Grandma's Butter Cookie Recipe

Hi everyone! This is my grandmother's butter cookie recipe. We don't know how she came in possession of the recipe. My grandmother was not a chef, so we don't think she made it up herself. Either way, it has been a family staple since the 1940s.

And I want to share it with the world. :)

Be sure to read to the bottom for my recommended cookie press.

A stand mixer or hand-held mixer is recommended for this recipe.

INGREDIENTS
1/2 lb butter
2/3 cup white granulated sugar
1 egg
2.5 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla or almond extract (chef's choice)
Food coloring, optional

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 300F. 
2. Cream the butter and sugar.
3. Add the egg and mix thoroughly.
4. Combine the dry ingredients (flour and salt) and sift them together.
5. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter-sugar-egg mixture. Mix after each addition.
6. Add the extract.
7. Divide dough and color with food coloring if desired.
8. Fill a cookie press and form into desired shapes on an ungreased, cold cookie sheet.
9. Bake at 300F for 6 minutes or until the cookies lose their gloss.
10. Let cool on the baking sheet for about 1-2 minutes. Then transfer to a cooling rack.

Yield: approximately 48 cookies, depending on the size of your cookie press.

Helpful notes:

• Do not use lemon extract with this recipe. Use fresh lemon juice, instead, if you want a lemon cookie. I don't know how much juice to add. I've never made it this way. This was just a note my grandmother included in the recipe card.
• Experiment with loading two or three differently colored dough in the cookie press at the same time. This will give a marbled, streaky look like the cookies shown here. Every cookie will be unique. 😀
• The baking time could be as long as 7 minutes. After 6 minutes, if they are still glossy, bake for another 30 seconds and check them. If they need it, bake for 30 seconds more. Then remove them.
• Baking for this short amount of time will result in a "melt in your mouth" cookie. 
• The cookies will NOT have a golden color around their edges. If you bake them to this point, they will be dry and crumbly.
• Letting them sit on the baking sheet for 1-2 minutes will give them time to firm up a bit, which will help when transferring them to the cooling rack.
• If you only have one baking sheet, or only want to use one, wipe the baking sheet with a dry paper towel before using it for a second round of baking. This will help remove some of the grease left behind from the first round of cookies.

My Recommended Cookie Press

• Marcato 8307 Atlas Deluxe Biscuit Maker Cookie Press (link goes to Amazon)
• The cookie press I use is the Marcato 8300 Atlas. I think it has been discontinued, but the 8307 is the replacement.
• This is in no way a sponsored posted. I have gone through several cookie presses that don't stand up to use. They break after about 3 or 4 batches of cookies. I have had my Marcato Atlas since graduate school (2012-2014) and it is still holding strong.

If you make this, let me know how it goes. Tag me @agirlandheryarn on Instagram!

Happy baking!