What is Basic Butter Cookie Dough
We all need one cookie dough recipe in our life for days when you don’t want to scroll through your phone for ideas. This is my go-to cookie dough. The base cookie dough recipe is buttery and can be used to make pipped cookies. You can then change the texture by adding extra flour so it can be rolled to make sugar cut out cookies. Make a big batch, but of different varieties. You don’t have to restrict to just these 4 different types of cookies I shared here. Add the flavor you like and give your own little twist to make it special for you.
Ingredients for the cookie dough
Room temperature softened butter - You don’t want the butter to be melted. It should be room temperature soft, so you can mix it with sugar to create a fluffy texture. White granulated sugar - For the basic butter cookie dough, I always use white sugar. You can use brown sugar too, but that will change the color of the dough and the texture too. Egg - I use 1 egg yolk to the basic cookie dough. Egg yolk adds a richness to the dough, but it is optional, and you can discard it from the recipe. Flour - You need all-purpose flour to make the cookie dough. You can definitely add wheat flour too for a healthier option. Do keep in mind that it will alter the texture of the cookies.
Storing the Dough
You can store the cookie dough in the freezer for up to 3 months. Just take it out and thaw for some time, so it becomes easy to roll and cut or pipe.
One Cookie Dough Makes 4 Different Kind of Cookies
I used the base cookie dough and added extra ingredients to prepare the different kind of cookies.
Pipped Butter Cookies/Biscuits
The base butter dough is pipped on a cookie sheet and baked to crumbly butter cookies. I then dipped the baked cookies in melted chocolate and added some sprinkles on top.
Nuts and Rosemary Cookies
Walnut and rosemary is my favorite combination. I added chopped walnut, raisins, and fresh rosemary to the base cookie dough along with some almond flour. Rolled and let it chill again. Then slice and bake.
Spiced Cocoa Cookies
We all love chocolate cookies, but a hint of spices like ginger and cinnamon adds the perfect warmth to the cookies. Added extra flour to get the right texture, then sliced it into tiny bite size. After baking, drizzled some melted chocolate on top.
Vanilla Sugar Cookies
I wanted a hint of red in the cookie collection, so kept it simple with vanilla flavor and added red food color along with a little bit of all-purpose flour to get the texture. Then shaped it into Linzer cookies. Once baked and cooled, I used melted chocolate for the filling. You can use jam too. These are 4 simple cookies I made using the same cookie dough. It all came together very effortlessly.
Keynotes
As you make the dough, it might feel sticky, but avoid adding too much flour. Just put the dough in the fridge, which will solidify the butter and will make it easy for you to handle the dough. Also, after rolling and cutting out the cookies, place it back in the refrigerator for a while before you place it in the hot oven. This will help retain the shape. I am sure you can come up with several different flavors to add in the same dough. As you can see in the video, making the base dough is super quick.
