Butter Crisps - 1986 Winner

These butter crisps won a 1986 baking contest, and the recipe shows why. Three egg yolks but no whites, a tiny pour of kirsch cherry liqueur, lemon zest and juice, and just enough flour to hold a shape. The result is a snappy, buttery cookie with the kind of fragrant complexity you don’t expect from such a simple ingredient list.

The kirsch is the small detail that elevates this recipe. A teaspoon and a half of cherry liqueur disappears into the dough but adds a faint almond-cherry whisper to the finished cookie. Substituting vanilla works in a pinch, but the flavor profile changes meaningfully.

The two-day aging window is real, not optional. The flour has time to fully hydrate and the butter and lemon flavors develop into something more rounded. Bake them today and they’re good. Eat them on Wednesday and they’re memorable.

Pro Tips

• Refrigerate the shaped dough ball at least an hour before rolling. Cold dough rolls cleaner and holds cut shapes better in the oven.
• Roll between two sheets of parchment instead of on a floured board. No flour means no toughening, and rerolling scraps stays viable.
• Watch carefully near the 10-minute mark. The cookies should remain pale, not browned. Color means overbaked.
• Apply sugar crystals immediately after cutting, before transferring to the sheet. They stick to raw dough but slide off baked cookies.

Variations

• Swap the kirsch for amaretto for an almond-forward variation.
• Use orange zest and Grand Marnier instead of lemon and kirsch for a citrus version.
• Sandwich two cookies with a thin layer of raspberry jam for a Linzer-style finish.