Grandma's Southern Butter Cookies

Name: Best Butter Cookies Recipe
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 23 min
Ingredients: 1 cup softened butter; 1/2 cup sugar; 1 egg; 3 tsp pure vanilla extract; 3 cups flour; 1/2 tsp baking powder; 1/4 cup decorating sugar (optional)

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Grandma recipe for old fashioned southern Butter Cookies are a family favorite. These cookies are a sweet snack for the kids and delicious with coffee or tea! This classic butter cookie recipe is simple to make with minimal ingredients and are certain showstoppers!

Next time try the Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies recipe!

Homemade Butter Cookies in glass dish with coffee — Homemade Butter Cookies with coffee - the perfect treat!

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Why you'll love this recipe
Ingredients
Instructions
FAQ's
Equipment
Related recipes
Butter Sugar Cookie Recipe
Best Butter Cookies Recipe
Recipe backstory

Why you'll love this recipe

What is your favorite cookie? I have some wonderful cookies on the blog - chocolate moon pies, Persimmon Cookies, and 4 ingredient peanut butter cookies. I also have tasty treats like Blueberry Parfait and Great Grandma Darnell's Blueberry Cobbler! Lots of tasty family recipes I'm proud to share!

Today I have one more sweet treat.

✔️ These are great cookies, they are slightly sweet, beautiful cookies that are delicious with tea or coffee.

✔️ Roll them in pretty sprinkles for the holiday season or any occasion.

✔️ They make the perfect Christmas cookies!

cookies on platter with recipe for how to make butter cookies — Grandma's Recipe for How to make butter cookies.

Ingredients

butter
sugar
egg
pure vanilla extract
flour
baking powder
decorating sugar (optional)

Three sugar cookies rolled in pink sugar. — Check out these little gems! I hope you give this Easy Butter Cookie Recipe a try!

Instructions

Soften the butter.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Cream together butter and sugar.
Add the egg and mix.
Sift together the flour and baking powder.
Add to the creamed mixture in spoonfuls until completely incorporated.
Cover and chill for at least an hour.
Roll into one inch balls. Roll in plain sugar or brightly colored decorating sugar.
Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.

FAQ's

Are shortbread cookies and butter cookies the same?

The difference between a shortbread and butter cookies recipe is a higher ratio of butter in the butter cookies. A butter cookie will hardly crumble and also can be rolled if you want to use a cookie-cutter. The butter gives a ton of flavor for a rich, dense cookie.

How does the temperature of butter affect cookies?

Creaming room temperature butter with the sugar will result in cookies with a texture that is more cake-like. If you refrigerate the dough before baking the cookies won't spread as much. When the butter is cold it takes longer to melt!

Can I use melted butter for cookies?

No, use room temperature butter. Allow the butter to sit outside the refrigerator at least 15 minutes before creaming

How long do butter cookies last?

Not long in our house! 😋 Seriously though homemade butter cookies will last 2-3 weeks.

Can butter cookies be frozen?

Yes, these cookies will freeze beautifully. Store in an airtight container or ziplock bag for two to three months.

Equipment

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These are the baking sheets I love and these little scoops are perfect for scooping the cookie dough!

Best Butter Cookie Recipe served with coffee — Hey! Who took a bite out of my cookie? 😋

More delicious treats to feed your sweet tooth!

Still looking to satisfy your sweet tooth? Check out 43+ Pink Party Food Ideas!

Pink cookies on glass platter. — Easy Cookies to make, these are a treat for the whole family!

Butter cookies are simple to make with minimal ingredients and are certain showstoppers! Grandma's recipe didn't include rolling them in sugar, but that added a special touch and made them so pretty! Wouldn't you agree?

Now don't forget if you make this be sure and tag me on Instagram at @bowl_me_over or #bowlmeover, I'd love to see your awesome pictures!

Also if you love these yummy cookies, be sure to comment and leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating below, I'd love to hear from you!

Butter cookies with pink sprinkles in glass bowl.

5 from 5 votes

Best Butter Cookies Recipe

This classic shortbread cookie recipe is simple to make with minimal ingredients. Sweet and delicious, these are perfect with coffee or tea!

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Prep Time15

Total Time23

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: cookies

Calories: 102kcal

Author: Deb Clark

Ingredients

Instructions

Be sure the butter is completely softened and room temperature.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the egg and mix until completely combined.
Sift together the flour and baking powder. Add to the creamed butter/sugar/egg in spoonfuls until completely incorporated.
Cover and chill for at least one hour. Roll into small balls. Using a 1 inch cookie scoop makes it easy to keep the cookies uniform in size. Roll in plain sugar or brightly colored decorating sugar.
Place onto cookie sheet. Using the back of a spoon, press down to slightly flatten. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.

Notes

*I have made the batter the night before. If you do so, cover tightly and refrigerate. This also makes a great dough if you want to roll out the dough and use a cookie cutter instead!

Nutrition

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Recipe backstory

Dan's Mom gave me Grandma Bertha's recipe box and I've been having fun going through all the recipes. Though I never met Dan's Grandma, I hear she had quite the sweet tooth! I think I did her proud sharing her recipe and these photographs!

Dan is so happy I picked this recipe to share! He has the best memories of time with his Grandma. One story he shared, was when he had a summer internship and he stayed with his Grandma in Lodi, CA. Every day she would pack his lunch before he went to work.

The position was a desk job, but Grandma packed his lunch like he'd be doing physical labor all day long. His lunch was HUGE! Every day she would pack probably twice as much as he could comfortably eat, but of course, he ate it all.

Finally, one of his co-workers said, "son, you're gonna have to leave some lunch in the bag or she'll keep packing it full!"

You see, he didn't want to say something because he was afraid it would hurt Grandma's feelings! (Dan's a pretty wonderful guy - so sweet and caring! It's one of the things I love most about him!)