This Basic Butter Cookie Dough will come very handy this Cookie Season. It is One Cookie Dough that can be used to make multiple assorted cookies of your choice. A quick fuss free way to make your Cookie Gift box too!
What is Basic Butter Cookie Dough
We all need one cookie dough recipe in our life for days when you don’t want to scroll through your phone for ideas. This is my go-to cookie dough.
The base cookie dough recipe is buttery and can be used to make pipped cookies. You can then change the texture by adding extra flour so it can be rolled to make sugar cut out cookies.
Make a big batch, but of different varieties. You don’t have to restrict to just these 4 different types of cookies I shared here.
Add the flavor you like and give your own little twist to make it special for you.
Ingredients for the cookie dough
Room temperature softened butter - You don’t want the butter to be melted. It should be room temperature soft, so you can mix it with sugar to create a fluffy texture.
White granulated sugar - For the basic butter cookie dough, I always use white sugar. You can use brown sugar too, but that will change the color of the dough and the texture too.
Egg - I use 1 egg yolk to the basic cookie dough. Egg yolk adds a richness to the dough, but it is optional, and you can discard it from the recipe.
Flour - You need all-purpose flour to make the cookie dough. You can definitely add wheat flour too for a healthier option. Do keep in mind that it will alter the texture of the cookies.
Storing the Dough
You can store the cookie dough in the freezer for up to 3 months. Just take it out and thaw for some time, so it becomes easy to roll and cut or pipe.
One Cookie Dough Makes 4 Different Kind of Cookies
I used the base cookie dough and added extra ingredients to prepare the different kind of cookies.
Pipped Butter Cookies/Biscuits
The base butter dough is pipped on a cookie sheet and baked to crumbly butter cookies. I then dipped the baked cookies in melted chocolate and added some sprinkles on top.
Nuts and Rosemary Cookies
Walnut and rosemary is my favorite combination. I added chopped walnut, raisins, and fresh rosemary to the base cookie dough along with some almond flour. Rolled and let it chill again. Then slice and bake.
Spiced Cocoa Cookies
We all love chocolate cookies, but a hint of spices like ginger and cinnamon adds the perfect warmth to the cookies. Added extra flour to get the right texture, then sliced it into tiny bite size. After baking, drizzled some melted chocolate on top.
Vanilla Sugar Cookies
I wanted a hint of red in the cookie collection, so kept it simple with vanilla flavor and added red food color along with a little bit of all-purpose flour to get the texture. Then shaped it into Linzer cookies.
Once baked and cooled, I used melted chocolate for the filling. You can use jam too.
These are 4 simple cookies I made using the same cookie dough. It all came together very effortlessly.
Keynotes
As you make the dough, it might feel sticky, but avoid adding too much flour. Just put the dough in the fridge, which will solidify the butter and will make it easy for you to handle the dough.
Also, after rolling and cutting out the cookies, place it back in the refrigerator for a while before you place it in the hot oven. This will help retain the shape.
I am sure you can come up with several different flavors to add in the same dough. As you can see in the video, making the base dough is super quick.
Basic Butter Cookie Dough
Ingredients
for the base cookie dough (this will be used to prepare pipped butter cookies)
- 2 sticks butter (1 cup total - kept softened at room temperature (NOT MELTED))
- ¾ cup granulated white sugar
- 1 egg yolk (optional)
- 1 and ½ cup all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
For Nuts and Raisins Rosemary Cookies
- ¼ cup walnut
- ¼ cup raisins
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh rosemary
- ⅓ cup almond flour
For Spiced Cocoa Cookies
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ginger powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
For Vanilla Sugar Cookies
- ¼ cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or essence
- red food color (optional)
Other ingredients
- Melted dark choclate and sprinkles to decorate the cookie
- Youc an use salted caramel or jam too
Instructions
- I used the stand mixer with the paddle attachment to prepare the base cookie dough. You can use a mixing bowl with a rubber spatula too.
- To the mixing bowl add the butter and sugar and give a mix to incorporate the sugar. Then add the egg yolk if using and mix again.
- Add the flour with the salt and mix to form a buttery mixture. Don't knead or over mix. Just make sure there are no dry flour bits. The base dough is ready, and it will be a wet, sticky dough.
- Divide the base dough into rough four portions.
- For the butter cookies, just take the first portion and put it on a pipping bag and pipe it to the cookie sheet. You can use a zip lock bag too. Shape as per your desire. Keep the cookie sheet in the refrigerator while we prepare the rest of the cookies.
- KEEP IN MIND THAT THESE BUTTER COOKIES NEEDS TO KEPT COLD UNTIL YOU PLACE IN THE HOT OVEN, OR ELSE THE BUTTER WILL MELT AND THE COOKIE WILL SPREAD WITHOUT MAINTAINING ANY SHAPE.
- For the nuts, raisins and rosemary cookie add the almond flour to the base cookie dough and give a mix using a rubber spatula. Then drop the rough chop the walnut, raisins and rosemary and using your hand mix it around. Do not knead, just form a dough and then roll it to form a log. Wrap it in clear wrap and place it in the freezer for 30 minutes.
- For the Spiced Cocoa Cookies place all the ingredients mentioned in the ingredients list to the base cookie dough and once again without kneading just form a smooth dough. Wrap it in clear wrap and flatten it a little so it becomes easy to roll later. Place it in the freezer for 30 minutes.
- For the Vanilla Sugar Cookie once again, add all the ingredients mentioned in the ingredient list to the base dough and mix to form a smooth dough. Wrap in a clear wrap, flatten it gently and place in the freezer for 30 minutes.
Letting the dough stay in the freezer will make it easy for you to roll and cut out the cookies. (DON'T SKIP THIS STEP)
- Take out the rolled nuts and rosemary cookie dough. Unwrap and then slice it into your desired thickness. You might have to shape it gently with your hand for a finer edge. Then place it next to the butter cookies that you had piped earlier to a cookie sheet. Place the cookie sheet back in the refrigerator.
- Roll the spiced cocoa cookie dough and I sliced it into tiny bite size rectangle and once again placed it next to the other cookies on the cookie sheet. Place the cookie sheet back in the refrigerator.
- Repeat the process for the Vanilla Sugar Cookie. I shaped the vanilla cookies into circles, so I could make sandwich cookies (WATCH THE FULL VIDEO)
- Once all the cookies are cut out and resting in the refrigerator. Preheat the oven to 375 F
- Bake the cookies for 13 minutes. For the cookies that are shaped bigger might take close to 20 minutes
- Let the cookies cool down completely on a wire rack before you decorate with melted chocolate.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
