252 butter cookie recipes

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.

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.

Low calorie oatmeal cookies made with oat bran, quick oats, apple juice, and just a touch of margarine. No flour, no butter, all the chew.

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.

Crispy oatmeal cookies that spread thin with lacy, caramelized edges that shatter when you bite. A high butter-to-flour ratio and quick oats deliver crunch, not chew. Optional nuts and raisins.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Linzer pastry dough with a full pound of butter, egg yolks, lemon zest, and vanilla. A rich, tender Austrian dough for jam-filled cookies, tarts, and meringue-topped pastries.

Old-fashioned rice krispie date roll cookies made by cooking dates with eggs, sugar and butter into a ball, then mixing with crisp rice cereal and rolling in powdered sugar. A no-bake retro icebox candy.

Ultra-tender shortbread cookies with a full pound of unsalted butter, sweetened condensed milk, and cornstarch for a melt-on-your-tongue crumble. Baked low and slow until barely golden.

Soft banana sour cream bars baked in a jelly roll pan with ripe bananas, butter, and vanilla. A tender sheet pan cookie bar that makes a generous batch for sharing.

Almond rolls are buttery shortbread logs made with just four ingredients: butter, sugar, ground almonds, and flour. The kind of cookie tin staple that goes with afternoon tea or coffee.

Tiny heart-shaped chocolate cakes for two, made without eggs or butter. Cut from a simple cocoa sheet cake using a cookie cutter, then stacked and frosted for Valentine's Day.