Today, I am sharing the simple butter cookie dough recipe you can use for multiple kinds of cookies, such as piped cookies, cut-out cookies, icebox cookies, Linzer cookies, icing cookies... and so many more!
Why we love this butter cookie
- It is so buttery and flavorful. - I do not give up on calories to sacrifice the taste!
- It's lightly crispy and not too crunchy.
- The dough is very easy to make - It'll be done within 15 mins!
- You can use it for so many kinds of cookies.
🍪 You may be surprised to find out I made the 10 kinds of cookies all from this one dough! Piped cookies, snowball cookies, slice-and-bake cookies, gingerbread man cookies, and even chewy cookies (chocolate chips, chocolate, and molasses)! I'm showing how to make those holiday cookies in this post.
You'll learn essential baking tips such as:
- How to make basic butter cookie dough
- Why it's important to use soft butter
- Should we whip the butter?
- How to avoid cookies from spreading too much in the oven
- How to store it properly
... and so on.
Let's get started! 🙌🏻
Jump to:
📌 What's In Butter Cookie Dough?
- Unsalted butter
- Use soft butter so that everything blends easily.
- Powdered sugar
- You can enjoy a more crumbly, flakier texture by using powdered sugar instead of granulated sugar.
- Salt
- Whole egg
- Egg yolk
- Save the egg white for egg wash when the cookie recipe requires it.
- All-purpose flour
- Almond flour
- By adding almond flour, the texture of the cookies gets more crumbly and not too crunchy. And more flavorful!
📌 How To Make Butter Cookies
6 Steps
- Mix soft butter, powdered sugar, and salt until it looks evenly blended.
- Add a whole egg and yolk and mix until smooth.
- Add all-purpose flour and almond flour and mix until the dough looks even.
- Roll the dough and cut it into desirable shapes.
- Chill them in the fridge. (1 hour -)
- Bake at 345 F | 174 C for about 6 - 15 minutes. (or more!)
Tips With Images
Now, let me share detailed tips with images, which are all crucial for making the butter cookies.
Step 1: Mix soft butter, powdered sugar, and salt until blended evenly.
💡 The most important thing in the step is to use SOFT butter. That allows all the ingredients to blend more easily.
👩🏻🍳 Mix the butter and powdered sugar at a lower speed first to prevent the sugar from scattering everywhere. And gradually turn up the speed!
Step 2. Add a whole egg and yolk and mix until smooth.
💬 The butter and eggs look very separated initially since oil and liquids don't get along! But don't worry; clean off the side and bottom of a bowl and continue mixing - It'll come together shortly!
How long should we whip the butter?
The more you whip, the more air it'll contain, and the cookies expand more in the oven. The texture gets lighter as well. Today, I stopped right after it looked smooth. Choose how much you want to mix depending on the result you want!
Step 3. Add all-purpose flour and almond flour and mix until the dough looks even.
💬 All-purpose flour is not as lumpy as cake flour, so it is not a deal-breaker even if you don't sift it. I like to mix them well with a whisk instead!
The left fours on the bottom of a bowl:
💬 Some butter and flour are left around the side and the bottom of the bowl at this point. It is important to clean on the way to make an even dough!
Lastly, mix it with a spatula and check if it's mixed evenly one more time:
💡 You should be able to get 800 g | 28.2 oz of the dough in total.
Step 4: Roll the dough and cut or shape it.
The dough is very soft at room temperature.
- If you want to roll it immediately, use parchment paper so your rolling pin does not stick to the dough directly.
- Or chill the dough in the fridge and roll it later!
Step 5: Chill it in the fridge.
Chill the cut-out or piped cookie dough completely until right before baking.
👩🏻🍳 By doing that, they don't spread too much in the oven. I like to freeze them to maximize the result!
Step 6: Bake!
Bake at 345 F | 174 C for about 6 - 15 minutes. (or more!)
- Adjust the time and temperature depending on the oven and the size and thickness of your cookies.
- To enjoy the light and crispy texture, bake the cookies until you see nice golden caramelization around the edge.
📌 Uses For Butter Cookie Dough
You can make multiple kinds of cookies with this dough, such as:
- Cut-out cookies
- Piped cookies
- Icing cookies
- Linzer cookies
- Icebox cookies
... and so on.
Check out this post to see how you can make the festive holiday cookie box from one batch of this recipe!
📌 Frequently Asked Questions
Wrap the dough tightly and store it in the fridge for up to 4 days or a few months in the freezer.
Store them in an air-tight container for up to 4 days at room temperature or 2 weeks in the fridge, but eating them sooner is better. The cookies get stale and dried over time.
Adding silica gels to the container is a great option if you want your cookies to stay crispy.
Yes! You can add any flavors you like.
I do not recommend that since it contains raw eggs in it. Store in the fridge or freezer for food safety reasons.
📌 VIDEO: Watch How To Make It!
Watch this video to learn how to make this cookie visually and have a deeper understanding of all.
Don't forget to subscribe if you liked it! 😉
Check Out Other Cookie Recipes
📌 Printable Recipe
💬 If you loved this recipe, please share your feedback on this post! I always love to hear how you enjoyed it with your friends and family.
Simple butter cookies
Equipment
- Stand mixer with a pedal Or a bowl with a whisk and spatula
- Whisk to mix flours
- Spatula
- Plastic wrap to wrap the dough to store
Ingredients
- 8 oz Butter (soft) 2 US sticks
- 5 oz Powdered sugar 1 ⅙ US cups
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 1 egg Whole egg
- 1 yolk Egg yolk Save the egg white for egg wash if you need it.
- 10 oz All-purpose flour 2 ¼ US cups
- 3 oz Almond flour ⅞ US cup (3 ¼ cups + ⅛ cup)
Instructions
- Mix soft butter, powdered sugar, and salt in a bowl until it's evenly blended.8 oz Butter (soft), 5 oz Powdered sugar, ¼ teaspoon Salt
- Add a whole egg and yolk and mix until smooth. (Clean the side and the bottom of a bowl on the way.)1 egg Whole egg, 1 yolk Egg yolk
- Add all-purpose flour and almond flour and mix until it's evenly incorporated. (Clean the pedal and the bowl on the way.)10 oz All-purpose flour, 3 oz Almond flour
- If you want to roll it immediately, use parchment paper so your rolling pin does not touch the dough directly. Or chill the dough in the fridge first and roll it later!Cut it into desirable shapes.
- Chill the cut-out cookies in the fridge (preferably in the freezer) before baking it. It prevents the dough from spreading too much in the oven.
- Bake at 345 F | 174 C for about 6 - 15 minutes (or more!).Adjust the time and temperature depending on the oven and the size and thickness of your cookies.To enjoy the light and crispy texture, bake the cookies until you see nice golden caramelization around the edge.
Video
Notes
How to store it:
Wrap the dough tightly and store it in a fridge for up to 4 days or a few months in a freezer. Chill the cut-out or piped cookie dough completely until right before baking. By doing that, they don't spread too much in the oven. I like to freeze them to maximize the result! One batch of the recipe makes about 800g | 28.2oz of the dough ** For best results, measure ingredients with a scale. All recipes are designed with weighed ingredients using grams/ounces. Cup measurements are provided for your convenience. **Nutrition
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Erika says
Hi Aya,
I would like a full recipe on the Mini Chewy Chocolate cookies that you made in your 10 holiday cookies video. Please, God bless you and your new journey.
Chewy mini chocolate cookiesChocolate dough: 100g | 3.5oz Brown sugar: 16.6g | about 0.6oz (⅙ of the chocolate dough)Baking soda: ⅛ tspMilk: 1 & ½ tsp
ayacaliva says
Hi Erika! I listed the quantities of the ingredients and directions in my separate blog; "10 holiday cookies from one dough". You can also jump from the link in this post. I hope that is what you are looking for!
Thank you so much for watching my videos and hopping on here as well!
Aurora says
This is by far the best cookie dough I have ever made. They turned out incredible, so buttery and delicious. Truly an impeccable recipe I am so glad I came across it. Also loved all your tips on how to freeze the dough to retain shapes on cooking.
Merry Christmas and happy baking xx
ayacaliva says
I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for sharing🥰 Merry Christmas!!
Jackeline says
Hello
This looks amazing and I am inspired to make this. Can you help me convert the grams to cups? I looked online to convert and I get different answers.
ayacaliva says
Hi!
It's listed in the printable recipe. Cups are not most precise measurement especially for flours, so unfortunately you might get a wide range of answers online. I recommend using a scale only if you have one!
Jackeline says
Is the 3 OZ Almond flour just 7/8 US Cup?
ayacaliva says
1 cup of almond flour is usually about 95 - 100 grams. 3 oz is 85 grams, so it's roughly about 7/8 cup. I know it's confusing, I wish I could do something more simple like 2/3 cup!😅