Danish Butter Cookies Recipe

Why You'll Love This Recipe

• Simple ingredients. You only need a handful of basic ingredients to make these buttery cookies.
• No chilling required. There's no need to refrigerate the dough before piping. Once the dough is mixed, you're ready to go.
• Buttery and crisp. The cookies are rich and buttery with crisp edges and a delicate texture. They crisp up even more as they cool.
• Beautifully piped. A large star piping tip turns the dough into pretty rosettes that look just like the Danish butter cookies sold in tins.
• Easy to customize. Change the piping shape, add different extracts, dip the finished cookies in chocolate, or add sprinkles for different holidays and occasions.

Tips and Tricks

• Use room-temperature butter. This is especially important for piped cookies. Cold butter will make the dough too stiff to pipe.
• Don't use parchment paper. Parchment can move around while you're piping and the dough won't grip the surface as well. Use an ungreased baking sheet or a silicone baking mat instead.
• Don't overfill the piping bag. Add only a few spoonfuls of dough at a time. Filling the bag about one-third full makes it much easier to pipe and gives you better control.
• Use firm pressure. Remember that you're piping cookie dough, not frosting. You'll need to squeeze the bag firmly to push the dough through the large piping tip.
• Use correct tips. We're not piping frosting, we're piping cookie dough, so the tip that you use matters. Here are a few options:
  • Wilton 2D: Grab a set of small pliers and straighten the prongs. This will make it an open-star tip.
  • 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 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.
• Let the cookies cool completely. These cookies crisp as they cool, so don't judge their final texture while they're still warm. I actually prefer them cold because the buttery flavor really shines.
• Skip the cookie press if you want the classic rosette. You can use a cookie press or slice and bake the dough, but piping gives these cookies their signature Danish-tin appearance.

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 few 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 with an electric mixer until well combined 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: DO NOT fill the bag more than ½ full. ⅓ full is ideal. 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 7-10 days. Cookies freeze well and can be stored in the freezer for up to 6 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

More Shaped Cookies To Make

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