My Danish butter cookies bake up pale and sandy, with sharp ridges, and they snap clean once cool, the way the ones in the blue tin do. I use one egg yolk, no leavener and superfine sugar, pipe the dough into butter ring cookies, chill them on the sheet, then bake 18 to 20 minutes at 350°F. Start to finish, including the chill, I have them cooling on the rack in 55 minutes.
What the tin label taught me about Danish cookies
I ate these from the blue tin as a child, and I have measured every homemade version since against it. So instead of adapting another blog’s recipe, I read the back of the Royal Dansk tin.
The label has no egg (egg appears only as a may-contain allergen) and no leavener, which is why the factory cookie is dry and snappy. Egg-free dough will not pipe at home, so one yolk is my compromise; it binds, and the cookie stays crisp. I use granulated sugar rather than powdered, because granulated recrystallizes as the cookie cools and that is where the snap comes from. Baking powder would puff the crumb where you want it dry. The coconut on the label belongs to the tin’s Coconut variety, so it stays out.
I have tasted these next to a fresh tin and they hold up. They are a copycat of the factory cookie and I am calling them that. The traditional home-baked Danish ring cookie is a different recipe, and this post is not pretending to be it.
What goes in, what the tin leaves out
Full ingredient list and detailed instructions in the recipe card.
- Unsalted, softened butter should give when pressed but still hold its shape. I tested with ordinary supermarket butter; a softer, higher-fat European block spreads more.
- Superfine sugar (caster sugar in the UK) dissolves fast and still sets hard as the cookie cools. Powdered sugar is cut with cornstarch and gives a melting crumb, which is a different cookie. Pulse granulated in a food processor if you can’t find it.
- A single egg yolk gives the dough just enough bind to pipe. The white carries most of an egg’s water, and water softens a butter cookie; save it for a small batch of meringues.
- All-purpose flour and fine salt are all the structure this needs. Cake flour makes a fragile ring that crumbles instead of snapping. With salted butter, skip salt.
- Whole milk decides whether the dough pipes. It needs the full tablespoon, and the milk loosens the dough without softening the baked cookie.
- Vanilla extract is the only flavoring, so use a real one. A scraped bean would put dark flecks in a cookie that should stay pale.
Shruthi’s Top Tips
What the test trays taught me about piping these rings
- Cream the butter and sugar just until smooth, 60 to 90 seconds. Pale and fluffy means air, and air blurs the ridges and spreads the ring.
- Push a spoonful through the tip before filling the bag. A dough that holds when squeezed can still fracture there; more milk fixes it.
- Pipe every ring the same size. Shape consistency was the weak spot on my first test tray, and small rings go golden all over before the big ones set.
- Chill the piped rings on the sheet, never the bowl of dough. Cold dough seizes in the bag and tears through the tip.
- Pull them when the ridge tips are golden and the valleys still pale. They crisp on the rack, so wait the full 15 minutes.
- If they spread, drop the sugar toward 100 g before touching the butter; sugar controls the spread more than butter does.
- Shortbread is a different cookie, pressed or rolled and crumblier; my lemon shortbread cookies are the ones for that texture.
How to make Danish butter cookies
- Heat the oven to 350°F and line a sheet with parchment. Whisk the flour and salt together.
- Beat the butter and sugar until smooth, then beat in the yolk and vanilla.
- Mix in the flour on low until it comes together.
- Add the milk and test a spoonful through the tip until the rope runs unbroken. Pipe 2-inch rings about ¼ inch thick, an inch apart, pressing the ends to join.
- Chill the sheet for 15 to 20 minutes. Bake 18 to 20 minutes, rotating halfway, until the ridge tips are golden and the centers pale.
- Cool 5 minutes on the sheet and 10 on a rack; they crisp as they cool.
How to serve Danish butter cookies
These are a coffee or tea cookie, eaten from the tin. On a holiday plate they are the plain, crisp one, so I set them beside the softer, spicier bakes from my Christmas recipes.
For a gift tin, layer the cooled rings between parchment so the ridges do not chip, and pack them with cookies just as sturdy. My windmill cookies and gingerbread cookies travel well beside them; anything frosted or soft passes its moisture to the rings.
Variations
- For the lighter, more porous factory crumb, dissolve 1.5 g of ammonium bicarbonate (baker’s ammonia, sold online and at Scandinavian or German grocers) in the milk. Weigh it, the amount is too small to measure by spoon. It smells of ammonia in the oven and of nothing once cooled.
- If you want shapes from cutters, my cut-out holiday butter cookies are the different cookie for that job; this dough is piped.
Storage and reheating
Keep them in an airtight tin at room temperature up to 2 weeks. They soften if the tin is opened often; re-crisp on a sheet for 4 to 5 minutes at 300F and cool fully. Freeze baked cookies up to 3 months in layers with parchment.
Danish Butter Cookies (Blue Tin Copycat)
Equipment
- 1 large open star piping tip, about 1/2 inch (13 mm) opening Ateco 846 preferred; Wilton 1M works
- 1 Sturdy piping bag, no coupler (double up thin disposables)
- 1 Light-colored baking sheet
- Parchment paper
- Stand or hand mixer
Ingredients
- 200 g all-purpose flour, 1⅔ cups, I prefer to measure this in grams though.
- ½ teaspoon fine salt
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, 140g
- 110 g superfine or caster sugar, ~½ cup + 1 tablespoon
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon whole milk, plus more if needed
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350°F. Line a light-colored baking sheet with parchment.
- Whisk the flour and salt together in a bowl.
- Beat the butter and sugar for 60 to 90 seconds, until smooth and creamy but not pale and fluffy.
- Beat in the egg yolk and vanilla.
- Add the flour mixture and mix on low until a soft dough forms. Scrape the bowl and mix another 20 to 30 seconds; it sits as dry crumbs and then comes together suddenly.
- Add the milk and mix to combine. Test a spoonful through the piping tip: you want a continuous ridged rope. If it breaks into short segments, add milk half a teaspoon at a time and test again.
- Fill the bag. Pipe 2 inch rings about ¼ inch thick, 1 inch apart. One closed loop, overlapping the ends by about ¼ inch and pressing gently to join.
- Chill the piped cookies on the sheet for 15 to 20 minutes.
- Bake 18 to 20 minutes, rotating the sheet halfway, until the ridge tips and outer edges are golden and the valleys and centers stay pale. They will still be soft.
- Cool 5 minutes on the sheet, then move to a rack for 10 minutes more. They crisp as they cool.
Notes
- Superfine sugar is granulated with smaller crystals, not powdered. Pulse granulated in a food processor 20 to 30 seconds and stop before it turns to powder.
- The dough needs the full tablespoon of milk. A dough that holds when squeezed can still fracture through a star tip; the rope test is the real test.
- If they spread, reduce sugar toward 100 g before touching the butter.
- Store in an airtight tin at room temperature up to 2 weeks; freeze baked cookies up to 3 months.
- For a lighter, more porous cookie closer to the factory version, dissolve 1.5 g ammonium bicarbonate (baker’s ammonia, hjortetakssalt) in the milk. Ammonia smell during baking is normal and gone once cooled.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Where have these been all my life?! Delicate, buttery, and easy to make – these are going into the rotation. Thanks for all the helpful tips too!!
THANK YOU!!
Confused, it says preheat to 350, but then says bake 375. Which is it?
Hi! Sorry, that was a typo. 350F is the right temperature 🙂 Thank you.