These Soft Butter Cookies are delicate, tender, packed with buttery goodness and are fabulous dipped in dark chocolate. The classic swirl design is impressive and so easy to make at home!
When I first came across this recipe over at Cooking Classy, I was instantly attracted to the beautiful cookie design. Like, literally obsessed with the look of these cookies. They are just so pretty and seriously, who doesn’t love a classic butter cookie?! I knew I had to make them.
So, I love me a good butter cookie, but I’m not a HUGE fan of crunchy, crumbly cookies…I even make my biscotti on the soft side. Anytime I’ve gotten butter cookies from a bakery or store, they are typically very dry throughout. I prefer something with some chew or a fluffy/cake-like consistency, so when I came across this recipe for homemade butter cookies I immediately scrambled into the kitchen to get baking.
As far as list of ingredients goes, this recipe is super simple. You’ll have everything you need in your pantry. The only special tools you’ll need are a large, star piping tip (or like the one in this awesome set) and a heavy duty piping bag. Note: a small star piping tip WILL NOT WORK. The opening will be too narrow for the dough to push through (trust me, I tried it!).
Ingredients aside, when I stumbled upon this recipe, a couple of questions did pop into my head…
Is piping cookie dough difficult?
I have to be honest, I was a little intimidated by the look of this cookie. I don’t have the best piping skills, but I was determined to get a hang of the pretty, swirly, rose-shape. The only thing that makes it a little more challenging to work with is the fact that the dough is obviously going to be thicker than buttercream or other frostings. It’s a little more stiff but as long as you get the consistency of the dough right, you’ll be in good shape!
How will I know what the right consistency is?
The first time I made these cookies, I had made a perfect dough ball and it felt soft enough. When I went to pipe it, the dough was literally impossible to push through the piping bag. It took me about 3x to get it right. The key here is that the dough should not form a ball shape. You should be looking for the dough to be the consistency of stiff buttercream. The recipe calls for 2 teaspoons of milk to help thin out the dough, and more if needed. However, the catch is, to add as little milk as possible. More milk = more spreading, and you want these cookies to not spread so that the shape holds up.
Don’t worry, there’s an easy fix!
Once I realized my dough was WAY too thick, I just emptied the dough from my piping bag back into the mixing bowl and added a teaspoon of milk at a time, until the dough became sticky and turned into more of a thick batter. This cookie dough is very forgiving and it’s easy to go back and try again.
Don’t get me wrong, the batter is still going to take some force to pipe through, but it should come out fairly smoothly. After finally nailing down the right consistency, it then took me a few tries to get the hang of the shape. The trick to making these is to start by holding your piping bag straight up, applying pressure to push some dough out and pulling it up just a little bit, before wrapping the swirl around the center.
If that doesn’t make sense, here’s a quick video so you can visualize it!
Having heavy duty piping bags on hand is always great because you don’t have to worry about them popping at the seams, even when you’re working with a thicker batter like this one.
Because this recipe is so butter-heavy, I recommend keeping an extra close watch on them in the oven. I found that it helped to turn the tray halfway through baking so that all the cookies bake evenly. If you want to keep your cookies soft, bake them until they are VERY light golden brown on the edges. If you want a crisper cookie, these can hang in the oven for a little longer.
These Soft Butter Cookies are everything I hoped for, and more. They are butter cookie perfection, and they are also FABULOUS dipped in chocolate. I’ll leave that choice up to you (but seriously, do it…DO IT!). 😉
These Soft Butter Cookies are delicate, tender, packed with buttery goodness and are fabulous dipped in dark chocolate. The classic swirl design is impressive and so easy to make at home!
- 1 cup butter softened
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tsp milk more if needed
- Chocolate or candy melts for dipping
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cookie trays with parchment.
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In a large bowl, cream the butter, sugar & salt until light and fluffy.
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Add the egg yolks and vanilla and mix until well combined.
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Measure in the flour and mix until large crumbles form. Add in the milk and mix well. If the dough is not sticky, add a teaspoon of milk at a time until it is sticky and has the consistency of thick buttercream. Avoid using too much milk as this can cause the cookies to spread too much.
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Transfer the dough to a extra large, heavy duty piping bag fitted with a large open star tip.
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Pipe the dough into rosettes by using the following motion; pipe the dough up slightly, then wrap around and pull gently to release.
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Bake in the oven until light golden brown on the edges, about 12 - 16 minutes.
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Allow to fully cool on baking sheet.
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Optional: Dip in melted chocolate and decorate with sprinkles. To melt chocolate, place in microwave for 10 second intervals, stirring well between each.
Links to supplies you'll need for this recipe:
Piping Tips
Heavy Duty Piping Bags
Recipe by Cookingclassy.com
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