Best Easy Butter Cookie Recipe to Make Now

November is National Family Caregivers Month and I am honored to be doing a short cooking demo for the Family Caregiver Alliance Celebration on zoom next week. The critical mission of Family Caregiver Alliance is to improve the quality of life for family caregivers and the people who receive their care. 

After thinking about the audience, I decided on an easy and delicious butter cookie recipe to demo. Here’s why:

• First, everyone could use a sweet treat. And the aromas of home baking manifests comfort and well-being.
• I wanted a cookie that was quick and easy for people who were already busy looking after others.
• Ideally, the cookie recipe should allow the baker to make it in stages to minimize the time commitment.
• The cookie recipe should not need more than basic kitchen equipment.
• It should have few ingredients and no specialty ingredients that require an extra trip to the store.
• Finally, I wanted a cookie that offered variations, to introduce some creativity to a basic recipe.
• And of course, the cookie should taste great!

Super-Simple Butter Cookies checks all the boxes. Even if you’re not a caregiver, but a grandma who loves to spend hours baking an assortment of fancy holiday cookies, you’ll enjoy baking this one, too, to add to the mix.

Keep some dough in the freezer to bake off when the grandkids come to visit. There’s nothing more welcoming than the buttery aromas of freshly baked cookies, still warm from the oven.

Super-Simple Butter Cookies

• 1 cup butter (2 sticks, 8 ounces or 16 tablespoons), softened at room temperature
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 ¼ cups flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt

In large bowl of electric mixer (see No-Equipment Method below if you don’t have an electric mixer), cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in vanilla. Add flour and salt and mix just until combined and dough begin to gather into a ball. Remove dough from mixer, divide in half and roll each half into a log about 8 inches long and 1 ½ inches in diameter. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Using a thin-bladed, sharp knife, slice rolls into 1/4-inch slices. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets and bake 12 to 15 minutes until cookie edges turn a light golden brown. Cool 5 minutes, then use a spatula to carefully transfer to cookie rack and cool completely. Store airtight.

Note: You can let the roll sit a day or two in the fridge before baking. You can also freeze rolls, tightly wrapped, up to a month, and bake later. Thaw in the refrigerator before slicing and baking.

Makes about 5 dozen cookies

Try Grandma’s Peanut Butter Cookies for another delicious, home-baked treat!

Tips:

• Butter should be softened and at room temperature; it can’t cream properly with the sugar, otherwise.
• Do not try to melt cold butter in the microwave. Melted butter will alter the texture of this cookie.
• If you forget to set out the butter the night before, grate it with a box grater and it will soften in no time.
• Or, cut the butter into small cubes and let it sit until it comes to room temperature. Smaller cubes will soften a lot faster than a whole block.

No-Equipment Method

• If you don’t have an electric mixer, whip the softened butter with a fork and add half the sugar; whipping to incorporate. Then add the other half of the sugar. Whip with the fork or a wooden spoon until butter is light and fluffy. Stir in vanilla. Add flour and salt, mixing with a wooden spoon to combine, and the dough begins to gather into a ball. Divide dough in half, roll into two logs, and chill, following instructions above.
• If you don’t have a cookie rack, transfer the cookies onto a few layers of paper towels to cool.

Confetti Butter Cookies

You can roll the cookie log in any of the following before baking:

• Colored sprinkles
• Colored sugar
• Finely chopped nuts, such as walnuts or pecans
• Cinnamon sugar

Put the decorations in a shallow plate. Roll the cookie log in the decorations, pressing them into the log. Or, brush the log with a beaten egg white to use as a glue before rolling in the decorations.

Chocolate-Dipped Butter Cookies

• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 teaspoon shortening

Combine chocolate chips and shortening in a small microwavable bowl, uncovered, for 30 seconds at a time, stirring each time, until chocolate is melted; stir until smooth. Dip half of each cooled cookie into melted chocolate, draining off any excess. Place on waxed paper until chocolate is set. Don’t forget the waxed paper because the chocolate will stick to the surface, making. it difficult to remove otherwise.

Note: How much chocolate you need will vary depending on the size of your cookie and how far you dip it into the chocolate. The 1/2 cup of chocolate will not be enough for the entire recipe of cookies, so that some of the cookies will be dipped, and some kept plain. If you have any leftover chocolate, remelt it and add it into your next mug of hot cocoa.

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