These sugar-coated butter cookies use just a handful of ingredients and perfectly pair with tea or coffee. They will literally melt in your mouth!
There are so many butter cookie recipes out there! I have at least 10 different ones that I really love, and it’s so hard to pick a favorite. However, I’ve found that my guests particularly give these cookies special attention. Every time I serve them, everyone snacks without stopping until they’re all gone. They are dangerously addictive with their melt-in-your-mouth texture and powdered sugar coating. When eaten with coffee or tea, they compliment it perfectly, making them a great snack or holiday gift.
These eggless cookies are basically buttery, crumbly shortbread. They’re very easy to make as the recipe consists of just a few ingredients. The only 2 things that you must keep in mind are to use room temperature butter, and (as many of my cookie recipes suggest) to chill the dough for at least an hour to let it firm up and to prevent the cookies from spreading while baking.
Instead of using just flour, a part of it is replaced with cornstarch, which is what gives these cookies their delightful melt-in-your-mouth quality. Using powdered sugar instead of granulated sugar also contributes to the tenderness.
Speaking of sugar, not a lot of it is added to the dough. This means that, on their own, these cookies only have a mild sweetness. This is because they’re coated with powdered sugar after baking, which makes them sweet enough.
The size of these cookies makes them perfect for eating with tea or coffee. Besides, the smaller they are, the more you can have! The dough is rolled into balls around 1 inch (2.5cm) in diameter. To measure them all evenly, I use a 1-tablespoon ice cream scoop. You can make them bigger if you like, but be sure to increase the baking time accordingly. Bake until the edges are just starting to brown. Don’t worry much if the cookies spread out while baking – they will still taste delicious.
After baking, I like to roll them in powdered sugar twice so they’ll be well covered. The first time when the cookies are still warm, and the second time after they have cooled completely. You can roll them just once if you prefer, but I like just a little more sweetness.
- 1½ cups (200 grams/7 ounces) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (60 grams/2.1 ounces) cornstarch
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks/227 grams) butter, room temperature
- ⅓ cup (40 grams/1.4 ounces) powdered sugar, sifted
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup (60 grams/2.1 ounces) powdered sugar, sifted, for rolling
- In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cornstarch, and salt. Set aside.
- In a mixer bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed for 30 seconds until creamy. Add powdered sugar and beat for about 2 minutes until smooth. Beat in vanilla extract. Add flour mixture and beat on low speed just until combined. Do not over mix.
- If the dough is soft, chill in the refrigerator, covered, for 1-2 hours until firm so that cookies will spread as little as possible while baking.
- Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Line 2 pans with parchment paper.
- If cookie dough is hard to handle after refrigerating, leave on the counter for a few minutes to soften.
- Using an ice cream scoop or level tablespoon, drop rounded balls of dough, 1 inch/2.5cm in diameter, onto prepared baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until cookies just begin to brown at the edges. Leave to cool for 10 minutes. Then, while they are still warm, gently roll them in powdered sugar, careful not to cause them to crumble. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Once cooled, roll them one more time in powdered sugar if desired.
- Cookies will keep well for a few days at room temperature in an airtight container, or they can be frozen for up to a month.
45 Comments
Sarah
July 17, 2014 at 9:18 pmHi, these look delicious 🙂 they remind me a little of german vanilla kipferl’s. Well done..pics look great. On another note, may i ask where you got the cup from ? I love it. Thank you for the. Post & for your reply. Xxx sarah
Shiran
July 18, 2014 at 7:42 amHi Sarah! Thanks for all the sweet words! Sure you can ask anything, but this specific cup is actually from a little town in France. Every time I travel, I buy unique plates, cups etc. Sorry I couldn’t help you with that!
Sarah
July 18, 2014 at 8:34 amHello Shiran,
Thank you for your reply 🙂
I will keep my eyes open when i visit france again.
Merci 🙂
Dee
October 13, 2015 at 11:28 amI have to bake 70 containers of these and would like to know if I could put some fine chopped pecans and omit some of the flour and how much of each should I use
Shiran
October 14, 2015 at 4:12 amIf you want buttery, melt-in-your-mouth cookies with pecans, I suggest you make this recipe instead. It’s amazing!
Marsha Lee
July 2, 2018 at 8:49 pmHi Shiran, Thank you for this recipe. I searched for hours for a recipe that called for powdered sugar. I have a lot of powdered sugar but no granulated sugar. I just finished making the cookies and they are still delicious even though I did not do everything correctly. I did not sift any of the dry ingredients and I used a stick blender. I try not to use too many appliances and dishes. I chilled the mix for a couple of hours and then was too impatient to let it sit. So I skimmed off the edge of the batter and placed it directly onto the cookie sheet. They were small and with the second batch, I made them a little bigger and the third batch was the biggest. I don’t like real sweet desserts, so I tried the cookies with and without the sugar topping–either way, fantastic. I also did not roll into a ball as I was afraid they would get too soft. The last batch, I pressed down on the cookie some and made them flat. I will make these again soon. Thanks!
dina
July 18, 2014 at 2:05 ami love light cookies like these!
Shiran
July 18, 2014 at 7:43 amMe too Dina!
Judy
September 20, 2014 at 12:29 pmMy grandmother made these and I have never been able to find the recipe until now. Thanks!
Judy
Shiran
September 20, 2014 at 3:50 pmThat’s exciting to hear. Thanks Judy!
Anna
October 12, 2014 at 4:46 pmI made these for my friends baby shower today! Everyone was asking who had made them while walking around with powdery biscuit crumbs on their tops! They really do melt in the mouth! Very fragile, I gave mine 2 minutes longer in the oven.
Shiran
October 14, 2014 at 12:43 pmThanks for sharing Anna! I’m glad everyone likes them! 🙂
Lillian
October 29, 2014 at 6:28 amHi Shiran,
Thank you for such amazing recipe. The first time I made following the exact recipe but I thought it wasn’t sweet. So I added caster sugar and some coconut powder to taste. The cookies didn’t turn out to be melting in mouth instead chewy. Can you please advise.
Shiran
October 29, 2014 at 1:14 pmHi Lillian 🙂 If the only issue is that the cookies are not sweet enough to your taste, then you can simply add more powdered sugar (and not caster sugar, which will make them chewy). As long as you add powdered sugar to the cookie batter, the cookies will keep their melt-in-your-mouth texture. Try using 1/2 cup powdered sugar instead of 1/3 cup for the cookie batter, it should be sweet enough. Also, did you roll the cookies in powdered sugar twice? And did you use all the 1/2 cup in the recipe to roll them?
Name*
October 29, 2014 at 9:53 pmHi Shiran,
Thank you for your prompt reply. I will try again without the caster sugar. I haven’t tried rolling them in powdered sugar but just lightly sift on top of them.
Thank you again for your piece of useful information. May you have a great day. =)
Shiran
October 30, 2014 at 4:47 amThat was probably the reason why they weren’t sweet enough. In the post I mentioned that not a lot of sugar is added to the dough and therefore the cookies only have a mild sweetness – this is because they’re coated with powdered sugar after baking, which makes them sweet enough. So make sure to roll them next time 🙂 And again, no problem, have a wonderful day!
Debbie
July 19, 2016 at 12:56 amDelicious! Melt in your mouth! Never used cornstarch before. I will use this recipe from now on!
Shiran
July 19, 2016 at 3:41 amThank you, Debbie! 🙂
Ivor Amore
September 14, 2016 at 1:36 amHi Shiran,
I am going to try these to-day. My first time cooking Biscuits.
I note that there is no added baking powder in this recipe.
I checked a few others and they had 1tps baking powder in their Melt in the Mouth cookies.
2nd I will mix everything by hand as I do not have a mixer of any kind . Hope this works for now. Otherwise I shall have to invest in a Hand mixer of some sort.
I do general food cooking for the home but never any thing like deserts, cakes and so on.
Take care Ivor Amore
Shiran
September 19, 2016 at 8:50 amHi Ivor, I hope you liked the cookies! The cookies are great without baking powder, but if you prefer them more light, you can add it.
Ivor Amore
September 19, 2016 at 6:38 pmHi Shiran,
Thank you for the reply.
I followed the recipe to the letter, but found that the mix was too thin in consistency, even after keeping in the “fridge” for 20 minutes, so I added a further amount of 80g self raising flour to get the right consistency.
this also gave me some added baking powder in the mix.
They turned out just fine.
Take care
Ivor
Shiran
September 21, 2016 at 10:23 amHi Ivor, I usually keep it in the fridge for at least an hour or two to firm up, otherwise it’s too soft. I’m glad you like it though! Thanks!
Patty Cake
October 20, 2016 at 2:40 pmCan this dough be rolled out and cut into shapes with a cookie cutter? I am looking for a recipe that I can decorate with royal icing
Shiran
October 25, 2016 at 8:09 amTry this recipe, which is perfect for what you’re looking for.
Cindy
November 26, 2016 at 9:25 pmDelicious cookies, made with my daughter and they were absolutely fantastic…
Shiran
November 27, 2016 at 4:34 amThank you Cindy!
Dianne
September 14, 2017 at 9:21 pmI tried these. They spread into one large giant flat toffee like cookie. Hard . What did I do wrong?
Shiran
September 24, 2017 at 9:28 amHi Dianne, it could be that the dough was too soft and needed more chilling time, and that the butter wasn’t cold enough.
Sharon Gardner
December 1, 2017 at 3:23 pmHow could I make these as chocolate cookies? Love powdered sugar instead of granulated sugar in any recipe. Thank you
Shiran
December 6, 2017 at 9:43 amHi Sharon, that’s a great question. You’ll need to replace some of the flour with cocoa powder, but without testing it myself, I can’t really tell you how much.
Mel
January 14, 2018 at 7:12 pmThis recipe sounds amazing. I want to try to make these but I am missing the cornstarch can I just substitute with more flour? Thank you.
Shiran
January 16, 2018 at 3:43 amYou can, but the cornstarch is what gives the cookies their melt-in-your-mouth texture, so I don’t recommend it.
Paula
January 19, 2018 at 3:25 pmI just moved and I’m dying to bake something but I dont have any vanilla extract. How much will it affect the recipe without it?
Shiran
January 22, 2018 at 6:04 amHi Paula, you can make butter cookies without vanilla extract, but they won’t be as flavorful.
yanti
March 15, 2018 at 12:54 amThank you so much for the recipe. Its very nice.
Denise Casanova
May 6, 2018 at 12:26 pmThank you so much for sharing this recipe. I just made them and they are amazing.
Noelene Joseph
May 24, 2018 at 9:23 pmI just cannot wait to make them??
NaQuetta Faulkner
August 28, 2018 at 8:12 pmWe made these tonight, they are delicious!!!
Bre
November 27, 2018 at 4:45 pmIf i do everything by hand without a mixer will it turn out right?
Shiran
November 29, 2018 at 1:14 pmYou can, it will be harder, but you can google ‘how to make cookies without a mixer’, and try one of the methods.
jwhe
November 28, 2018 at 3:43 pmCould these be used in a cookie press?
Shiran
December 2, 2018 at 6:21 amI have no experience using a cookie press, sorry!
Sarah
January 26, 2019 at 9:24 pmEasy cookie to make with my 3 year old, we added a little bit of maple morsels and they were a big hit. Thanks!
Taiye
March 5, 2019 at 11:12 amHi. Thank you for the recipe. I have been looking for it. My husband is Indian and MIL makes it with a touch of cardamom. He misses it so i want to try. With love from Nigeria!
Sonia
March 10, 2019 at 4:09 pmMade these as a child in my grandmother’s kitchen, by hand. So glad to run across the recipe again.