Homemade Butter Cookies have a soft center with a crisp crunch outside. This old-fashioned recipe is perfect for the holidays but easy enough for any day.
Combine the butter and sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer. Blend until light and fluffy.
Add the egg and vanilla to the butter mixture. Mix until combined.
Sift the flour and baking powder together. With the mixer on low speed, spoon the flour mixture into the butter mixture.
Cover the dough and chill for 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 375 °F and line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Scoop and shape the dough into 1-inch balls. Roll the shaped dough into decorative sugar. Place the cookies on the lined baking sheets. Using the back of a spoon, press the top of each cookie until just slightly flat.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and remove the cookies from the cookie sheet to a cooling rack.
Notes
The recipe originated from Bowl Me Over.Helpful tips:
Measure your ingredients using the scoop and level technique for the flour and baking powder.
This recipe is dependent on the ratio of butter to sugar to flour so it's important that correct measurements are used.
You want your butter and sugar to be light and fluffy but don't over mix it until it breaks down.
Press the tops of the cookies lightly until they just start to resist. Pressing too hard will make the cookies crack on the edges.
Cookies don't spread while baking so you can put up to 16 cookies on a baking sheet.
These cookies are small. Don't over bake them. My cookies baked for only 9 minutes and weren't browned when I removed them from the oven but they had a crisp exterior.
I also removed them from the pan and moved them to a cooling rack within a couple of minutes of when I took them out of the oven.
This recipe was calculated using the exact brands and measurements I used to make this recipe. If you are following a strict diet please note changing anything will cause the nutritional info to change. My calculations are intended as a guide only.