The Best Swirled Butter Cookies
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Rich, buttery, and sweet, these spiraled Dark Chocolate Dipped Butter Cookies are then coated in naturally colored sprinkles for a holiday cookie that is completely organic and free of artificial colors!
If you're looking for more holiday cookies, check out my Frosted Gingerbread Cookies, Eggless Sourdough Molasses Cookies, or my Cinnamon Pecan YiaYia Cookies.
Table of Contents
So it's cookie season, if you haven't noticed. I would expect everyone knows that by now! And I'm breaking up the feed of peppermint, gingerbread, and candy cane with this simple, but classic, recipe for Dark Chocolate Dipped Butter Cookies.
While these aren't technically Christmas Cookies, you could slap some red and green decorating sugars on here in place of the nonpareils and call them Christmas cookies. Or, you could also add some crushed candy canes and then they would definitely be Christmas Cookies!
These are the best swirled butter cookies I've ever made. So, if you've been wanting to know how to pipe swirl butter cookies, read on. This recipe starts with a simple butter cookie base that has butter, cane sugar, egg, vanilla extract, flour, and milk. That's it! Then, of course, I dip them in dark chocolate because that is part of what makes these the best swirled butter cookies!
The trick for how to pipe swirl butter cookies perfectly is getting the right consistency of the cookie dough. You want it to be soft enough to pipe out of the piping bag, but also stiff enough that it will hold its shape in the oven. So that is the balance. I also refrigerate the cookie dough after I pipe it so they get that extra chill time so there is less spread in the oven, which I think is key for success.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
Impressive & Easy: Swirl butter cookies look super fancy, but they are really easy to make!
Simple Ingredients: Butter cookies only have a few simple ingredients: butter, cane sugar, eggs, flour, and milk. I also add vanilla extract, but some people prefer to add almond extract, you could do either one. I also used pistachio milk for these today as that's what I currently had open in my fridge, and it makes them so subtly sweet, I love it! But you could also use cow's milk, coconut milk, or almond milk as well.
Dipped in Chocolate: Part of what makes these the best swirled butter cookies is that they are dipped in dark chocolate! Chocolate makes everything better, in my opinion. But, this part is totally optional and you can skip it if you prefer a more plain cookie.
Naturally Colored: I use plant based sprinkles here for a naturally colorful cookie without artificial colors.
Ingredients
Costco Kirkland Organic Cane Sugar
Simply Organic Vanilla Extract
Cairnspring Mills Organic All Purpose Flour
Three Trees Organic Pistachio Milk
Mama Ganache Organic Dark Chocolate
ColorKitchen Foods Nonpareil Sprinkles
Tools Needed
Baking Sheet Half Sheet Pan (use code MIMIBAKES for 10% off my favorite stainless steel sustainable bakeware!)
Parchment Paper (get my favorite nontoxic parchment paper and get 10% off with MIMIBAKES)
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Step by Step Instructions
Step 1
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Step 2
To make the batter: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter, cane sugar, and vanilla extract. Mix on low until combined, then continue to mix on low for 5 minutes or until the mixture is light in color and fluffy.
Add the egg and flour and mix on low until combined.
Add in the pistachio milk and mix until combined. You want the dough to be fluffy, but stiff, but also not too stiff that you can’t pipe it out of bag! The more milk you add, the easier it will be to pipe. But the more you add the more the cookies will spread and not hold their shape, so be mindful of that.
Step 3
Transfer the dough to a piping bag with Ateco tip #827, only adding about half the dough in at first. This way it’s easier to pipe the cookies! Pipe a swirl of cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheets about 1 ½ times around (watch video below), spacing them at least 1-inch apart.
Step 4
Refrigerate the cookie sheets for 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Step 5
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown on the bottoms. (If you're baking at high altitude, be sure to check the Notes at the bottom of the recipe for high altitude baking instructions).
Step 6
To make the topping: Using a double boiler, add 80% of the dark chocolate. Heat until it reaches 115°F on a chocolate thermometer. Remove from heat and add in the remaining 20% of chocolate and stir to combine completely. Allow the chocolate to come down to 91°F.
Step 7
Dip each cookie half in the dark chocolate and place back on the baking sheet. Sprinkle with the sprinkles. Place in the freezer to set for 1 hour.
Easy Substitutions
- If you're using unsalted butter, just add ½ teaspoon of fine sea salt to the recipe.
- Use any kind of milk, while I used pistachio, you can use cow's milk, coconut milk, almond milk… they'll all work!
- You can use any kind of open star tip you have, it does not need to be the exact one I used.
- Feel free to use any kind of natural sprinkles you like!
FAQ's
Yes, if you don’t have pistachio milk you can use coconut milk, cow’s milk, or almond milk! I’ve made these cookies with all of these types of milk, and they are all delicious!
Yes, if you don’t have Ateco tip #827, you can use Ateco tip #846 as it’s similar. Or you can also use any large open star tip.
Yes, you can use milk chocolate or white chocolate to dip these cookies in, or a combination of all three! Any type of chocolate will be delicious!
Tempering the chocolate is the portion of the recipe where you heat it to a certain temperature, add in more chocolate, and then let it come down to a certain temperature. This is done so that the chocolate is tempered and sets completely at room temperature. This prevents it from sweating or making your hands sticky! You do not have to temper the chocolate. If you prefer, you can melt all the chocolate together in the double boiler until completely melted. Or, you can place chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring in between each interval, to prevent burning, until the chocolate is completely melted. If you don’t temper the chocolate, you may just find that the cookies are better kept in the fridge, this way the chocolate won’t sweat or get onto your hands or other cookies. If I’m just making chocolate dipped cookies for myself, I usually skip tempering as it’s not necessary! But, if I’m making them for a party or as a gift, then I temper the chocolate.
These can be stored at room temperature as long as it’s cool (or in the fridge) for up to 7 days. You can also store them in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Craving More?
The Best Swirled Butter Cookies
Ingredients
Dough
- 226 grams salted butter (softened)
- 170 grams cane sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 318 grams all purpose flour
- 1 to 2 tablespoons pistachio milk
Topping
- 226 grams dark chocolate (chopped)
- ColorKitchen Nonpareil Sprinkles
Instructions
- Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- To make the batter: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter, cane sugar, and vanilla extract. Mix on low until combined, then continue to mix on low for 5 minutes or until the mixture is light in color and fluffy.
- Add the egg and flour and mix on low until combined.
- Add in the pistachio milk and mix until combined. You want the dough to be fluffy, but stiff, but also not too stiff that you can’t pipe it out of bag! The more milk you add, the easier it will be to pipe. But the more you add the more the cookies will spread and not hold their shape, so be mindful of that.
- Transfer the dough to a piping bag with Ateco tip #827, only adding about half the dough in at first. This way it’s easier to pipe the cookies! Pipe a swirl of cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheets about 1 ½ times around (watch video below), spacing them at least 1-inch apart.
- Refrigerate the cookie sheets for 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown on the bottoms. (If you're baking at high altitude, be sure to check the Notes at the bottom of the recipe for high altitude baking instructions).
- To make the topping: Using a double boiler, add 80% of the dark chocolate. Heat until it reaches 115°F on a chocolate thermometer. Remove from heat and add in the remaining 20% of chocolate and stir to combine completely. Allow the chocolate to come down to 91°F.
- Dip each cookie half in the dark chocolate and place back on the baking sheet. Sprinkle with the sprinkles. Place in the freezer to set for 1 hour.
Notes
Nutrition
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