260 butter cookie recipes

Classic four-ingredient shortbread cookies with just flour, butter, sugar, and salt. Pressed into a sheet pan, pricked with a fork, and baked until set.

No-bake caramel oatmeal cookies made on the stovetop with butterscotch pudding mix, evaporated milk, butter, and quick oats. Drop, cool, eat. No oven required.

Almond Butter Disks: piped European-style almond cookies flavored with dark rum and lemon zest, sandwiched with raspberry-kirsch glaze. Patisserie elegance, makes 18 sandwiches.

Old-fashioned fig-filled cookies with a honey-sweetened butter dough, rolled into strips or sandwich rounds and baked until golden. Makes 5 dozen with two shaping options.

Black and white chunk cookies loaded with semi-sweet and white chocolate chunks plus walnuts or pecans in a brown sugar butter dough. Makes 3 dozen.

Fat-free chewy chocolate cookies made with cocoa powder, corn syrup, and egg whites instead of butter. Soft, fudgy, and intensely chocolatey with zero added fat.

Low-fat cocoa almond biscotti made with egg substitute and chocolate syrup instead of butter. Crisp, twice-baked Italian cookies with deep chocolate and almond flavor.

Classic anise pizzelles made with a full ounce of anise extract, butter, and a touch of lemon. Thin, crisp Italian wafer cookies pressed in a pizzelle iron in 30 seconds each.

Low-fat cocoa brownie bars made with egg whites, nonfat yogurt, and cocoa powder instead of butter and chocolate. Fudgy brownie cookie bars dusted with powdered sugar.

Traditional Chinese almond cookies with butter and shortening get an egg wash for glossy shine. Dough chills 2 hours, then slices into rounds topped with whole almonds.

Key lime coconut cookies made with condensed milk, shredded coconut, and key lime juice. Tangy, chewy, and tropical with just five ingredients and no butter or eggs.

Maple meltaway shortbread crisps blend butter, cake flour, and chopped pecans with maple flavoring into delicate, snowy cookies. Five ingredients, 7-minute bake, classic Christmas tin staple.

Old-fashioned molasses cookies made with lard and sour cream for a tender, flaky texture butter can't match. Spiced with cinnamon and ginger, chilled overnight, then rolled thick and soft.

Chocolate-pecan pie crust made from crushed chocolate wafer cookies, finely chopped pecans, and melted butter. A 3-ingredient press-in crust that bakes in just 10 minutes.

Nut kolachky filling is a traditional Eastern European walnut filling for kolachky cookies and pastries. Ground walnuts, egg whites, sugar, and melted butter mixed into a thick paste.

Crisp rolled poppy seed cookies made with oil instead of butter, loaded with a third cup of soaked poppy seeds and a sugar-sparkle top. Simple dough, big crunch.