These Italian Butter cookies taste so much better than the store-bought variety. So buttery and delicious. They’re perfect for the Holiday cookie table and for gift giving. The best gifts are made with love. Follow this easy recipe and make a few batches this weekend!

Use this basic recipe to make so many different flavor combinations and shapes. They taste fantastic plain, but glue them together with some jam or chocolate and dip them in your favorite things to create the most beautiful little desserts.
Flavor Combinations
- chocolate filled: dipped in chocolate and rolled in sprinkles, almonds, shredded sweetened coconut, or ground pistachios
- Jam filled: dipped in white chocolate, dark chocolate, or jam, and rolled in sprinkles, nuts, or shredded coconut
- Baked with a maraschino cherry in the center
- baked topped with sprinkles
I’d love to hear how you decorated and filled your Italian Butter Cookies. Leave me a comment down below and share your pics with me on Facebook and/or Instagram.

Tips
- Start off with room temperature ingredients: the butter should be very soft, and the eggs should also be at room temperature.
- Do not overtax the batter or it will be harder to pipe out of the pastry bag.
- Pipe the cookies immediately after the cookie batter is ready. As the batter sits, it hardens.
- Allow the cookies to cool completely after they’re baked.
- Freeze the cookies for 10-15 minutes after they’re filled with jam or chocolate. This will help them stay in place and will make dipping much cleaner and easier.
- Store the cookies in an airtight container. The plain cookies can be stored at room temperature. The chocolate dipped cookies can be stored in the refrigerator or the freezer.

The cookies taste wonderful with a hot cup of Greek Coffee.

Watch the Video Tutorial
I hope that you give this recipe a try and you let me know what you think. What’s your favorite flavor combination? Let me know in the comments, below. Enjoy the cookies and I will be back here soon with another delicious recipe worth sharing. xx Dimitra

Italian Butter Cookies (Bakery-Style) for the Holidays
These Italian Butter cookies taste so much better than the store-bought variety. So buttery and delicious. They're perfect for the Holiday cookie table and for gift giving. The best gifts are made with love. Follow this easy recipe and make a few batches this weekend!
Ingredients
- 12 ounces unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup of granulated sugar
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 3 and 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour
- 1 and 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Fillings and Toppings:
- semi-sweet chocolate, melted
- white chocolate, melted
- jam
- sprinkles
- shredded coconut
- sliced almonds
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 °F, 180 °C.
LIne 3-4 baking trays with parchment paper.
In the bowl of a tabletop mixer that has been fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter, sugar, and vanilla extract. Beat until fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl.
Add the eggs one at a time and beat until fluffy.
Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl and whisk together.
Add the flour mixture to the mixer in a few batches while it is mixing at low speed. Mix until just incorporated.
Fill a pastry bag that is fitted with a large star tip halfway full with the cookie batter.
Pipe 2-3-inch long strips of batter or rosettes onto the baking trays. Leave about an inch or two in between each cookie.
Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the cookies are golden around the edges.
Cool completely.
Fill the cookies with jam or melted chocolate. Chill in the freezer for 10 minutes so that they can set.
Dip the cookies in your favorite toppings and allow them to set completely.
Serve with tea or coffee. Enjoy!
Notes
If you're melting chocolate chips, once they're melted thin the chocolate out using a few tablespoons of vegetable oil.
Store the cookies in the freezer or in the refrigerator.
Recommended Products
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Ateco 14" Pastry Bag (2 Pack)
Sounds yummy, must try
Thank you so very much Dimitras for this delicious cookie recipe! I have been looking for this cookie recipe most of my life!
I made it immediately and is my favorite cookie of all time. They look beautiful and taste delicious. I will make these to give as special gifts to all my favorite people. The bakery needs to take lessons from you!
Merry Christmas & God Bless,
Michele H.
Do you have a video on how to fill these beautiful Italian butter cookies?
Found your video. I now know how to fill the cookies. MahaloπΊ
Can I bake these cookies without piping them?
Thank you so much for sharing your Italian butter cookie recipe, I made them as they came out perfect. Everybody wants the recipe and I directed them to your website and told him that it was yours. Again thank you so much for sharing
I’m so happy!! Thank you π
I followed your recipe and mine flattened out , had to throw them out, do u know why that would happen ??
It could be that the baking powder was old or that too little flour was added.
Hi Dimitra,
Your recipe was fantastic! I followed it to a t and everyone loves them. This is my favorite cookie and thanks to you I have perfected them. Bravo Koukla.
would a cookie press work with this ? Going to do these for Thanksgiving ! Thank you for sharing.
Yes, absolutely! Happy Holidays!!
Thank you for answering that was fast ! I was just in middle of making and I added 3 TBLS of vanilla, I grabbed the wrong spoon!!! lord have mercy π now I to triple recipe lol but, that’s ok too! making for 30 ppl . was also wondering if you can add color to π€ these thank you for your help!
You’re welcome and yes, you can add some food coloring π Happy Thanksgiving!!
Can I make these ahead and freeze them?
If so how long can they be frozen for?
Yes, they can be decorated and frozen up to 2 weeks π
I used 12 ounces of butter as the recipe stated, but the cookies were very dry, and impossible to pipe out. It seems, that when I watch your video, you use three 8 ounce sticks of butter. Which is the correct amount?