Homemade butter cookies

How to make butter cookies .

At home they ask me many times to make cookies and, although I usually resist because of the caloric issue.

They are the best homemade butter cookies  I have ever tasted.

I can’t tell you where I got this cookie recipe because the truth is that it has been in my “delicious things” folder for a long time but they are impressive.

You will think that making some butter cookies is not so bad, that it is simply about mixing flour, sugar and butter, but in my experience proportions are everything and the treatment is also.

The result varies considerably depending on whether we use one amount or another of butter with respect to flour and we must take into account several “tricks”.

The end result is a crispy, crisp and very tasty cookie. Very similar in flavor to the Danish cookies in the blue tin, they are not exactly the same but they are just as good.

These cookies are among my favorites, compete directly with crackers cream , the oatmeal cookies   or crackers crispy chocolate.

I can only tell you that the recipe is very easy and that there can be no excuse for not preparing them. So you can enjoy some homemade cookies at home.

Delicious and very easy to make, they are ideal for snacking, to accompany a coffee or tea … or to drink at any time.

I leave you how to make butter cookies similar to Danish pastries. I am sure that if you dare to prepare them the result will surprise you.

Preparation of the shortbread dough

1. In a bowl put the butter at room temperature cut into cubes and add the sugar.
2. Mix well with a fork until a thick cream forms and the sugar is incorporated.
3. Add the vanilla essence and beat until incorporated.
4. We throw the flour and with the help of a wooden spoon we begin to stir trying to integrate it with the butter.
5. When we see that the spoon no longer serves us to continue gathering the ingredients we continue with our hands.
6. The texture is like crumbs but with our hands we will compact the dough until we can make a ball.
7. To make the process easier I have prepared the dough to be able to cut it with a knife and not have to roll it out with a rolling pin to use cutting tools.
8. Thus the work is much less and the appearance will be of a rustic cookie. We cut the dough into two halves and give them an elongated shape.

Shape butter cookies

1. We wrap each part in a plastic wrap like a candy.
2. We keep the packages in the fridge for 1 or 2 hours until we see that the dough is hard.
3. If we wanted to use cookie cutters or molds we would remove the dough from the fridge when it was more or less compact.
4. Not totally hard, and with a kitchen roller we would stretch it and cut with the cutters. If the dough is very hard, it is impossible to stretch it with the rolling pin.

Baking and final presentation of cookies

1. We remove the dough from the fridge. We remove the plastic wrap and with a knife we ​​cut the cookies with a thickness of more or less ½ centimeter.
2. While the oven is heated to 200º C with heat up and down we keep the already cut cookies in the fridge so that they harden again. It is very important to prevent the cookies from deforming in the baking.
3. We place the cookies in the oven dish on a paper suitable for the oven, leaving a little space between them. Sprinkle with sugar.
4. Bake (medium tray with heat up and down) in two batches for approximately 12-14 minutes, the first 5 minutes at 200ºC, and the last 8-10 at 180ºC.
5. It depends a lot on your oven, but notice that they begin to brown on the edges.
6. We leave a few minutes in the tray itself so that later they are easy to manipulate and that they do not break.
7. We remove the tray from the oven and, with great care and the help of a spatula, we place them on a rack until they cool.
8. At the moment of leaving the oven the cookies are very soft and it is very easy to break them, that’s why we have to be especially careful when handling them.

Once cold, they harden. With this recipe you will get about 30 units, approximately about € 0.15 / unit. Really magnificent!

You can see all the step-by-step photos of this butter cookie recipe  in this album.

Tips for preparing your butter cookies

To those who ask me by email your questions, I leave the answer:

• What is vanilla essence and where to find it?
  The essence or extract of vanilla as its name indicates, is a concentrate. It is used to flavor foods and drinks obtained from the vanilla bean. You can find it liquid or solid. The one I normally use in my recipes is the liquid essence of the Vahiné brand, 200 ml: “Vanilla flavor for food products” . You can find it in Carrefour, El Corte Inglés, Caprabo-Erosky, Alcampo, Mercadona … It is usually in the products section to prepare powdered desserts for custard, jellies, cakes, etc.
• What is kitchen parchment paper or parchment paper? Where to find it?
  Also called Wax Paper, baking paper or wax paper in Latin America. Baking paper is a very practical product for kitchen use, both for preserving food and for baking. It is chemically treated to resist high temperatures (up to 220º C). It is moisture resistant and greaseproof, it does not disintegrate even in boiling water. It can be found in any large surface or supermarket. In specialty confectionery stores and even in Chinese stores (I bought the last one in one of them under my house). Always have it in your kitchen. It will save you from a lot of trouble when unmolding a cake or your favorite cookies.