Danish Butter Cookies

Yum. These smell and taste so good. They remind me of Pepperidge Farm Chessmen Cookies, which I used to eat by the container because I loved them so much. These sparkle with the sugar on top and are perfect for holiday cookies. They are buttery and sugary and just really good. I found them in Gourmet December 2008 magazine.


Danish Butter Cookies

4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
4 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cups granulated sugar
1 large egg beaten
1/2 cup sugar in the raw

I halved the recipe (above is the original) and I got 45 cookies, so unless you are making enough cookies for an army I would recommend halving the recipe and getting a more manageable amount of cookies. As is Gourmet says the recipe will make 9 dozen!

Mix flour and baking soda together in a bowl. Meanwhile beat butter with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the sugar then the flour mixture until combined.

(If you are doing the full 9 dozen cookies) you should split the dough in half and roll out two separate 15 by 10 rectangles. Place the ball of dough between two pieces of plastic wrap and roll out using a rolling pin (I rolled out one.) Place on a baking sheet and put in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes. Once the dough has chilled preheat your oven to 325 degrees and cut the dough into 2 by 1 1/2 inch squares. I used a ruler it just makes the process a lot easier. Reroll out the scraps. These do not spread a lot so you can fit about 8 on a tray at a time.

Brush each cookie with the egg and then sprinkle the tops with the coarse sugar. Bake for 10-15 minutes just until the tops start to get golden from the sugar. Let cool on the trays for a minute before removing to cooling racks.


Serve or pack up to freeze and bring to your holiday festivities.