Rich and sweet butter cookies. The chocolate and vanilla cookies go so well together and are a perfect gift!
ABOUT BUTTER COOKIES
These Japanese butter cookies are so delicious and easy to make! Their crispy outside yet soft inside make them the perfect treat for an afternoon tea. To make these butter cookies, two doughs are required: chocolate and vanilla. In this recipe, I make vanilla cookies, chocolate cookies, and combine the doughs to make checkerboard cookies. The simple yet beautiful and iconic design of these cookies make them the perfect gift!
MATERIALS
- ☆ Cookie cutters of your choice (I used circles with 4.8cm diameter.)
INGREDIENTS (+ SUBSTITUTIONS)
This is a basic list and explanation of the key ingredients. For full list and measurements, please scroll down to the recipe below!
- ☆ Unsalted butter
- ☆ Powdered sugar
- Powdered sugar blends easier with the butter, making the dough smoother and the resulting cookie more tender. If you don’t have powdered sugar, you can substitute it for granulated sugar at a 1:1 ratio by weight.
- ☆ Egg yolk
- Egg yolks primarily provide fat, making the texture of the butter cookies moist and smooth while adding a rich flavor. Egg whites are omitted because having a higher liquid content in the dough will make the cookies more chewy.
- ☆ Cake flour
- We use cake flour for pastries to have a lighter, more delicate texture. You can usually find it in your local grocery, but if you don’t bake often, there’s no need to buy cake flour just for one or two recipes. If you want to try making recipes that use cake flour but don’t have any, you can use a mix of all-purpose flour and cornstarch. To substitute all-purpose flour and cornstarch for cake flour, about ⅛ of the required cake flour should be replaced with cornstarch and the remaining ⅞ should be replaced with all-purpose flour. In this case, about 114g all-purpose flour and about 16g cornstarch can be used in place of 130g cake flour.
- ☆ Almond flour
- Almond flour is added to butter cookies to lightly flavor the dough with a hint of sweet almond and some richness. Additionally, the almond flour provides a little more moisture to the butter cookies due to the fat content of the almonds. However, you can substitute almond flour 1:1 with flour if you do not have any at home or cannot eat almonds!
CHECKER COOKIE METHOD
I will explain two methods to make the checkerboard cookies. Please read below and decide which one will work best for you!
- ☆ Ice box method
- This method requires shaping the chocolate and vanilla doughs into square logs. Make 2 square logs of equal length for each flavor, both with a width of 2cm, creating four logs in total. Place the logs in a checkerboard pattern with the same colors opposite from each other diagonally, using an egg white to glue the logs together. Chill the now 4cm wide log in the freezer for about 10 minutes before cutting 8mm thick slices, rotating after each cut. If it gets too soft, freeze for another 10 minutes before continuing.
- ☆ Puzzle method
- I called it the puzzle method because it felt like putting together the pieces of a puzzle, but actually I don’t know if there’s a technical name haha. Roll both chocolate and vanilla doughs to 8mm, then cut squares 2cm by 2cm. Using the two flavored doughs, create a checkerboard pattern by placing the same colors opposite from each other diagonally, pushing together slightly. You do not need egg white to glue the pieces together because they will stick together during the baking process. Repeat until you’ve used all the squares.
- I prefer this method, however, because this allows me more control of the final shape and control over the appearance of the middle of the cookie where the flavors come together. I’m a bit of a perfectionist, so I like to monitor the appearance of the cookies at all steps to ensure the end results will be consistent.
TIPS FOR MAKING BUTTER COOKIES
- ☆ Depending on the climate/season the butter cookie dough may melt fast while you’re working! Try to work quickly, but if you can’t that’s okay too. I wrote the recipe with this in mind, which is why I refrigerate many times throughout the recipe. My baking environment may differ from yours, so refrigerate as much as you need to! Good luck!
MORE COOKIE RECIPES! ♡
If you recreate this Butter Cookies recipe, please let me know by tagging me or leaving a comment on Instagram @maruryouri or TikTok @atsuryouri. I’d love to see your creations and hear your feedback!
Butter Cookies
Rich and sweet butter cookies. The chocolate and vanilla cookies go so well together and are a perfect gift!
Ingredients
Vanilla Dough
- 100 g unsalted butter softened
- 60 g powdered sugar
- Pinch of salt
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 1 egg yolk
- 130 g cake flour
- 35 g almond flour
Chocolate Dough
- 100 g unsalted butter softened
- 60 g powdered sugar
- 10 g cocoa powder
- Pinch of salt
- 1 egg yolk
- 125 g cake flour
- 30 g almond flour
Instructions
- First make the vanilla dough. In a bowl, cream the softened butter using a silicone spatula.
- Sift in the powdered sugar and salt then fold until smooth. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and mix until fully incorporated.
- Sift in the cake flour and almond flour and fold until just combined, careful not to overmix.
- Bring the dough together and roll to 8mm thickness between two sheets of parchment. Once rolled out, refrigerate for 1 hour. In the meantime, make the chocolate dough.
- In a separate bowl, cream the softened butter like you did earlier for the vanilla dough.
- Sift in the powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and salt and fold until smooth. Add the egg yolk and mix until fully incorporated.
- Sift in the cake flour and almond flour and fold until just combined, careful not to overmix.
- Bring the dough together and roll to 8mm thickness between two sheets of parchment. Once rolled out, refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Once the hour has passed for the vanilla dough, it is ready to be cut into shapes with a cookie cutter. Using a circle cutter of about 4.8cm diameter (about 2 inches), cut out 6 circles. Place the cookies onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat and set aside.
- Bring the remaining scraps of dough together using plastic wrap and roll to 8mm thickness. Refrigerate while you prepare the chocolate cookies.
- Prepare the chocolate cookies in a similar way, cutting 6 circles as well. Place them on the same parchment or baking mat as the vanilla circle cookies and set aside as well.
- Bring the remaining scraps of chocolate dough together and roll to 8mm thickness as well. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
- Once the remaining doughs have chilled, cut out a grid of 2cm by 2cm squares (about .75 inch). Using the two flavored doughs, create a checkerboard pattern by placing the same colors opposite from each other diagonally. Repeat until you’ve used all the squares. (Alternatively, you can make 2 square logs of equal length for each flavor, both with a width of 2cm, creating four logs in total. If you do this method, place the logs in a checkerboard pattern with the same colors opposite from each other diagonally, using an egg white to glue the logs together. Chill the now 4cm wide log in the freezer for about 10 minutes before cutting 8mm thick slices, rotating after each cut.)
- Place the checkerboard cookies on the same baking sheet as the other cookies. Refrigerate the whole tray for about 30 minutes while the oven heats to 340°F/170°C.
- Bake the cookies for 15-20 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Transfer to a cooling rack to let cool completely, and the butter cookies are done! 完成です！