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    Home » Recipes » Cookies

    Home » Recipes » Cookies

    Melt-Away Butter Cookies

    By Chula King · June 4, 2021 · Updated March 21, 2022 5 Comments

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    Melt-Away butter cookies

    Melt-Away Butter Cookies literally melt in your mouth. These butter cookies are made from five everyday ingredients that produce a buttery cookie with an amazing texture and flavor. These tasty morsels are bite-sized, ultra-light, delicate and totally addictive.

    Melt-Away Butter Cookies

    Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

    Contents show
    1 Table of Contents
    2 Ingredients for Melt-Away Cookies?
    3 Special Equipment Needed To Form These Tasty Morsels
    4 Making the Dough for the Melt-Away Butter Cookies
    4.1 Step 1: Creaming the Butter
    4.2 Step 2: Combining Confectioners’ Sugar, Vanilla and Salt with Butter
    4.3 Step 3: Adding the Flour
    5 Pressing and Baking the Cookies
    6 Frequently Asked Questions
    7 Other Buttery Cookie Recipes
    8 Watch How I Made These Amazing Cookies
    9 Melt-Away Butter Cookies
    9.1 Equipment
    9.2 Ingredients
    9.3 Instructions
    9.4 Chula’s Expert Tips
    9.5 Nutrition

    Table of Contents

    • Ingredients for Melt-Away Cookies?
    • Special Equipment Needed To Form These Tasty Morsels
    • Making the Dough for the Melt-Away Butter Cookies
      • Step 1: Creaming the Butter
      • Step 2: Combining Confectioners’ Sugar, Vanilla and Salt with Butter
      • Step 3: Adding the Flour
    • Pressing and Baking the Cookies
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Other Buttery Cookie Recipes
    • Watch How I Made These Amazing Cookies

    Ingredients for Melt-Away Cookies?

    The five simple ingredients that I used in these cookies included unsalted butter, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla extract, salt and all-purpose flour.

    You probably have all of these ingredients at your disposal right now!

    Ingredients for Melt-Away Butter Cookies

    Special Equipment Needed To Form These Tasty Morsels

    I used a cookie press with a wreath disk to form these cookies. While there are a lot of different cookie presses available, mine is the Oxo Good Grips cookie press.

    A cookie press is a piece of equipment that is used to make pressed cookies. These pressed cookies and wafers are often referred to as spritz cookies.

    A cookie press consists of a cylinder to hold the dough with a plunger at one end and a decorative disk at the other end. The plunger is used to push the cookie dough through the disk onto a baking sheet.

    Making the Dough for the Melt-Away Butter Cookies

    Making the dough for these cookies was super simple.

    Step 1: Creaming the Butter

    The first thing that I did was to cream the softened butter with my electric mixer.

    Creamed butter in a bowl

    Step 2: Combining Confectioners’ Sugar, Vanilla and Salt with Butter

    Next, I added the confectioners’ sugar, vanilla extract and salt to the butter. I beat the mixture on high with my electric mixer until it was light and fluffy.

    Sugar, vanilla and salt beaten with butter.

    Step 3: Adding the Flour

    Once the butter/sugar mixture was light and fluffy, I added the flour. I beat the mixture on low just until the flour was well combined.

    Final Cookie dough

    Pressing and Baking the Cookies

    Once the dough was ready, I assembled the cookie press with a wreath disk. Then, I added the dough to the cookie press cylinder.

    I placed the cookie press perpendicular to an uncreased cookie sheet with the disk side down. Then, I pressed on the lever to force the dough out of the bottom of the disk.

    When you use a cookie press, it’s important that the cookie sheet be ungreased and not be lined with parchment paper, a silicone mat or anything else. The reason is that on a slippery, greased cookie sheet or lined cookie sheet, the dough will remain stuck to the press, not the cookie sheet. On an ungreased cookie sheet, the dough will release from the cookie press.

    Pressing Cookies from cookie press

    Once I had pressed a tray of cookies, I popped them into a preheated 325°F oven for a little over 16 minutes.

    At that point, the cookies were a golden brown around the edges and were perfectly done. I removed them from the oven and continued baking the remaining cookies.

    Cookies out of oven

    I removed the cookies from the baking sheets and placed them on a wire rack to cool completely.

    Cookies cooling on wire rack

    I ended up with 7 dozen ultra-light, delicate and buttery Melt-Away Butter Cookies. Yum!

    Melt-Away Butter Cookies

    Frequently Asked Questions

    What if I don’t have a cookie press?

    I used a cookie press in this recipe to produce the delicate little pressed cookies. However, I could have also formed the cookies using a piping bag and a star tip. I could have also rolled the cookies in a ball and flattened them on the cookie sheet.

    Why are the cookies called melt-away?

    These cookies are called melt-away because of their melt in your mouth characteristics. Generally, melt-away cookies are soft and lightly sweet shortbread cookies with a unique texture produced by the combination of confectioners’ sugar and lots of butter!

    Why are melt-away cookies sometimes referred to as spritz cookies?

    Spritz cookies are actually a type of German Christmas cookie. They are generally made with a combination of flour, butter, sugar and eggs and are called Spritzgeback.  The word Spritz had its origins from the German word “spritzer”. Translated, “spritzer means “to squirt”. As such Spritz cookies are made by “squirting” the dough through a cookie press.

    Can I use salted butter in this recipe in place of unsalted butter?

    You can use salted butter if that’s all you have on hand. However, you should omit the salt. However, even with the omission of the salt, the cookies will have a slightly saltier taste.

    Other Buttery Cookie Recipes

    If you’re a fan of buttery cookies, you should check out these delicious recipes:

    • French Sablés: French Sablés, with their characteristic sandy texture and melt in your mouth delicious. They’re easy to make and will WOW even your most picky eater!
    • Meyer Lemon Sablés: Meyer Lemon Sablés, with their characteristic “sandy” texture, are buttery rich with a delicate hint of lemon from lemon zest. 
    • Viennese Sablés: Viennese Sablés are buttery rich but not too sweet. They are perfectly salted and beautifully scented with vanilla.
    • Butter Cookies: Butter Cookies are perfect for Christmas or any time for that matter. These irresistible buttery crisp shortbread cookies are super easy to make. Leave a plate full for Santa and you’re sure to be rewarded with presents under the tree!
    • Pecan Sandies: Pecan Sandies are the ultimate in simplicity and taste. These cookies literally melt in your mouth. They have rich buttery taste and crumbly texture complimented by toasted pecans. 
    • Butter Pecan Cookies: Butter Pecan Cookies are buttery rich and intensely flavored with toasted pecans. They’re soft in the middle and crisp around the edges – a perfect cookie!
    • Toasted Pecan Snowball Cookies: Packed with a toasted pecans and dusted with confectioners’ sugar, these buttery Toasted Pecan Snowball Cookies are a family favorite at Christmas. They are the perfect edible gifts for your loved ones during the holiday season.

    Watch How I Made These Amazing Cookies

    I hope you liked this recipe for Melt-Away Butter Cookies as much as I do. If so, please consider rating it and leaving a comment. Also, if you’d like to receive notifications of new posts by email, enter your email address in the Subscribe box.

    Thank you so much for visiting PudgeFactor. I hope you’ll come back!

    Melt-Away Butter Cookies

    Melt-Away Butter Cookies

    Melt-Away Butter Cookies are simple and classic buttery cookies that melt in your mouth. These easy cookies are made using a cookie press to create perfect bite-sized morsels.
    5 from 6 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Cookies
    Cuisine: American
    Prep Time: 10 minutes
    Cook Time: 17 minutes
    Total Time: 27 minutes
    Servings: 7 dozen cookies
    Calories: 18kcal
    Author: Chula King

    Equipment

    • Cookie Press (See Tip 1)

    Ingredients

    • 1 ¼ cups (2 ½ sticks, 10 ounces) unsalted butter, softened (See Tip 2)
    • ¾ cup (3 ounces) confectioners' sugar
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
    • 2 ½ cups (12.5 ounces) all-purpose flour

    Instructions

    • Preheat oven to 325°F.
    • In a large bowl, cream butter with electric mixer on high speed. Add confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Beat on high until light and fluffy. Add flour. Beat on low just until combined.
    • Fill cylinder of cookie press with dough. Press cookies onto ungreased cookie sheet. (See Tip 2)
    • Bake in preheated 325°F oven for 15 to 17 minutes or until cookies are golden brown around the edges. Cool on wire rack.
    • Store in airtight container.
    • Yield: 7 dozen cookies.

    Chula’s Expert Tips

    1. If you don’t have a cookie press, you can pipe the cookies from a piping bag fitted with a star tip, or roll the dough into small balls and flatten them with your hand.
    2. If you use salted butter, omit the addition of salt. Also, with salted butter, your cookies will be slightly saltier.
    3. It’s important that you use an ungreased baking sheet. The cookie press will not work properly with a greased baking sheet or a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat. There is ample butter in the cookies to prevent them from sticking.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 18kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 1mg | Sodium: 7mg | Potassium: 4mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 1IU | Calcium: 1mg | Iron: 1mg
    Tried this recipe?Please leave a comment below and/or give this recipe a rating. On Instagram? Take a picture and tag @pudgefactor or #pudgefactor.

    Filed Under: Cookies

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. debrapadilla says

      June 08, 2021 at 5:40 pm

      5 stars
      Yummy!

    2. CRi Sheridan says

      June 09, 2021 at 6:09 am

      5 stars
      Having an egg allergy I have been looking for a treat that I could enjoy to my hearts content. My family absolutely loves these deliciously buttery cookies. Never in a million years did I think they would disappear as quickly as I made them! I decided to take it a step further and add some pecans and craisins for toppers before baking and found a new permanent addition to my recipe box. A-MA-ZING! Thank you for sharing this recipe, it has become a new family favorite.

    3. Chula King says

      June 09, 2021 at 9:50 am

      I’m so pleased that this recipe worked out for you! Your additions sound yummy!

      Chula

    4. Barbara Frazier says

      August 26, 2021 at 1:54 pm

      Your recipe for Melt-away butter cookies was published in The Desert Sun, August 25, 2021. I made them today (the 26th) and like them very much. I appreciate that they baked very well. I did only get about 48 cookies and will see how I do on my next batch. I used two clicks with the cookie press. Should I have used only one click?

      Thank you.
      Barbara Frazier
      Indio, CA
      *****

    5. Chula King says

      August 26, 2021 at 9:13 pm

      Hi Barbara,

      I only use one click from my cookie press which is the Oxo Good Grips cookie press (https://www.amazon.com/OXO-Grips-Cookie-Stainless-Storage/dp/B00ABH0PYI/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2LHZOASO5IZFK&dchild=1&keywords=oxo+cookie+press&qid=1630030593&sprefix=oxo+cookie%2Caps%2C189&sr=8-1).

      Chula

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