Italian Butter Cookies are delicate, melt-in-your-mouth treats made with Italian whipped shortcrust pastry frolla montata. Known for their rich, buttery flavor and crumbly texture, they’re often made in assorted shapes like horseshoe, rosettes, s-shape, or circles.
These cookies are a staple in Italian bakeries, frequently adorned with chocolate, sprinkles, or a dollop of fruit jam at the center. Perfect for pairing with coffee or tea, they’re a versatile delight for any occasion, especially during the holidays. Just like Italian Amaretti cookies or Cantucci, their simplicity and elegance make them a timeless favorite!
All you need is a few simple ingredients and about 20 minutes of hands-on time.
Table Of Contents
Ingredients
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
- Flour - for the best result use low-protein flour like pastry flour or Italian 00 flour. If you don't have options use all purpose flour but swap a tablespoon of flour with a tablespoon of cornstarch.
- Cornstarch / Cocoa powder - cornstarch make Italian butter cookies extra crumbly with their signature melt-in-the-mouth feeling. When making chocolate butter cookies substitute cocoa powder for cornstarch.
- Butter - softened at room temperature. Check if it's the right consistency by pressing a finger into it, the butter will be soft but you should still feel a little resistance.
- Vanilla extract / Lemon zest - give your butter cookies a different flavor by flavoring the dough with vanilla extract for vanilla butter cookies, lemon or orange zest for citrus flavored butter cookies. Make sure to use organic, non-treated lemons/oranges.
- Large eggs, powdered sugar, pinch of salt.
- For decoration - your choice of the following:
- Dark and / or white melted chocolate
- Red candied cherries
- Sugar sprinkles
- Coconut flakes (shredded coconut)
- Finely chopped hazelnuts, pistacchios or nuts of your choice
- Whole almonds, hazelnuts or walnut halves
- Apricot jam or other jam of your choice
- Powdered sugar
How To Make Step By Step With Pictures
Prepare cookie dough
- In a stand mixer bowl with a whisk attachment, add butter softened at room temperature (NOT melted) and powdered sugar. Beat on medium speed until it becomes fluffy and pale in color.
- Add eggs, salt and vanilla extract and continue beating for a few more minutes until you get a fluffy airy batter.
- Add sieved flour and cornstarch in 3 goes. Beat shortly, just enough to mix all the ingredients into a uniform dough. Substitute cornstarch with cocoa powder when making chocolate butter cookies.
- As a final result, you should have the dough stiff enough to hold the shape but still soft enough to be piped with a pastry bag.
- Transfer the dough to a pastry bag. It’s best to do it in two or three batches to avoid filling the pastry bag too much since it’ll make it harder to pipe.
- Using a ½ inch open star tip and ½ inch french star tip pipe cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (see cookie shapes section for details).
Let rest in the fridge
- Place tray with piped cookies in the fridge for 45-60 minutes before baking. This step is essential to prevent cookies from spreading too much in the oven. It's also important that you chill already piped cookies and NOT the cookie dough. If you chill cookie dough before piping it will become extra stiff and impossible to squeeze out of a pastry bag.
Bake
- Bake in a preheated to 350F oven for about 15 minutes.
- Let cool completely and decorate further (see notes).
Assorted Cookie Shapes
- Horseshoe - using an open star tip. Decorator after baking. Dip the ends in dark chocolate and dust with coconut.
- Straight elongated cookie - using a french star tip. Decorate after baking. Dip one end in melted chocolate, decorated with sugar sprinkles.
- Circle shape with a whole in the in the middle - using an open star tip. Decorate after baking with powdered sugar.
- S -shape - using an open star tip. Decorated with melted chocolate after baking.
- Rose - open star tip. Pipe making a circle with minimal gap in the center. Decorate before baking. Slightly press your finger in the middle and put a small dollop of apricot jam.
- Flower shape - closed star tip. Decorate with candied cherries before baking.
- Heart shape bicolor - using an open star tip.
- Cookie sandwich - spread flat side of one cookie with chocolate/hazelnut spread and sandwich together with another cookie.
Tips For Success
- All ingredients should be at room temperature including eggs to have the best, easy to work-with consistency of the dough.
- Use robust pastry bag to avoid breakage. Cloth or silicone are the best.
- To prevent parchment paper from sliding on the baking sheet brush the baking sheet with water or pipe a small amount of cookie dough in four corners to help the parchment paper stick.
- Let the cookies chill in the fridge so that maintain their shape in the oven.
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Full Recipe
Italian Butter Cookies
Make these delicious Italian butter cookies quickly and easily using only a few simple ingredients and 20 minutes of hands-on time. I have to warn you, they'll be gone even faster!
SERVINGS: 40 cookies
Ingredients
Classic Dough
- 225 grams butter , 8 ounces
- 150 grams powdered sugar , 5.4 ounces
- 2 eggs , 100 grams or 3.4 ounces
- 350 grams flour , 12.5 ounces
- 25 grams corn starch
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
Chocolate Dough
- 225 grams butter , 8 ounces
- 150 grams powdered sugar , 5.4 ounces
- 2 eggs , 100 grams or 3.4 ounces
- 350 grams flour , 12.5 ounces
- 25 grams unsweetened dark cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
Decoration
- Dark melted chocolate + white melted chocolate
- Red candied cherries
- Sugar sprinkles
- Shredded coconut
- Finely chopped hazelnuts
- Whole almonds , hazelnuts or walnut halves
- Apricot jam , or other jam of your choice
- Powdered sugar
Instructions
Prepare cookie dough
- In a stand mixer bowl with a whisk attachment, add butter softened at room temperature (NOT melted) and powdered sugar. Beat on medium speed until it becomes fluffy and pale in color.
- Add eggs, salt and vanilla extract and continue beating for a few more minutes until you get a fluffy airy batter.
- Add sieved flour and cornstarch in 3 goes. Beat shortly, just enough to mix all the ingredients into a uniform dough. Substitute cornstarch with cocoa powder when making chocolate butter cookies.As a final result, you should have the dough stiff enough to hold the shape but still soft enough to be piped with a pastry bag.
- Transfer the dough to a pastry bag. It’s best to do it in two or three batches to avoid filling the pastry bag to much since it’ll make it harder to pipe.
Pipe cookies and let rest in the fridge
- Using a ½ inch open star tip and ½ inch french star tip pipe cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (see cookie shapes section for details).
- Place tray with piped cookies in the fridge for 45-60 minutes before baking,
Bake
- Bake in a preheated to 350 F (175 C) oven for about 15 minutes.
- Let cool completely and decorate further (see notes).
Notes
See the Step By Step Pictures for a visual walk-through of the recipe.
Use a kitchen scale to measure all ingredients in grams for the best result!
Pastry Tips I Used:
Cookie Shapes
- Straight elongated cookie - using a french star tip. Decorate after baking. Dip one end in melted chocolate, decorated with sugar sprinkles.
- Flower shape - closed star tip. decorate with candied cherries before baking.
- S -shape - using an open star tip. Decorated with melted chocolate after baking.
- Horseshoe - open star tip. Decorator after baking. Dip the ends in dark chocolate and dust with coconut.
- Rose - open star tip. Pipe making a circle with minimal gap in the center. Decorate before baking. Slightly press your finger in the middle and put a small dollop of apricot jam.
- Circle shape with a whole in the in the middle - using an open star tip. Decorate after baking with powdered sugar.
- Heart shape bicolor - using an open star tip.
- Cookie sandwich - spread flat side of one cookie with chocolate/hazelnut spread and sandwich together with another cookie.
Top Tips
- All ingredients should be at room temperature including eggs to have the best, easy to work-with consistency of the dough.
- Use robust pastry bag to avoid breakage. Cloth or silicone are the best.
- To prevent parchment paper from sliding on the baking sheet brush the baking sheet with water or pipe a small amount of cookie dough in four corners to help the parchment paper stick.
- Let the cookies chill in the fridge so that maintain their shape in the oven.
Nutrition
Calories: 111kcalCarbohydrates: 15gProtein: 2gFat: 5gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.3gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 25mgSodium: 40mgPotassium: 18mgFiber: 0.3gSugar: 6gVitamin A: 160IUCalcium: 5mgIron: 1mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Have a question or want to let me know you loved the recipe?Leave a comment below! I love hearing from you!
joye says
Can you use vanilla or almond extract instead of vanilla powder?
Italian Recipe Book says
Yes Joye, you can substitute 1 tsp vanilla or 1 tsp almond extract for vanilla powder, even though I'd give preference to vanilla extract rather than almond.
Jennifer says
Worst recipe. No Flavor at all!
Jackie says
@Jennifer, I noticed there is no salt in it.
Mary Murray says
! cup equals 8 oz so the measurements are tricky in the recipe. What did you mean ounces or cups?
Anonymous says
@Mary Murray,