Annie's Butter Cookies
Submitted by pwelsh
Annie’s butter cookies: one buttery, rich dough that shapes into candy canes, pinwheels, spritzes, cutouts, or drop cookies. The Christmas-cookie foundation worth memorizing.
YIELD
6 servingsPREP
20 minCOOK
10 minREADY
40 minThis is the master butter cookie dough that kicks off a dozen different holiday cookies from a single bowl. Just butter, sugar, egg yolks, vanilla, flour, and salt, the kind of lean ingredient list that tells you the technique is doing the work.
Egg yolks only (no whites) are what keep these cookies tender and rich instead of crisp-snappy. The missing whites mean less protein structure, which translates to a shortbread-adjacent texture that melts on the tongue.
The dough is genuinely versatile: pipe through a star tip for spritz-style rosettes, chill and slice for roll cookies coated in chocolate shots, tint half with red food coloring and twist into candy canes, or roll out and cut into Christmas shapes.
The non-negotiable rule across every shape is “do not brown." Pull the cookies when they look barely set, pale and soft on top, as they keep cooking on the hot pan for another minute. Golden edges mean overdone and the texture goes from tender to dry.
Transfer to waxed paper while still warm to cool.
Chef Tips
- Use room-temperature butter, softened but still cool to the touch, for proper creaming
- Sift the flour before adding, lumps in a low-ingredient dough show up in the finished cookie
- For piped cookies keep the dough at room temperature, chilled dough cracks through a pastry tip
- For cut-out shapes chill the dough hard before rolling or it will stick to the counter
Variations
- Add 2 teaspoons of lemon zest and swap vanilla for almond extract for a brighter profile
- Dip cooled cookies halfway in melted dark chocolate and sprinkle with flaky salt
- Press a thumbprint into each drop cookie and fill with raspberry jam before baking
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat oven to 350℉ (180℃).
With an electric mixer (even the hand-held kind), cream together butter and sugar.
Add egg yolks and vanilla and mix well.
Sift flour and salt together and beat into butter mixture until well mixed.
When ready to bake use an ungreased cookie sheet and place cookies 1 inch apart.
Bake for about 10 minutes, but do not brown them.
Remove cookies from cookie sheet while still warm and cool on sheets of waxed paper.
Decorate, if you like.
Shapes: Candy Canes: Divide 3 cups of dough in half.
Add 1½ teaspoons red food coloring to one half.
Using about a tablespoon of dough, roll a 4 inch strip of each color (no fatter than a pencil).
Place the two colored rolls side-by-side and press lightly together.
Gently twist like a rope and place on ungreased cookie sheet 1 inch apart.
Curve the top like a candy cane and bake about 10 minutes; do not brown.
You can sprinkle with crushed peppermint candy.
Rolled Cookies: Shape dough into rolls with width of a cookie.
Wrap in waxed paper and chill.
Before baking, roll in chocolate shots.
Slice ½ inch thick and bake on ungreased cookie sheet at 350℉ (180℃) F for 10 minutes; do no brown.
Stars, Hearts, Circles and Jelly-Filled: Fill a pastry bag with unchilled dough and put through a ‘star tip’ (sizes 2 and 7 - 9).
Squeeze onto cookie sheet into the shapes you like.
For instance, make star, then fill baked cookie center with red jelly.
Decorate these cookies with cinnamon hearts, mini chocolate morsels, color sugar, little silver balls, or frosting from a tube.
Bake them, same as others.
Do not brown.
Cookie Cutter Cookies: Chill dough.
Roll out onto lightly floured board to thickness of ½ inch.
Cut with cookie cutters and bake as mentioned above.
Decorate your own way.
Plain Old Drop Cookies: Just drop unchilled dough by teaspoonful onto ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake 350℉ (180℃) F for 10 minutes.
Don’t brown.
Remove from pans immediately.
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