It’s half December, which means… COOKIE TIME. And not just any cookies. But Christmas cookies with a long family tradition. I remember my grandmother baking loads and loads of cookies. Especially German ‘Butterplätzchen’. I would always hang around the kitchen when she was baking. I loved the smell of freshly baked cookies. The smell meant that it was almost Christmas. And of course I always tried to get my finger into that bowl of cookie dough whenever my grandmother wasn’t looking.
Taking over the task
Later, I guess when I was in my teens, my mom took over the task of baking. And now, I’m the one baking them. While I loved frosted cookies when I was little, I now like them just plain. They are sweet and flavorsome enough as they are, no need to mask that with sugary frosting. But if you have kids, plan an afternoon to decorate cookies together. It’s such a fun activity!
So, time to get some baking done!
It’s a real simple recipe. Mix all ingredients and form a dough. I love to use a food processor, but you can of course kneed by hand.
Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Roll out dough and cut out cookies in any desired shape. The key is to have the dough not too warm to prevent spreading while baking. To make it easy on yourself, divide the dough in four and shape each part in a disc. Then wrap each disc in cling film and put it in the refrigerator.
Then take out one disc at a time, roll it out and cut out the cookies. Bake them immediately. When you’re ready fort he next batch, take out another disc.
I often use different shapes each year. There are so many different shapes and even stamps available now. This year, I used small cutters as well as a large round cutters and cookie stamps. So cute!
Kids could hardly wait for the cookies to cool a bit. Hope there are any left by Christmas 😉
Enjoy!
Also delicious: Vanilla Pudding Cookies!

Butterplätzchen - German Christmas Cookies
Ingredients
- 500 g all purpose flour
- 200 g white sugar
- 300 g unsalted butter
- 4 egg yolks
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp lemon extract
Instructions
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Quickly kneed all ingredients to form a dough.*
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Cut dough into four pieces.
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Form each piece into a disc and wrap in cling film.
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Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
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Preheat oven to 180°C and line baking sheet with parchment paper.
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Take out one disc of of dough at a time and roll it out on a floured surface.
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Cut out cookies in any desired shape.
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Place on prepared baking sheet and bake 10 minutes.
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Take cookies out of the oven and let cool on the tray for a couple of minutes. Cookies will still be very soft.
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Then carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
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Eat plain or decorate with sugar icing.
Recipe Notes
*I like to use my food processor: process until the dough starts to come together, then continue to kneed into a dough on a floured surface.
Lifestyle Mommy's ~ Linda
December 16, 2017Oooooh het water loopt me in de mond, dus deze ga ik zeker delen met onze volgers zodat ook zij er deze feestdagen van kunnen genieten 😀
Nicole
December 16, 2017Ah, wat lief, Linda! Dank je wel!
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Isabel
December 24, 2020Het lijkt mij super lekker ik ga t maken voor mijn moeder
Isabel
December 24, 2020Het lijkt mij super lekker ik ga t maken voor mijn oma
Nicole
December 24, 2020Hoi Isabel, wat leuk dat je ze voor je oma gaat maken. Hele fijne feestdagen!
Pet
December 13, 2021Van het weekend samen met mijn dochter maken. Hoe kan je de koekjes het beste bewaren en hoelang.
Nicole
December 13, 2021Hoi Pet, wat leuk dat je ze gaat maken! Het beste kun je ze in een koekblik of goed afsluitbare plastic doos bewaren. Ze zijn zeker een week of vier goed, langer ook, maar het lekkerste zijn ze toch als je ze snel opeet 😉