungreased baking sheet (or silpat lined baking sheet). Space cookies 2" apart.
- Bake cookies for 15 minutes. Edges should be slightly golden.Allow cookies to cool for 5 minutes then remove from baking sheets and place onto a wire cooling rack.
Notes
- Use LARGE frosting tips (at least ½" wide).
- The dough is thicker than frosting so you'll need to use more pressure to pipe the shapes.
- The cookies will flatten slightly when baked, as all cookies do. You can chill the cookies before baking for 30 minutes if you'd like to prevent some of the spreading. I've never done this. I like the look of the slightly flattened swirls.
- Cookies are best eaten cold so let them cool completely to allow them to crisp up.
Kaitlin says
I made these using the exact recipe and recommended tip but there was no chance that dough was going to pipe from the bag with the flow that it would need to create rosettes. My dough looked the same as the photos and video throughout the process but still ran into the piping issue. I knew it would require more pressure than frosting, but it was impossible to work with.
Any advice on what temp to let the dough warm up to before piping? I was afraid to warm with my hands and have it warm too much and then ruin the dough. Instead I just pushed through but ended up with these large clunky circles. Figured I'd at least see if the flavor was good. It wasn't. Very dry with too much flour (and I do spoon my flour into my measuring cup). Planned to gift to family tomorrow, but I will have to toss them.
Brandy says
The dough should be room temp, as the butter is room temp. As far as flavor, this is a basic shortbread cookie with the addition of vanilla and almond extract. Should be buttery and flavorful unless you modified the ingredients.
Elizabeth Bondarenko says
Hello. Where is the link to the video please?
Brandy says
Hi! If you scroll down to the recipe card at the end of the post the video plays inside of the card.
Kerstin says
Made cookies exactly like the recipe. Chilled in fridge before baking for like 45 mins but cookies still spread/ didn't keep shape. Took way longer to bake too. Like double. Oven is new
Brandy says
Hi! That's odd! They should spread a little, but not a lot. As far as the baking time, did you make your cookies larger than mine? It definitely shouldn't take more than 15 minutes to bake up.
Diane says
What is the correct cookie diameter?
Brandy says
The finished cookies are 2". Piped cookies are about 1.5" before baked.
Rhonda says
What is that neat cooking "pan" you're using? Silicone? Can you link me to it?
Brandy says
Hi Rhonda! It's actually a baking sheet with a silicone mat on top. These aren't the exact ones that I have, but pretty close! https://www.amazon.com/Silicone-Non-stick-Bakeware-Macaron-Making-2/dp/B09NLPZHZD/ref=sr_1_40?keywords=silpat+baking+mat&qid=1666016120&qu=eyJxc2MiOiI0LjI3IiwicXNhIjoiNC4wMSIsInFzcCI6IjMuOTMifQ%253D%253D&sprefix=silpat%252Caps%252C70&sr=8-40&_encoding=UTF8&tag=homswehom0f-20&linkCode=ur2&linkId=df54e57855e40f05f8105516135fcb7f&camp=1789&creative=9325