French Butter Cookies – A simple yet tasty butter cookie. Perfect for an afternoon snack or accompanying a cup of tea.
We LOVE cookies! I mean, really love cookies!
I love them so much that I’ll be making them for you again tomorrow! Not the same cookies, of course, that would just be plain silly. There have been times that I’ve done that though.
I’ll give you a hint – they’re popular this time of year. That’s all I’m sayin’. Nope, I’m not telling you anything else. Don’t even try to get it out of me. You’ll just have to come see tomorrow. Oh, I can’t wait to eat them.
But alas, it’s these french cookies, and don’t go complainin’ to no one. The hubby will be happy with these ones because you all know that he doesn’t like any toppings on his precious cookies. Just give him some milk and he’s ALL set!
The outside of these french cookies lured me completely. And, on the first bite! You have that crunch with the sugar on the edge. Man oh man, what better snack than some cookies.
SAVE THIS FRENCH COOKIE TO YOUR FAVORITE PINTEREST BOARD!
In the meantime, these cookies came from Martha Stewart Living Cookbook – The Original Classics, p. 530; author, Martha Stewart; publisher, Clarkson Potter/Publishers, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc.; ISBN 978-0-307-39382-1.
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French Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (2 sticks butter), room temperature
- ⅔ cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 ½ cups sifted flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup granulated sugar
Instructions
- In a bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and brown sugar on high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add the egg and vanilla, mixing thoroughly.
- Gradually add the flour and salt. Mix on low speed until just combined.
- On three separate sheets of plastic wrap, roll the dough into three logs 1 1/2-inches thick. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least one hour to overnight.
- When ready to bake, place a rack into the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.
- Prepare a cookie sheet by lining it with parchment.
- Remove one log from the fridge and roll it in the granulated sugar, making sure to coat it completely.
- With a sharp knife, cut slices 1/4-inch thick.
- Place the slices on the prepared cookie sheet 1-inch apart.
- Optional – with a toothpick, make 4 decorative holes in each cookie. SEE NOTE
- Bake for about 15-20 minutes, or until lightly golden brown.
- Transfer cookies to a wire rack so that they can cool completely.
Notes
I rate everything I bake on a scale of 1-4 with 4 being the best and these French Butter Cookies earned 3 1/2 rolling pins. They were very simple and very delicious.BE CAREFUL!
A LOT of these can be eaten in one sitting; they’re bite-size and yummylicious! I think you’ll enjoy them.
If you like these French Butter Cookies, you’ll enjoy…
Coconut Macadamia Sugar Cookies
Cream Cheese Cookies
Joan’s Coconut Ranger Cookies
Take a look at these fabulous cookie recipes from my fellow bloggers…
Lemon Meltaways from Saving Room for Dessert
The Best White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies from Chelsea’s Messy Apron
Samoa Truffles from Shugary Sweets
Soft Blueberry Cookies from Grumpy’s Honeybunch
Cinnamon Maple Sugar Cookies from My Sequined Life
Here are some videos with more great cookie ideas…
Comments & Reviews
OMG – these cookies look so good (and so dangerous).
We love cooking with butter and adore French food for that very reason.
We have also started our own foodie blog;
http://earthwalkersfpcp.blogspot.com.au/
We’d love you to visit us and let us know your thoughts.
I’m off to make some cookies 😉
Cheers,
Adam & Kristy.
These are very good and easy but I made with Brown Butter and they were fighting over.Excellant!!!
Hi, good post. I have been thinking about this issue, so thanks for sharing. I will definitely be coming back to your blog.
What is rows butter and where can I get it
Hi, they look good, but did you try them, are they good?
Salted or unsalted butter?
Since she adds salt my guess would be unsalted butter
Correct, Donna. I always use UNsalted butter in my baking unless I specify otherwise. 🙂
If it dont specify then it is slted unless otherwise started lol
Do you use self rising flour?? I am only asking because there is no baking soda or baking powder listed.
Renae,
I always use all-purpose flour in all of my recipes unless I specify otherwise.
Thanks for asking!
Lynne
I made these, and rolled them in chocolate sprinkles, and put a thumbprint in them and added fudge frosting when cooled, as have a recipe for fudge thumbprint cookies from my mom, who worked in a bakery, but it made a ton of cookies. Worked well, so plan to use this dough to do all kinds of refrigerator type cookies.
Ooh, Sandra, those sound delicious!! Thanks for your comment and letting me know. 🙂
Hi Sandra, would u mind share your recipe please, I’ve been looking for a bulk recipe, one that as you describe I can Miley use and just do one batch. Would be awesome. Thank you!
I plan on making these today. Can freeze two of the rolls of dough? If so, do I thaw them later or slice from frozen to bake?
Lauren, I would thaw them first and then freeze them.
I haven’t frozen the dough at all, so don’t know what the result will be, but I don’t see why you couldn’t freeze the dough.
Let me know how it turns out!
Pls can you send me the recipe in grams. And what sort of flour did you use. Self raising or plain. Thank you.
Modupe,
you can do a Google search to convert cups, tablespoons, and teaspoons to grams.
I always use unbleached all-purpose flour in my recipes unless I specify otherwise.
R these cookie hard or soft after baking?
Lea,
these cookies are hard after baking.
Not much flavor. I was disappointed.
I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy them and appreciate your honesty, Dianne.
Thanks for the feedback.
I would like to know if you used salted or unsalted butter, I am guessing salted since you didn’t add any salt. I always use unsalted butter and wondered how much salt you would add.
Amy, I always use unsalted butter in all of my recipes unless I specify otherwise. I followed the recipe from the cookbook and it didn’t call for salt.
I am confused..the recipe I see has 1 tsp. salt in it. Is that a misprint ? I don’t want to add if not supposed to. Thanks
No, Nana, not a misprint. The recipe does call for one teaspoon of salt.
Could you use pecans or some other kind of nut ?
Naomi, there are no nuts in this cookie, so I’m confused by your question, but you could add them if you wanted I’m sure.
I just made these cookies and they turned out really good. Eating them right now! :p
Thanks so much, dalal! SO glad you liked them!!
Have you ever used a pudding mix in the cookies with subtracting the same amount of flour in order to have soft cookies?
Heidi, I have never used pudding mix in any of my cookies. It is on my to-do list.
If you try it with these, let me know what you think.
Hi! I am planning to make this. Would it be possible to frost them like any other sugar cookies? TIA! 🙂
Char, I think you could frost them. I haven’t done it as I think they’re perfect as is.
would like to have option to print recipe
Vicki, some of my recipes haven’t been changed over into that format yet as I’m only one persona and I have LOTS of recipes to convert. Until I do, please use https://www.printfriendly.com/. There you can copy and paste the url of the recipe you want to print and select with or without images.
you have so many adds and pop ups on your site it’s making my computer do funny things. and I have a brand new Macbook.
do you really need so many McDonalds adds on every single photo?
Nope, no you don’t. I’ve recently changed my ad providers, but is necessary for me to have the ads. It provides me the income to continue purchasing the needed items I use to make these recipes and continue the blog.
Could you add lemon juice? I love lemon cookies, I live in Florida and grow organic lemons in my yard.
I don’t see why not, Patricia. I love lemons as well, especially lemon cookies. Just be sure to not add too much as you don’t want the dough to be too moist. Try adding two teaspoons and omit the vanilla.
How do I print this recipe? I can’t find the PRINT button.
Jodi, if you can’t find a way to print it, you can copy the url of the recipe and then print it here: https://www.printfriendly.com/
Then choose to print without images.
can you do self rising flour
Missy, I wouldn’t recommend it as it has a leavening agent and can affect the final product.
This might help you out.
http://msue.anr.msu.edu/news/know_the_difference_between_all-purpose_and_self-rising_white_flour
Hi dear! I am excited to prepare them!!!
Question: If this is 3,5 in your ranking scale, which is 4?
Kisses from Uruguay!!
Thanks, Jenni! A four is out-of-this-world-you-haven’t-lived-til-you’ve-tried-it. 😉
These Copycat Texas RoadHouse Rolls with the Cinnamon Honey Butter are a great example.
Can I not share this recipe onto my Allrecipes page?
thank you!
Lynda, I’m unfamiliar with how Allrecipes works, so I don’t have any idea. I’m sorry!
Can i freeze the cookie dough to use in parts? how do i go about defrosting?
Mel, Martha says the dough can be frozen for up to one month. To defrost it, I would place it in the refrigerator 24 hours before you plan to bake them.
These sound delish! Will try them today…can i roll it out and use cookie cutter? Thanks.
By now you’ve probably made the cookies, so I’m interested to see how they turned out if you rolled them. My suggestion would be that if you are to roll them out, do so between two pieces of parchment, so that you don’t add any unnecessary flour to the dough. Roll the dough to 1/4-inch in thickness and use a cookie cutter about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Enjoy them!
Hi Lynn,
Saw your recipe and with all the good comments, I can’t resist but to try out. Thanks for sharing. However, need to confirm is the dough suppose to be soft even ofter refrigerated? Cause as I cut it I can feel it is soft. Is it suppose to be that way ?
Hence, mine is not as round as yours. Can smell the goodness of the cookies now 🙂 Just another few minutes to be out of oven …
I made these and gave them to neighbors as a gift!! They were delicious!! I used the small end of a chopstick to make the “button holes”. It worked beautifully, they were very cute. Thank you for the easy and tasty recipe!! This one is going in my keeper file!
That butter cookie recipe is wonderful. Made them this morning. Perfect size and texture. I added a bit of coca powder for a chocolatey version.
That’s awesome, Kosh, thank you! I love the addition of the cocoa, too. Great idea!
hey, just wondering… how many cookies does this recipe make?
I just made these! They are a simple and perfect butter cookie! They don’t need anything except maybe a cup of coffee or tea! Delicious and perfect texture crispy on the outside but with that softness when you bite in that you can only get from home baked cookies that is so special! Thank you for sharing this simple and perfect recipe.
You’re welcome, Jessica. They are pretty awesome, aren’t they and so simple, too. Thanks for reading and making them!
Is it 1 cup plus 2 sticks of butter? I made these today with 1 cup of butter and they taste like flour!
Suzanne, I’m sorry the cookies didn’t turn out for you. The recipe calls for 1 cup of flour which is the two sticks of butter. I’ve made changes to the recipe so that it is more clear, thank you.
As for why the cookies may have tasted like flour, my guess is that the flour wasn’t sifted or sifted after you measured it and not remeasured again. The recipe calls for 2 1/2 cups sifted flour. Not 2 1/2 cups flour, sifted. When I make a recipe that calls for 2 1/2 cups sifted flour, I’ll measure the 2 1/2 cups flour, sift it and then measure the 2 1/2 cups flour needed again. Sifting it aerates the flour allowing the liquids in the recipe to cling to the dry ingredients better. It also will leave you with MORE flour than what the recipe calls for and definitely alter the outcome of the recipe. I think this might be what happened. Looking back, could this be a possibility?
If you see a recipe with 2 1/2 cups flour, sifted – you measure the 2 1/2 cups and then sift. No need to remeasure because you have the right amount called for in the recipe.
Try adding a pinch of dryer lavender. It’s delicious.
Great cookie recipe! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Janie! So very glad you like them!
I plan to bake Butter cookies today.!!!
Enjoy them, Lee!
I love slice & bake cookies. These are unbelievably wonderful. These are now my number1 favorite cookie!
Susan, that’s so great to hear, thank you!