Italian Butter Cookies

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.

These Italian Butter Cookies are a Christmas staple! They’re rich, tender, buttery and so perfect for any occasion.

Growing up as an Italian American in Brooklyn, I have always LOVED Italian Butter Cookies! To this day, you can count on these irresistible cookies to be present on the dessert table at every party (and you can count on me to be there eating them). They’re rich, buttery, and so versatile! I topped mine with a simple chocolate ganache and rainbow sprinkles, but there’s an endless number of shape and topping variations you can try.

This butter cookie recipe is so easy to make with just 7 simple ingredients and tastes even better than what you can find at the bakery or grocery store. They’re perfect for any occasion and such a fun cookie to add to your Christmas cookie boxes every holiday season!

Looking for more easy cookie recipes to bake? Try my Buttercream Frosted Sugar Cookies, Shortbread Thumbprint Cookies or Sugar Cookie Blossoms!

Why You’ll Love These Italian Butter Cookies

• No chill time. Just pipe the dough and bake the dough right away!
• They’re rich and buttery.
• They’re super versatile because they can be piped into lots of different shapes, filled with jam or ganache, topped with sprinkles, dipped in chocolate or just eaten plain!
• They’re perfect for gift giving and will make a great addition to any holiday cookie box!
• They can be customized for each season or holiday – instead of rainbow/chocolate sprinkles, try topping them with pink sprinkles for Valentine’s Day or red/green sprinkles for Christmas. The possibilities are endless!

Ingredient Breakdown

All-purpose flour – this gives the cookies structure.

Butter – provides flavor and structure. I always recommend using unsalted butter but salted butter works if that’s all you have on hand, just be sure to omit the 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Do not use cold or melted butter.

Granulated sugar – sweetens and softens cookies. Do not substitute it with brown sugar.

Egg yolks – helps bind the ingredients, makes the cookies rich and tender and reduces spreading. Do not use whole eggs! Use up extra egg whites by making my Flourless Chocolate Cookies or Ricciarelli Cookies!

Vanilla extract and salt – enhances flavor. Always use pure vanilla extract instead of imitation for best flavor.

Milk – thins the dough slightly to make it a little bit easier to pipe.

How To Make Italian Butter Cookies

1. Make the Butter Cookies: use a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment to cream softened butter, granulated sugar and salt until light and fluffy.

2. Add egg yolks one at a time and vanilla extract until just combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl.

3. Add the all purpose all at once and mix on low speed until just combined. 

4. Add the milk and mix on low speed until just combined. The dough will be thick and sticky.

5. Transfer the dough to a piping bag fitted with a large open star piping tip (don’t overfill the bag or it will be more difficult to pipe). Pipe desired shapes onto the prepared baking sheet.

6. Bake cookies at 350°F for 10-12 minutes or until lightly golden brown on the edges then allow to cool completely.

7. Make the Chocolate Ganache: place chocolate in a heat proof bowl. Heat the heavy cream in the microwave or in a small pot over medium heat until it just begins to simmer. Pour the heavy cream over the chocolate then let sit for 2 minutes. Slowly whisk together until combined. Immediately dip cooled cookies then place on a parchment lined baking sheet to set. Store Italian Butter Cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.

Butter Cookie Variations

The possibilities are truly endless when it comes to making butter cookies ranging from shapes to fillings to toppings! Some fun variations are:

Shapes: (I recommend using a large open star tip like Ateco 824 (what I used) or Ateco 826)

• Rosettes – pipe the dough straight down to make your center then pipe around in a circular motion until you reach your starting point
• Stars – pipe the dough straight down
• Fingers (can be sandwiched together with your favorite filling!)
• S shaped
• Horseshoes

Toppings:

• Sprinkles – either on top of cookies before baking or on top of ganache dipped cookies
• Maraschino cherries – place in the center of star cookies before baking
• Chocolate chips – top cookies with mini chocolate chips before baking
• Powdered sugar – on top of cooled cookies before serving
• Chocolate ganache – for dipping cooled cookies
• Your favorite chopped nuts – on top of ganache dipped cookies
• Coconut flakes – on top of ganache dipped cookies

Sandwich Cookie Fillings:

• Chocolate ganache
• Your favorite fruit jam (raspberry, apricot, strawberry, etc.)
• Nutella

Pro Tips For Italian Butter Cookies

• Weigh your ingredients using a kitchen scale! Measuring ingredients by volume is not accurate.
• Don’t over mix the dough! Over mixing = more gluten development which means tough cookies. We don’t want any tough cookies here!
• Don’t overfill your piping bag! The dough is very stiff so only working with a little bit at a time will make it much easier on your hands.
• Bake one tray at a time on the middle oven rack. This ensures that there is even heat circulation.
• If topping the cookies with sprinkles before baking use jimmies sprinkles and not nonpareils because nonpareils tend to melt and bleed into the dough. Confetti quins will also work.
• Try adding 1/4 tsp of almond extract (or more to your taste preference) to the dough for almond flavored cookies!

If you try this recipe then please leave a rating/comment below to let me know how you liked it and feel free to ask any recipe questions you may have! 🙂