When I need a cookie platter or a batch of edible gifts and the week has gotten away form me, these Christmas Butter cookies are what I bake. They take about 25 minutes and the piped swirls dipped in chocolate look like they came from a bakery.
I first made these when I was a young mom and wanted to look fancy. And boy did they impress. The kids thought they have special cookies from a bakery, my neighbors thought I spent all day making them, and I feel like a professional and had out done myself.
Being in the kitchen since I was just a little girl gave me confidence. These butter cookies were ones I was most nervous about but quickly found they were not hard at all. In fact, they were so fun. There is a little learning curve with the dough texture. Too stiff and the dough won't pipe through a tip. Too soft and the dough won't hold it's shape when baking. Measuring ingredients with a kitchen scale really helps.
With my boys and all their friends the chocolate dipped cookies were always the first ones chosen. So why not make them fancy and dip in both white and regular melting chocolate and sprinkle with holiday sprinkles.
"I had my kids help dip the cookies in chocolate and add the sprinkles. Great recipe. We loved it!"
~ Smith Family
If you like these fun festive Christmas cookies, you'll love my other delicious cookie ideas for the holiday season!
Try these No-Bake Nutter Butter Cookies or these yummy Iced Oatmeal Cookies, or go all-out and make these decadent but delightful Eggnog Cookies with Eggnog Buttercream!
What are Christmas Butter cookies?
Christmas butter cookies are soft, buttery cookies made from a pipable dough, shaped into swirls, stars and other festive shapes, then dipped in chocolate and finished with sprinkles. This recipe uses 7 ingredients, bakes at 350F degrees for 10 to 12 minutes and makes about 24 cookies in about 25 minutes. They are also called Christmas butter biscuits. Using Butter, Powdered Sugar, Almond Extract, Egg, All Purpose Flour, Milk, Melting Chocolate and Holiday Sprinkles.
How I Tested These Christmas Butter Cookies
I made this dough many times and tested over and over before landing on this version. I tried different size piping tips and found the tip opening of at least ½ inch so the dough pipes easily and still holds it shape while baking. I also tested chilling the dough after it's piped and before baking to see which shapes kept their swirl. And I baked for different lengths of time. I wanted a light buttery cookie with some crisp edges, not too soft and not overly baked.
I found that the softer dough pipes super easily but also doesn't hold up in the oven and loses its shape. When chilling the swirled cookies the process holds up in the hot oven and keeps it's shape while still giving the perfectly baked cookie with crisp edges. All ingredients are weighted and I used room temperature ingredients too.
Ingredients for Christmas Butter Cookies
A closer look at each ingredient and its role in the recipe.
- Butter: It's a butter cookie of course, you will need a good butter.
- Powdered Sugar: Adds a soft sweetness to the cookie without being too much sweet.
- Almond Extract: When Vanilla extract isn't enough, try Almond. The flavor is wonderful.
- Egg: Binds the ingredients together holding shape
- All Purpose Flour: Flour gives the cookie what it needs to be a cookie.
- Milk: Adds a little moisture
- Melting Chocolate: For dipping the baked cookies into.
- Holiday Sprinkles: Because holiday sprinkles are just fun!
How to Pipe Christmas Butter cookies
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and place parchment paper onto a baking sheet.
In a large bowl with an electric mixer, or in a bowl of a stand mixer at medium speed, cream Butter and Powdered Sugar together. Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl as needed to use all of the ingredients. The mixture will turn light and fluffy.
Add the Almond Extract and the Egg to the butter mixture and continue to cream together until fully mixed.
Mix in All Purpose Flour. This will thicken the cookie dough.
To thin the cookie dough slightly, add 1-1 ½ tablespoons of milk and stir to combine.
Place the cookie dough into a piping bag with a large open star tip on the end. The tip should have an opening of at least ½ an inch.
Using a swirl motion, pipe the cookie dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Create a 1-2 inch swirl to make a rosette or try another cookie shape of your choice.*
Chill the shaped cookie dough for 15 - 30 minutes in the refrigerator before baking it. This helps to keep cookies from spreading while baking.
Optional - Sprinkle the unbaked cookie with coarse sugar before chilling and baking for a simple Butter Cookie garnish.
Bake butter cookies in a preheated oven to 350 degrees F for 10-12 minutes. Cookies will be done when the edges are starting to go a golden brown color.
Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for a minute or two before moving them to a wire rack to cool completely.
How to Dip Butter Cookies in Chocolate and Add Sprinkles
Dip baked and cooled Butter Cookies into melted chocolate.
Immediately sprinkle with holiday sprinkles. Allow chocolate to cool and harden before serving or storing the cookies.
Frequently Asked Questions
Christmas Butter Cookies
Butter cookie dough is a bit softer than sugar cookie dough, as it has a higher butter-to-flour ratio.
It is better to pipe butter cookie dough onto a baking sheet rather than make it into dough balls or roll and cut it out.
You can make these piped cookies into some interesting shapes, and the cookies are quite sturdy after baking, which makes them great for gifting!
Sugar cookies are also sturdy after being baked and make good gifts. Sugar cookie dough can be rolled out and cut into different shapes using your favorite cookie cutters.
Storage: Cooled Christmas butter cookies can be stored in a sealed container at room temperature for up to a week. Cookies are best if enjoyed within 2-3 days of being freshly baked.
Freezing: Freeze your decorated cookies by placing them in an airtight container or covering them in plastic wrap and putting them in a Ziploc bag and keeping them in the freezer for up to 3 months. Put some parchment paper between each cookie to prevent sticking when they defrost. Allow the cookies to thaw on the counter before serving.
Cookies are baked for 10 to 12 minutes at 350F degrees. I look for the edges to be just slightly golden.
Yes. Chill the piped cookies for 15-30 minutes before baking. If you skip this step the cookies will flatten and lose their shape during baking.
Christmas Butter cookies vs Sugar cookies: What is the Difference?
Butter cookies are a softer cookie dough that is pipped onto the baking sheet where sugar cookies for cut outs are a stiffer dough that is rolled out and then cut into shapes using cookie cutters. The cookies also have a little different texture to them. Both are simple cookies and both can be flavored with Almond extract but they are uniquely different because of the ingredients uses and how they are placed on the baking sheet.
What are Christmas Butter Biscuits?
Christmas Butter Cookies and Christmas Butter Biscuits are the same thing. Depending on where you are in the world you might call it by a different name.
How to Store and Freeze Christmas Butter Cookies
Freeze: Place decorated butter cookies in an airtight container or cover them in plastic wrap and put them in a Ziploc bag. Keep them in the freezer for up to 3 months. Put some parchment paper between each cookie to prevent sticking when they defrost. Allow the cookies to thaw thoroughly at room temperature before serving.
Storage: Cooled Christmas butter cookies can be stored in a sealed container at room temperature for up to a week. Cookies are best if enjoyed within 2-3 days of being freshly baked.
Butter Cookie Shapes: Swirls, Stars, Long Sticks and More
Butter cookies can be made into a variety of shapes.
- *Rosette. This is the most popular shape, to make it, use a star tip in a single swirl motion.
- Figure Eight. Using the same star tip, pipe the cookie dough into a small figure of eight.
- Long Stick. Pipe a long stick, think about ¾ inch wide and 2-3 inches long for a fun and easy shape for butter cookies.
- Star. Make a small star of cookie dough by using a star tip and piping some dough in a fixed place for a couple of seconds.
- Circle. Make a circle of dough with or without a hole in the middle (like half of a figure of eight).
- Folded Arms or Pretzel Shape. Make a slanted 'P' shape that goes into a flipped-over 'P' shape on the other side. It's like a wrapped present with a bow and looks adorable!
Substitutions & Variations
Spice it up. Add some warming spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, or even a bit of ground ginger to your cookie dough for added festive flavor.
Extracts. Substitute the almond extract for vanilla extract or peppermint extract for different flavored cookies.
Chocolate. Use milk chocolate or white chocolate to dip the cookies into. You can also add food coloring to white chocolate for alternative colors.
Icing. Instead of chocolate, you can dip these cookies into icing using a mix of water and confectioners' sugar. Alternatively, drizzle icing over the cookies for a different look.
Candy. Use any kind of sprinkles, edible stars, sanding sugars, or even crushed candy canes to decorate these cookies.
Pro Cookie Baking Tips
Tips and tricks to make this recipe turn out perfect every time
- Weighing Ingredients
- Baking Sheets
- Cooling Rack
- Test Batches for time
Pro Tips
What makes a good cookie? Does it have a soft center, crispy edges, and chewy? Each of these makes a great quality cookie. To make perfect cookies every time here are some pro tips.
To find out more, check out my Pro Tips Guide for making the best cookies every time!
Weighing Ingredients.
Baking is a science and adding too much or too little of any of the ingredients will alter the recipe. Weighing and measuring dry ingredients properly makes a world of difference. Investing in a kitchen scale is ideal. When a kitchen scale is not available make sure to stir and lift ingredients before scooping them into a measuring cup.
Baking Sheets.
You can use an ungreased baking sheet if you prefer. I like to use Parchment Paper to line baking sheets or a Silicone Mat for easy cleanup.
Baking Time.
Every oven heats a little differently. I recommend doing a test batch of 1-3 cookies to test the baking time for a perfectly baked cookie before baking the remaining dough.
Cookies.
Cookies are perfectly baked when they are starting to turn a golden brown.
Cooling Rack.
Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for a minute or two before moving them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Kitchen Scale. I use this for accuracy in measuring and it's a lifesaver when it comes to consistent baking
- Wire Rack for cooling cookies. I like to have at least 2 cooling racks
- Mixing Bowls. A Large Mixing Bowl for mixing ingredients and small and medium mixing bowls for other ingredients
- Cookie Sheet. Most recipes will take 2 batches to bake. It's great to have multiple baking sheets available
- Parchment Paper or Silicone Baking Mat. Line the Cookie Sheet with parchment paper for easy cleanup and to prevent sticking.
- Cookie Scoop. A small #60 Cookie Scoop or a Medium Cookie Scoop #50 are great choices for uniform drops of cookie dough.
- Storage Container. An Airtight Container to store cookies or a Ziploc Bag works great too.
- Additional supplies. Measuring Cups and Measuring Spoons along with a silicone spatula are all helpful
Have you tried this Christmas Butter Cookie recipe?
Let me know what you thought of this recipe! Tag @bestcookierecipes on social media so I can see how great your cookies are! I would also love to read your comments below. Let me know what you thought of these Christmassy cookies. It really does help!
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Chocolate Dipped Butter Cookies with Sprinkles
Ingredients
- 1 cup Salted Butter Softened
- ¾ cup Powdered Sugar 98g
- 1 teaspoon Almond Extract
- 1 Egg Large
- 2 cups All Purpose Flour 240g
- 1 ½ tablespoon Milk
- ½ cup Chocolate White or Semisweet Chocolate Melted
- Holiday Sprinkles optional
- Coarse Sugar optional
Instructions
Cookies
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large bowl cream Butter and Powdered Sugar together. The mixture will turn light and fluffy. 1 cup Salted Butter , ¾ cup Powdered Sugar
- Add Almond Extract and Egg to the butter mixture and continue to cream together. 1 Egg , 1 teaspoon Almond Extract
- Mix in the All Purpose Flour. The cookie dough will thicken. 2 cups All Purpose Flour
- To thin dough slightly add 1-1 ½ tablespoons of milk and combine. 1 ½ tablespoon Milk
- Place cookie dough in a piping bag with a large open star tip. The tip should have an opening of at least ½ an inch.
- Using a swirl motion, pipe the cookie dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Create a 1-2 inch swirl to make a rosette or try another cookie shape of your choice.*
- Chill cookie dough for 15 - 30 minutes in the refrigerator before baking. This helps to keep cookies from spreading while baking. Optional - Sprinkle the unbaked cookie with coarse sugar before chilling and baking for a simple Butter Cookie garnish.
- Bake butter cookies in a preheated oven to 350 degrees F for 10-12 minutes.
- Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet before moving them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Decorate
- Dip baked and cooled butter cookies into melted chocolate and sprinkle with holiday sprinkles. Allow chocolate to cool and harden before serving or storing. ½ cup Chocolate White or Semisweet Chocolate , Holiday Sprinkles, Coarse Sugar
Notes
- If you use unsalted butter, you can add a ¼ teaspoon of salt.
- Storage: Cooled Christmas butter cookies can be stored in a sealed container at room temperature for up to a week. Cookies are best if enjoyed within 2-3 days of being freshly baked.
- Freeze: Place decorated butter cookies in an airtight container or cover them in plastic wrap and put them in a Ziploc bag. Keep them in the freezer for up to 3 months. Put some parchment paper between each cookie to prevent sticking when they defrost. Allow the cookies to thaw thoroughly at room temperature before serving.
- *Rosette. This is the most popular shape, to make it, use a star tip in a single swirl motion.
- Figure Eight. Using the same star tip, pipe the cookie dough into a small figure of eight.
- Long Stick. Pipe a long stick, think about ¾ inch wide and 2-3 inches long for a fun and easy shape for butter cookies.
- Star. Make a small star of cookie dough by using a star tip and piping some dough in a fixed place for a couple of seconds.
- Circle. Make a circle of dough with or without a hole in the middle (like half of a figure of eight).
- Folded Arms or Pretzel Shape. Make a slanted 'P' shape that goes into a flipped-over 'P' shape on the other side. It's like a wrapped present with a bow and looks adorable!
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