Christmas Butter Cookies
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Easy, elegant and ideal for gifting, these classic Christmas Butter Cookies are soft vanilla butter cookies with crisp edges and festive chocolate dips with sprinkle garnishes. They are rich and reliable, perfect for adding to a cookie tin or making a big batch ahead of holiday entertaining.
Piped Butter Cookies Recipe
A Christmas classic, most of us recognize these cute butter cookies primarily from the pictures that adorned our grandmother’s sewing kits. (If you know, you know.)
Tender, buttery and just the right amount of sweet, these piped butter cookies are the epitome of nostalgic Christmas treats – and unlike the disappointment we all felt when we’d open up that blue cookie tin to find nothing but thread and sewing needles, these cookies are sure to leave you sweetly satisfied.
Snackable History Fact: A Christmas classic, butter cookies have long been part of European holiday baking traditions, appearing in tins and on cookie plates across Scandinavia, Germany and Central Europe. (Their first recorded reference was in 1553 in a German manuscript.)
Their defining simplicity once made them ideal for large-batch baking during winter festivals where shelf-stable ingredients were essential. The piped shape of today’s cookies echoes early Viennese butter cookies, which were prized for their decorative ridges.
While they look similar to spritz cookies, these butter cookies have a more pronounced butter flavor and are less sweet than spritz cookies, and they are also slightly softer, while still having a decent crispy crunchy on the outside before giving into a buttery, soft and tender interior.
Christmas Butter Cookie Recipe Variations:
- Almond Butter Cookies: Swap the vanilla for almond extract and use finely chopped toasted almonds instead of sprinkles.
- Orange Butter Cookies: Add 1-2 teaspoons finely grated citrus zest to the dough.
- Marble Butter Cookies: Stir 2 tablespoons cocoa powder into half the dough to create a marbled effect when piping.
- Glazed Butter Cookies: Replace the chocolate dip with a thin glaze made from powdered sugar and milk for a lighter finish.
- Raspberry Butter Cookies: Mix 2 tablespoons finely crushed freeze-dried raspberries into the dough for a lightly tart accent.
- You can reduce the sugar to 1/4 cup (a third of what’s called for below), however the cookies will be softer and more crumbly.
Christmas Butter Cookie Recipe FAQs
Why did my butter cookies spread too much? The dough likely warmed up after piping. If this happens, make sure the piped shapes freeze for at least 10 minutes before baking and use a cool baking sheet. (Piping cold dough onto a hot baking sheet will cause this as well.)
Can I make the dough ahead? Yes, the dough can be prepared and refrigerated for up to 48 hours or frozen for up to 2 months. Bring it just to a pipeable consistency before transferring to the piping bag.
What if my dough is too stiff to pipe? Let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes. If it’s still too firm, mix in 1 teaspoon milk at a time until it pipes smoothly.
How to store Christmas butter cookies: Once the chocolate has fully set, store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to five days.
The baked cookies can also be frozen for up to 3 months. Place parchment between layers so decorations don’t smudge.
If they’re dipped in chocolate, freeze them only after the chocolate sets completely.
To serve, thaw the cookies uncovered at room temperature so condensation doesn’t soften them.
Christmas Butter Cookie Ingredients
- All-Purpose Flour
- Salt
- Butter, room temperature
- White Sugar
- Vanilla Extract
- Egg
- Milk
- White Chocolate Chips
- Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
- Sprinkles
Scroll down to the printable recipe card for full measurements.
Tip: Use room-temperature butter for creaming. Cold butter won’t aerate properly, which affects the cookie’s shape and texture.
Tip #2: This recipe calls for the cookie dough to chill once piped on the parchment. If you bake without chilling, the cookies are likely to loose the ridges from the star tip and spread slightly.
Kitchen Tools You May Find Helpful
- Piping Bags
- Large Star Tip
- Cookie Sheets
- Parchment Paper or Silicone Baking Mats
- Measuring Cups and Spoons
- Mixing Bowl
- Electric mixer <– this is a great hand mixer if you don’t want to make the investment into a stand mixer
- Small Microwave-safe Bowls
How to Make Christmas Butter Cookies
Line your baking sheets with parchment paper, set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth, about 3-4 minutes.
Beat in the egg, milk and vanilla until smooth.
Slowly add in the flour and salt and mix thoroughly. Stop the machine, scrape down the sides and mix again to ensure all ingredients are incorporated.
Transfer the dough to a piping bag fitted with a large star tip. Pipe small spirals on your parchment lined baking sheets.
Allow to chill in the freezer for 10 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Bake cookies in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes or until no longer shiny and the edges are set.
Allow the cookies to cool completely before removing from the parchment.
Place the chocolate in a microwave safe dish and heat in 30 second increments and stir well between each interval until smooth. Repeat with the white chocolate. Be careful not to over-heat as the chips can scorch easily.
Lift each cookie off the parchment and hold on one edge. Dip about ½ of the cookie in the melted chocolate. Place back on the parchment and decorate with the sprinkles. Repeat with the remaining cookies using both the chocolate and white chocolate.
Pin this Classic Christmas Butter Cookies with Chocolate Dip:
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Christmas Butter Cookies
Tender, buttery and just the right amount of sweet, these piped butter cookies are the epitome of nostalgic Christmas treats - and unlike the disappointment we all felt when we'd open up that blue cookie tin to find nothing but thread and sewing needles, these cookies are sure to leave you sweetly satisfied.
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups All-Purpose Flour
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1 cup Butter, room temperature
- 3/4 cup White Sugar
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- 1 Egg
- 3 Tablespoons Milk
- ½ cup White Chocolate Chips
- ½ cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
- ¼ cup Sprinkles
Instructions
- Line your baking sheets with parchment paper, set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth, about 3-4 minutes.
- Beat in the egg, milk and vanilla until smooth.
- Slowly add in the flour and salt and mix thoroughly. Stop the machine, scrape down the sides and mix again to ensure all ingredients are incorporated.
- Transfer the dough to a piping bag fitted with a large star tip. Pipe small spirals on your parchment lined baking sheets.
- Allow to chill in the freezer for 10 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Bake cookies in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes or until no longer shiny and the edges are set.
- Allow the cookies to cool completely before removing from the parchment.
- Place the chocolate in a microwave safe dish and heat in 30 second increments and stir well between each interval until smooth. Repeat with the white chocolate. Be careful not to over-heat as the chips can scorch easily.
- Lift each cookie off the parchment and hold on one edge. Dip about ½ of the cookie in the melted chocolate. Place back on the parchment and decorate with the sprinkles. Repeat with the remaining cookies using both the chocolate and white ch
Recommended Products
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Ghirardelli Melting Wafers Variety Pack with Ghirardelli White Chocolate Melting Wafers and Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate Melting Wafers. One Stop Shopping for the Best Tasting Melting Chocolate Wafers.
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Wilton Holiday Mix 6 cell Sprinkles
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
48Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 109Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 4gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 16mgSodium: 62mgCarbohydrates: 12gFiber: 0gSugar: 7gProtein: 1g
Sugar, Spice and Glitter uses an auto-generate nutrition calculator. Nutrition information isn’t always accurate unless analyzed in a scientific lab, so these should be considered more of a guideline than medical information.
I hope your friends and family loves this easy butter cookie recipe as much as mine do!
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