These beautiful, bakery style Italian Butter Cookies have just the right amount of crunch before they melt into your mouth. The soft, buttery dough is easy to pipe or can be used in a cookie press, or simply rolled into balls.
Why you'll love this recipe
Many cultures enjoy remarkably similar "traditional" butter cookies. The reason is simple.
These easy, cross-cultural treats are made with just a handful of basic, readily available ingredients. Piping, or pressing the the dough, creates a beautiful cookie with no need for further decorating.
The star cookie shape is one of the most popular Italian bakery cookies year round. During the holiday season, they are often topped with a red or green candied cherry. The rest of the year, sprinkles and chocolate add decorative color.
For additional variety and deliciousness, use the star or ridged log cookies to make Italian sandwich cookies. Melted chocolate filling makes sturdy cookies that hold up well for shipping, and jam filling is a traditional favorite.
Ingredients
Instructions
This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the recipe card below.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar for 3 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Mix in the egg yolks and vanilla. Add the flour mixture until combined. Then, if needed, add ½ tablespoon of milk at a time, just until a soft dough forms.
- Divide the dough into four portions for easier handling. Place one portion at a time in a plastic piping bag with a ½" large star tip (Wilton 4B /Ateco 864).
- Clip the sheet of parchment paper to the cookie tray to hold it in place while piping. To press star cookies, with the pastry bag held vertically, hold the tip about ½" above the baking pan and squeeze evenly until the cookie is about 1 ½" in diameter. Continue pressing cookies to fill the cookie sheet leaving 1"- 2" between cookies.
- Remove the clips from the baking sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are golden brown. Cool completely on a wire rack. Repeat with remaining dough on additional cookie sheets.
- To decorate, pipe melted chocolate onto the top center of a cookie.
- Add nonpareil sprinkles. Continue adding chocolate and sprinkles to the remaining cookies.
Storage
Store the unfilled Italian butter cookies, or cookies sandwiched with melted chocolate, in layers separated by wax paper, in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.
If sandwiched with jam, store the cookies in the refrigerator for up to one week.
Tips and variations
- This dough should be soft and easy to press, but not sticky. Many factors, like humidity in the air, can cause dough to be dry or moist. The milk in this recipe is used only if needed to make the dough soft enough to press easily.
- For flavor variations add ½ teaspoon of lemon, fiori di sicilia, or almond extract.
- For best results, the butter should be at room temperature, which means a finger tip should just be able to make a dent in the butter stick.
- Do not chill this dough before pressing. The dough should be room temperature.
- If your cookies don't hold their detail, chill the cookies after pressing and before baking, for about 30 minutes.
- Alternate ways to form butter cookies include using a cookie press or scooping and rolling in balls.
- Other common piped shapes for authentic Italian Butter Cookies include small star, log, s-shape, rings, rosettes. The same open star piping tip can be used for all of these shapes.
- Use the butter cookies to make Italian sandwich cookies with a teaspoon of strawberry or raspberry jam, chocolate, or ganache as filling.
Frequently asked questions
Though both kinds of cookies have similar ingredients, the ratios of those ingredients differ.
Butter cookies have a higher ratio of flour and sugar to help them maintain the details of their shape and include egg and a rising agent, like baking powder.
Shortbread cookies have a higher ratio of butter and don't include egg or a rising agent.
Italian butter cookies and spritz cookies are both butter cookies made with a soft dough that can be shaped with a cookie press or piping tip.
One cause of flat cookies is the cookie dough is too warm and the butter in the dough has over softened. This can be remedied by chilling the cookies for about 30 minutes, after pressing and before baking.
Another cause of flat cookies is too much moisture in the dough. Add a tablespoon or two of flour to absorb the excess moisture.
More Italian cookie recipes
Taralli Cookies are Italian Easter Cookies, a lightly sweet cookie with a crunchy sugar icing flavored with citrus. So good with a cup of tea or coffee.
Pasticcini di Mandorle are soft, flourless, almond cookies. You will be amazed at how delicious such a simple cookie can be!
Italian Chocolate Cookies have a soft, cake-like texture and a crunchy vanilla icing. Enjoy them with added chocolate chips or chocolate covered raisins.
Italian Lemon Cookies, also known as Anginetti or lemon drop cookies, are puffy, pillowy cookies coated in yellow sugar or dipped in lemon glaze.
Italian Jam Cookies have tender sugar cookie dough rolled up with a fruity jam center. Customize with your favorite jam flavors!
Biscotti, the most well known Italian dipping and munching cookie, come in many flavors. Take your pick of chocolate espresso biscotti, lemon biscotti, chocolate chip biscotti, or chocolate mint biscotti!
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Italian Butter Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
Cookies
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- pinch salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon whole milk** only if needed to create soft dough
Decorating
- nonpareil decorating sprinkles
- ½ cup melting chocolate
Instructions
Cookies
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar for 3 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Mix in the egg yolks and vanilla.
- At low speed, gradually add the flour mixture until combined. If needed, add the milk, ½ tablespoon at a time, until a soft but not sticky dough forms.
- Divide the dough in four portions. Place one portion in a plastic piping bag with a ½" large open star tip (Wilton 4B /Ateco 864).
- Clip the parchment to the baking sheet to hold it in place while piping. To press star cookies, with the piping bag held vertically, hold the tip about ½" above the baking pan and squeeze evenly until the cookie is about 1 ½" in diameter. Continue pressing cookies to fill the cookie sheet leaving 1"- 2" between cookies.
- If decorating with sprinkles only, add the sprinkles before baking.
- Remove the clips from the baking sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are light golden brown.
- Remove the cookies from the oven and cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Repeat the process, filling the bag, pressing and baking with the remaining dough.
Decorating with melted chocolate
- Place the completely cooled cookies on a wax paper lined baking sheet that will fit in the refrigerator.
- Place the melting chocolate discs in a small microwaveable bowl and melt for 1 minute in the microwave at 50% power. Remove the bowl from the microwave and mix. If the chocolate is not completely melted, return it to the microwave and heat at 50% power for 15 second intervals until melted and smooth.
- Spoon the melted chocolate into a disposable piping bag or plastic sandwich bag. Cut a tiny bit off the tip or corner.
- On top of one cookie, pipe a small circle of chocolate at the center. Sprinkle with nonpareils. Repeat for all of the cookies. Place the baking sheet in the refrigerator to firm the chocolate for about 5 minutes .
- Store the butter cookies in layers separated by wax paper, in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.
Notes
- This dough should be soft and easy to press, but not sticky. Many factors, like humidity in the air, can cause dough to be dry or moist. The milk in this recipe is used only if needed to make the dough soft enough to press easily.
- For flavor variations add ½ teaspoon of almond, lemon, or fiori di sicilia extracts.
- For best results, the butter should be at room temperature, which means a finger tip should just be able to make a dent in the butter stick.
- Do not chill this dough before pressing. The dough should be room temperature.
- If your cookies don't hold their detail, chill the cookies after pressing and before baking, for about 30 minutes.
- Alternate ways to form butter cookies include using a cookie press or scooping and rolling in balls.
- Other common piped shapes for Italian Butter Cookies include small star, log, s-shape, rings, rosettes. The same open star piping tip can be used for all of these various shapes.
- If decorating with sprinkles only, add the sprinkles before baking.
- Use the butter cookies to make Italian sandwich cookies with jam, chocolate, or ganache as filling.
- For individual cookies, wrap two cookies at a time, bottoms together, in plastic wrap.
- For cookies sandwiched with chocolate, wrap two cookies, side by side, in plastic wrap.
- Place wrapped bundles in a plastic storage container.
- Place padding (such as wadded tissue paper or wax paper) between the cookies and the lid to ensure no movement during shipping.
Jenny Lambert
Love this one
Linda
Can you freeze these cookies? Also if you are making some with only sprinkles to you bake with the sprinkles on?
Wendy Sondov
Yes, these cookies can be frozen. The nonpareil sprinkles will stick to the raw dough and can be baked. However, if you are freezing cookies with sprinkles on them, be aware than many brands of nonpareils might bleed slightly while defrosting due to condensation.
Melissa
The flavor and texture of these were great! I did have an issue with the density of the dough while trying to pipe or use a cookie press. I had to add a lot more milk to get it more pliable, but it started to get sticky. I ended up rolling out balls and making an indentation instead. I noticed that the batch with more milk browned a lot faster. They all tasted great, however. Any idea as to what I could have done wrong? Thanks!
Wendy Sondov
Good save, using the dough for drop cookie balls! As to why your dough was so dense: If the dough was too dense, my first guess would be too much flour. How do you measure your flour? If you scoop it up with the measuring cup, you will end up with too much flour. Scooping causes the flour to compact. Instead, you should fluff the flour and spoon it into the measuring cup and level the top off with a knife edge. Another thing could be that the butter wasn't room temperature and couldn't cream properly to incorporate air pockets into the mixture. Did you use room temperature butter and beat it for a full three minutes as indicated in the recipe? Those are the only things I can think of. I hope this helps.
Mary Ann Bolt
As an Italian who usually buys these at specialty bakeries this recipe was AWESOME!! And so easy...I just made them round and used the tip of a whisk to make star shaped indentations. They turned out beautifully...
Wendy Sondov
That is very high praise indead, Mary Ann! I'm glad you enjoyed the recipe and cookies. I LOVE the idea of using the whisk for star shaped indentations and will be trying that soon!! Thank you for sharing your experience and your marvelous shaping idea.
Siri Zwemke
Delicious. I ended up needing most of the milk to make the dough pipeable; my bake time was 12 to 13 minutes depending on the sized cookie I had, enjoyed piping them. Used leftover ganache I had for dipping; used silicone mats to bake on. A melt in your mouth type cookie. I got about 50 out of the recipe. Delicious!
Wendy Sondov
I so glad you are enjoying the cookies and the recipe. Ganache for dipping sounds delicious!
Carlee
I love how cute they are and simple too. So good!