Butter cookies (or butter biscuits), also known as Danish biscuits, are cookies originating in Denmark consisting of

butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 80% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread, melted as a condiment ...

flour Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many culture ...

, and

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

. They are similar to

shortbread cookies Shortbread or shortie is a traditional Scottish biscuit usually made from one part white sugar, two parts butter, and three to four parts plain wheat flour. Unlike many other biscuits and baked goods, shortbread does not contain any leavening, ...

. The butter cookie is often categorized as a "crisp cookie" due to its texture, caused in part by the quantity of butter and sugar. It is generally necessary to chill its dough to enable proper manipulation and handling. Butter cookies at their most basic have no flavoring, but they are often flavored with

vanilla Vanilla is a spice derived from orchids of the genus ''Vanilla (genus), Vanilla'', primarily obtained from pods of the Mexican species, flat-leaved vanilla (''Vanilla planifolia, V. planifolia''). Pollination is required to make the p ...

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...

, and

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family ( Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the ...

, and/or topped with sugar crystals. They also come in a variety of shapes such as circles, squares, ovals, rings, and pretzel-like forms, and with a variety of appearances, including marbled, checkered or plain. Using piping bags, twisted shapes can be made. In some parts of the world, such as Europe and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

, butter cookies are often served around

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

time. Butter cookies are also a very popular gift in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

, especially during Chinese New Year.

Danish butter cookies

Cookie ingredients like flour and butter

Denmark has been a notable exporter of butter cookies for many years, in particular to the US and Asia. The cookies are made in many varieties, and exported industrial-grade butter cookies are typically packed and sold in tins, with

Royal Dansk Royal Dansk (meaning "Royal Danish") is a Danish brand of butter cookies, manufactured by Kelsen Group A/S. It is known for its distinctive royal blue round tin box, tin container. Since 2019, the brand is owned by Italian conglomerate Ferrero Sp ...

being a notable example. Due to the uniform packaging and labeling, it's also known as "The Blue Tin". Although cookies are originally an American innovation, many are from parts of Europe. The recipes of those cookies came with the European settlers to the

American colonies The Thirteen Colonies, also known as the Thirteen British Colonies, the Thirteen American Colonies, or later as the United Colonies, were a group of British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Founded in the 17th and 18th centur ...

. Denmark is known for maintaining the quality of their ingredients and their procedure since 1966. The signature flavor is derived from the Danish butter for which the standard was established in 1901 when the brand "

Lurpak Lurpak is a Danish brand of butter owned by Arla Foods. It is sold in over 75 countries worldwide, and is known for its distinctive silver packaging. Lurpak came into existence in October 1901 after a combination of several Danish dairy farmers de ...

" was created.

Danish butter cookies

See also

References

Further reading