Description
This Butter Cookie Box recipe offers a delightful assortment of classic buttery cookies with three distinct flavors: plain, chocolate, and matcha. Rolled thin and baked to golden perfection, these cookies are perfect for decorating with melted chocolates, crushed pistachios, jams, and spreads, making them ideal for gifting in festive cookie boxes or enjoying any time. With a crisp texture and rich buttery taste, these cookies bring a homemade touch to your celebrations.
Ingredients
Scale
Cookie Dough Base
- 560 g all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 450 g unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 200 g granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Chocolate Flavour
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
Matcha Flavour
- 1 ½ teaspoons matcha powder
Decorations
- Coarse sugar crystals
- White chocolate, melted
- Dark chocolate, melted
- Pistachios, roughly crushed
- Nutella or Biscoff spread, warmed until melty
- Jam
- Powdered sugar
Instructions
- Prepare Flour Mixture: In a medium bowl, stir together the all-purpose flour and salt until evenly combined. Set aside for later use.
- Cream Butter and Sugar: In a large mixing bowl, use an electric hand mixer or stand mixer to beat the softened unsalted butter on medium speed until very creamy. Add granulated sugar gradually and continue to beat until the mixture is fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.
- Add Egg and Vanilla: Mix in the large egg and vanilla extract until fully combined into the butter and sugar mixture.
- Incorporate Flour: Add the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and mix on low speed until just combined. The dough will be crumbly but should hold together when squeezed. Some dry flour patches are acceptable.
- Divide Dough and Flavor: Divide the dough evenly into three bowls, approximately 400g each. Leave one bowl plain. To the second bowl, add cocoa powder and knead gently by hand until combined. To the third bowl, add matcha powder and knead until incorporated.
- Roll and Chill Dough: Place each portion of dough between two sheets of parchment paper. Using a rolling pin, roll each dough to about ⅛ inch (3mm) thickness. Transfer the rolled dough sheets to the refrigerator and chill flat for at least 1 to 2 hours until firm.
- Cut Out Cookies: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Remove the top parchment from one dough sheet and peel off the bottom so the dough remains on the parchment. Quickly use cookie cutters of your choice to cut out shapes and carefully transfer the cutouts onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing them about ½ inch apart.
- Handle Scraps and Repeat: Chill the baking sheet with cutouts in the refrigerator while re-rolling the scraps between parchment to a flat sheet, then chill again until solid. Repeat cutting with remaining dough sheets.
- Preheat Oven: Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) while the cookies chill on the baking sheet.
- Bake Cookies: Bake cookies for 12-15 minutes, depending on their size, until the edges are slightly golden brown.
- Cool Cookies: Transfer baked cookies to a cooling rack and allow them to cool completely before decorating.
- Decorate Cookies: Dip or drizzle cookies with melted white or dark chocolate. Before the chocolate hardens, sprinkle crushed pistachios or coarse sugar crystals on top. Add dollops of warmed Nutella, Biscoff spread, or jam to half of the sandwich cookie bases, dust the tops with powdered sugar, and press together.
- Assemble Cookie Box: Arrange a selection of decorated cookies in a cookie tin or box, placing larger cookies first and filling gaps with smaller cookies to create an attractive presentation.
Notes
- Wreath Cookies: Use two sizes of round cookie cutters to cut out a smaller circle from the middle of a larger one. Use the smaller cutout as another cookie.
- Sparkly Sugar Cookies: Sprinkle coarse sugar crystals on cookies before baking; avoid excess on the parchment.
- Sandwich Cookies: Cut out two rounds for each sandwich cookie; cut smaller shapes in the middle of half for a window effect.
- Inverse Cutout Cookies: Use smaller cutouts pressed into matching cutouts from a different cookie flavor for decorative contrast.
- Yield Note: Recipe yields approximately 80-100 cookies depending on size and number of sandwich cookies made, filling about 3-4 cookie boxes based on box sizes.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie (approx. 20g)
- Calories: 90
- Sugar: 5g
- Sodium: 40mg
- Fat: 6g
- Saturated Fat: 3.7g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 9g
- Fiber: 0.3g
- Protein: 1g
- Cholesterol: 15mg
