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–+ servings
many german butter cookies on a wire rack
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4.67 from 12 votes

German Butter Cookies Recipe

Crispy German butter cookies or Butterplätzchen, a classic Christmas cookie recipe, perfect for baking with children.
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Additional Time30 minutes
Total Time1 hour 10 minutes
Course: Cookies
Cuisine: German
Servings: 30
Calories: 94kcal
Author: Adina

Ingredients

  • 250 g all-purpose flour 8.8 oz/ 2 cups
  • 125 g granulated sugar 4.4 oz/ ⅔ cup
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla sugar Note 2
  • pinch of salt
  • 150 unsalted butter 5.3 oz/ ⅔ cup, cold
  • 1 egg
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 tablespoon milk
  • sprinkles Note 3

Instructions

  • Dough: Place the flour, cold cubed butter, sugar, vanilla sugar, a pinch of salt, and egg in the food processor. Process shortly to form the dough.
  • Refrigerate: Turn the dough onto the working surface and press the dough into a disc. Don't knead. Wrap in plastic foil/cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes or longer.
  • Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius/ 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line the baking trays with parchment paper.
  • Roll the dough about 5 mm/ 0.2 inches on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin. Cut the cookies with any cutters you like. Place on trays (Note 4).
  • Brush: Mix the egg yolk and the milk, brush the cookies with the mixture. Sprinkle with the sprinkles.
  • Bake for 7-10 minutes until only lightly golden. Let rest on the tray for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
  • Repeat: Roll the remaining dough and repeat. Roll all the scraps again and make more cookies.

Notes

  1. A digital kitchen scale will give you the most precise measure ensuring the best bake possible.
  2. Alternatively, use ½ teaspoon vanilla extract or a few drops of vanilla aroma. See blog post for instructions on how to make vanilla sugar.
  3. Alternatively, use chocolate sprinkles or leave the butter cookies plain. Plain cookies can be iced. To make the icing, mix 150 g/ 1 ½ cups icing sugar with about 2 tablespoons of lemon juice or water to form a thick paste that will not run down the pastries' sides. You can also decorate them with royal icing.
  4. If using only one tray repeatedly, don't place the second/third batch of cookies on a hot tray. Cut them, decorate them with sprinkles and only put them on the hot/warm tray when they are ready to go into the oven. You will not have this problem using several trays, but most people don't have more than 2 anyway. Use a plastic spatula to transfer the unbaked cookies to the tray.

Nutrition

Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 94kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 23mg | Sodium: 8mg | Sugar: 5g