Butter cookie


Butter cookies, known as Brysselkex, Sablés, and Danish biscuits, are unleavened cookies consisting of butter, flour, and sugar. They are often categorized as a "crisp cookie" due to their texture, caused in part because of the quantity of butter and sugar. It is generally necessary to chill the dough to enable proper manipulation and handling. Butter cookies at their most basic have no flavoring, but they are often flavored with vanilla, chocolate, and coconut, and/or topped with sugar crystals. They also come in a variety of shapes such as circles, squares, ovals, rings, and pretzel-like forms, and with a variety of appearances, including marbled, checkered or plain. Using piping bags, twisted shapes can be made. In some parts of the world, such as Europe and North America, butter cookies are often served around Christmas time. Butter cookies are also a very popular gift in China, especially during Chinese New Year.

Danish butter cookies

Denmark has been a notable exporter of butter cookies for many years, in particular to the US and Asia. They are made in many varieties, and exported industrial produced butter cookies are typically packed and sold in tins, with Royal Dansk being a notable example.